Reasons To Avoid Wooden Decking Balustrades

Timber is an incredibly popular building material for garden projects, and as a result, is often used for wooden decking, balustrades, and cladding. However, despite the initial aesthetic qualities, there are many practical reasons for avoiding using timber. Rotting, warping, and splintering not only make your garden appear visually unappealing, but it can also make your decking and balcony areas structurally less safe.

This is especially alarming regarding wooden decking balustrades, which should serve as a strong, safe, dependable protective perimeter for your decking installs and balcony projects. In this article, we will outline a variety of reasons timber should be avoided when choosing your balustrades. Let’s take a look…

Timber, unless regularly stained with chemical preservatives, is incredibly vulnerable to the effects of sustained weathering. Wood is an absorbent material, meaning your balustrades are at risk of rotting if they take in too much moisture. An attractive wooden decking balustrade can rapidly deteriorate and decompose as a result, turning a once stunning garden build into a neglected, dilapidated structure that will need to be replaced at some cost.

Conversely, the core of our balustrade posts are made of steel, ensuring your composite balustrade railings will not rot or breakdown due to rainfall. Composite material also does not need to be treated to protect it from breaking down, as its makeup of recycled plastic and timber fibres gives it more longevity against the elements. This saves you from laboriously re-treating your balustrades each year to increase its lifespan.

The absorbent quality of timber not only makes it more likely to rot, but it also makes it more susceptible to staining. Stains on a wooden surface that cannot simply be washed away may have to be painted over or sanded. Unfortunately, either option will result in slight discolouration to your balustrades and may even leave an obvious mark.

Comparatively, as composite material is not an absorbent material, it is far easier to clean from any spills or staining. Most stains can be removed with an easy clean, but more stubborn ones can be tackled using composite cleaner and degreaser.

The wooden spindles of a wooden decking balustrade railing are integral to both their design and structural safety. However, even with all the best will in the world, these spindles are extremely prone to damage. Accidents can happen, and they will snap easily if met with force, which could prove a hassle if your garden is hit with intense winds, or if you have young children and pets regularly running on your balcony space.

In contrast to this, the spindles used for our composite balustrades are made from metal, offering much more support and strength than the timber alternative. A balustrade railing can look incredibly sparse and barren if spindles have become damaged or are missing. Thankfully, the spindles of our railing can easily be slotted back into place into the handy pre-drilled placement holes.

The visual quality of timber is a huge reason people opt to using it for their balustrade projects. Unfortunately, this visual flair can be short lived, as timber will start to bleach over time with prolonged exposure to UV light. This may end up with the colour you were expecting being vastly different to the colour you are left with.

On the other hand, whilst composite material does fade slightly under the effects of sunlight, this rapidly plateaus, meaning your balustrade colour choices can remain more consistent for far longer. The woodgrain texture also allows you to retain the natural feeling and quality that using timber can provide.