Upgrading your property can be an exciting endeavour that captures your imagination and reignites the designer spark in your home. However, home improvements can also prove to be costly and can quickly snowball from an affordable upgrade into a mammoth undertaking in no time. In order to prevent your outdoor project from spiralling out of control, it’s important to keep necessary costs down and optional outgoings within budget. That being said, can you create a luxury deck for less? Let’s find out…

Luxury Decking Options

In the world of outdoor decking, composite decking has reigned supreme for the last two decades, providing durable wood-look decking that’s quite literally guaranteed to last a generation. Boasting slip, fade and stain resistance with unrivalled durability and virtually peerless aesthetic appeal, composite decking has established itself as the superior alternative to both traditional wood decking and man-made plastic decking.

Best of all, composite decking is made largely using reclaimed wood and recycled plastic, making it an extremely eco-friendly and responsibly sustainable solution to outdoor decking design. Unfortunately, as is often the case with a high-calibre product, all of this doesn’t come cheap and such a premium product naturally attracts an equally premium price tag.

Economical Alternatives

While composite decking and its ultra-premium brethren, capped composite decking, are undoubtedly awesome products, the cost of the materials alone is likely to see your project bill expand faster than an angry puffer fish. As great as it may be to add such a great product to your outside living space, with prices of over £110/m2, any sizeable deck is looking to rack up a hefty fee, not to mention any supplementary delivery and installation costs. So, with that being said and traditional composite decking off the budgetary table, what are the alternatives? We’re glad you asked!

Hollow Composite Decking

Hollow composite decking is the latest innovation in the world of composite decking. As the name suggests, each decking plank is essentially hollow with cuboid or cylindrical channels running through each board. It’s this fact that proves to be a critical factor. The hollow composition means less material is used in the construction, therefore allowing it to be sold for a lower, more affordable cost. In fact, in some cases, that cost can be as much as 75% less!

Even the top-end products in the hollow composite decking market are still very affordable and typically peak at around 60% less than their high-end solid composite counterparts. What’s more, the fact that less material is used in the making of hollow decking means it’s even more environmentally-friendly than the already eco-friendly composite option.

Appearance and Performance

Okay, by now we know what you’re probably thinking: “with a cost that low, it can’t be any good”. Well hold your horses, pal! Hear us out…

Incredibly, despite the notable difference in price, hollow composite decking still boasts many of the same benefits as traditional solid composite decking. In terms of design, many hollow composite decking products feature a beautiful appearance that is truly stunning once the final board is laid. Much like their solid competition, hollow designs typically feature a variegated colour pattern and are given a textured finish for an accurate wood-look aesthetic to mimic the real thing.

Meanwhile, in terms of performance, hollow composite decking is still very much built to last, with top-line hollow products typically offering a guarantee of up to 15 years. Inherently low-maintenance and impressively durable, hollow composite decking is more than capable of withstanding whatever you or Mother Nature decide to throw its way.

Affordable Luxury Deck

Like most things in life, finding a happy medium and managing expectations is the key to success when it comes achieving a luxury deck for less. It would be somewhat naïve to think that a low-end hollow deck board could stand up to high-end solid composite decking. After all, a budget-friendly Vauxhall Corsa is never going to be able to outshine an hi-spec Audi TT.

However, with that being said, a top-of-the-line hollow deck product can be the perfect solution. High-end hollow decking not only looks fantastic but also performs to a high standard too. Best of all, even the most affordable solid composite product doesn’t outprice the highest spec hollow decking option, allowing you to achieve a premium finish with a hollow product without breaking the bank.

For more expert advice on composite decking or to find out more about hollow composite decking in particular, head on over to DeckPlus.co.uk today.