Best composite decking UK: seven checks before you buy

Search for the best composite decking in the UK and you will find a dozen lists written by people who have never laid a board. Composite is not a single product: there are hollow and solid boards, capped and uncapped, and prices from £25 to £90 a length for the same size. "Best" depends on what you are building and what you want to spend. This guide gives the checks that separate a good board from a bad one at any price, says honestly where ours sits, and helps you decide whether a premium board is worth the extra.

The short answer

For a family garden deck on a sensible budget, the best composite decking is a hollow WPC board from a range that sells the matching frame, clips, fascia, trims and caps, with a written ten-year warranty and free samples so you can see the colour outside first. That is what we sell, at £25 for a 3.6m board in eight colours. If you want stain-proof, fade-proof performance for a south-facing deck you will keep for twenty-five years, a capped board at two to three times the price is the better buy. In between, the extra money mostly buys weight.

Seven checks for any composite board

1. Hollow or solid, and does the seller say? Hollow is lighter, cheaper and fine at 350mm joist centres. Solid is heavier, quieter and dearer. A seller who will not say which is selling you a photo. Our types guide explains both.
2. Capped or uncapped. A capped board has a plastic shell that resists stains and fades less. An uncapped board weathers slightly in its first six months and marks if grease is left on it. Capping is the main thing the premium price buys.
3. The warranty, in writing. Ten years is the floor. Read what it excludes; most exclude colour change in the first months, which is normal for every board.
4. A full system. Boards without matching fascia, L-trim, step edge and end caps leave you improvising the edges in a different colour. Check the accessories exist before you fall for a board.
5. Published fitting figures. Joist centres, expansion gaps, clip spacing. If the seller cannot tell you, they do not know their own board.
6. Samples in your hand, outside. Colour on a screen is a guess. Any seller confident in the product sends samples free.
7. Price per square metre, boards only, then the whole deck. Compare like with like. A cheap board with expensive clips is not cheap.

Where ours sits

Ours are hollow, uncapped, reversible wood-plastic composite boards: 3.6m at £25 and 4.8m at £34, about £46 per square metre in boards. Eight colours, all the same price, with a matching fascia, L-trim, step edge and end caps, our own composite battens and recycled plastic joists for the frame, hidden clips, a ten-year warranty and free samples. They are made for joists at 350mm centres and will bounce on wider ones. They lighten slightly in their first summer and then hold. They mark if you leave barbecue grease on them and wipe clean if you do not.

What they are not: they are not a capped board, they are not solid, and they are not the board for a commercial terrace or a deck in full sun that you want to look identical in year fifteen. For that, spend more. For a back garden, they are the board most people should buy, which is why we sell them.

Budget, mid-range and premium compared

	Budget hollow WPC (ours)	Mid-range solid or capped	Premium capped solid
Price per 3.6m board	£25	£45 to £65	£65 to £90
Boards per m²	about £46	£85 to £120	£120 to £170
Stain resistance	Wipe promptly	Good	Very good
Fade	Slight in months one to six, then stable	Slight	Minimal
Weight	Light, one person	Medium	Heavy, two people
Warranty	10 years	10 to 20	25 years
Best for	Family gardens, patios, budgets under £1,500	Sunny decks, long ownership	Commercial, hospitality, forever homes

The frame, clips, trims and labour cost the same in all three columns. On a 4.8m by 4m deck the board choice alone moves the bill by £750 to £1,450.

Colour matters more than brand

Whichever tier you buy, the decision people regret is the colour, not the board. Dark boards run hot in sun; light boards show dirt; every board lightens a little in its first months. Pick from samples outside, in the morning and the evening, and read the colour guide before you order. The problems guide covers everything else that goes wrong and how to avoid it, most of which is the frame, not the board.

Decide in three steps

1. Size the deck and get the whole-deck price with the cost guide or by sending us the measurements.
2. Order free samples in two or three colours and leave them outside for a week.
3. If the deck is under £1,500 in materials and it is a family garden, buy the hollow board and spend the difference on a rot-proof frame. If it is a south-facing showpiece you will own for decades, buy capped.