As a local Bay Area company known for pushing the outdoor living limits, Water and Earth is always striving to be on the forefront of new materials and technologies. One such material is composite decking, a wood decking alternative, some of the best of which is produced by the company TimberTech. Water and Earth has been using this innovative, earth-friendly decking material to create striking and eco-friendly designs for a while now, and the landscape and design world has taken notice.
Dwell Magazine recently featured composite decking designs from one of our recent landscape design projects right here in San Jose. We’re incredibly proud of this project, and ecstatic to see innovative designs such as these receive a spotlight.
What is Composite Decking?
If you’ve never heard of composite decking, you may be trying to understand the hype surrounding it. A broadly used term, composite decking is actually used to refer to two ways of manufacturing deck boards. The first is done by combining plastic resin and wood waste such as sawdust, while the second uses a fully synthetic polymer solution. Both methods, however, heat the mixture and apply pressure to form the board core, which is then sealed by a protective shell providing color and finish. The result is a board that truly looks like real wood, without the upkeep or repairs inherent with real wood.
Now, not all composite decking is equal, and we know this. That’s why we choose to work with TimberTech, also highlighted in the Dwell article. Not only does TimberTech make beautiful material, but they actively source recycled materials as well as reintegrate the scraps produced in the manufacturing of their decking. In this year alone, they’re on track to recycle almost 300 million pounds of scrap and waste material. This is an eco-friendly practice we’re happy to support.
Why We Use It
If you’ve been a lifelong devotee to real wood decking, we understand. True wood decks are beautiful. But at Water and Earth, we try to look beyond the surface to see if traditional materials can’t be improved upon. In many ways, we think we’ve found that using composite decking.
Not only does it produce gorgeous results, but it’s a more sustainable alternative to traditionally sourced wood. While we recognize that customers may be concerned about price, the value of composite decking is that it will require far less maintenance, repairs, and general TLC down the road. This means that what you pay for upfront, you may very well end up saving later.
Last but certainly not least, composite decking gives us new creative freedom. With it, we are granted the ability to mix sizes, colors, pattern, inset, and more, allowing us to truly create outdoor designs that are tailored to our client’s space. Check out another one of projects featuring Timber Tech here.
Learn More at Dwell
At Water and Earth, we are committed to landscape design that pushes boundaries and stays consistently original. To do this, we need to use the best materials. In many ways, composite decking unlocks new levels of creative freedom, all while promising quality, longevity, and a beautiful finished product. To see pictures of our local San Jose project, learn more about why we love composite decking, and for more insight into TimberTech, check out the feature over at Dwell. As always, we are keeping project updates in design and construction updated on our instagram page.
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