Will composite decking lose its colour over time?
Overview
This is one of the most common questions that customers ask about composite decking when weighing up whether to refurbish their decking or replace it with a more robust composite counterpart.
Traditional decking made from wood is notoriously bad at staying colourfast and holding its colour. The chore of painting, staining, sanding and more is needed to keep the deck looking its best, whereas with composite decking, this strain is avoided through a fade resistant composition and requires far less ongoing maintenance.
Does composite decking fade?
Composite decking does fade over time - but not much. Composite decking undergoes an initial weathering process that precedes the colour stabilising. The reason for this is the natural UV exposure and natural wood oils (tannins) being washed out.
Top Tip: If you are worried about colour fade, the small fade is less noticeable on lighter colour boards!
Tests on composite decking have shown that colours can lighten around 15% with the main change being seen in the wood grain elements of the board. This is less noticeable on ridged decking board finishes rather than the authentic wood designs.
Uncapped decking boards
After about eight to ten weeks, the colour of the boards will stabilise. Continued exposure to the UV rays of the sun will lead to a gradual fade for uncapped decking boards, but the effects will be far less noticeable than you would see by having traditional wooden decking as your deck.
We have designed our composite decking boards with some of the newest capabilities on the market, including a UV stabiliser to help lessen the effects of fading - meaning boards that have an embossed surface or ridges will have even less of a visual change.
Capped decking boards
In comparison to uncapped decking boards, capped composite decking has a protective layer inbuilt that is completely fade resistant. The plastic capping on the boards ensures that the composite material mix keeps its colour. Dream Decking boards come with warranties to help with peace of mind!
Composite decking tannins
Composite decking boards that are uncapped are the same coloured composite material throughout the board. The wood fibres in the board contain tannins which are dark brown coloured. These tannins tend to be gradually washed out of the wood by a combination of rain and the general moisture in the air. This occurs during the first eight to ten weeks of the decking being outdoors in a process that is sometimes known as “extractive bleeding”.
The colour change caused by extractive bleeding is greatest in lighter coloured boards where the tannins form a higher percentage of the original colouration.
Removing tannin stains
Worry not about the tannin stains that you may get - this bleeding is easy to correct. You may first encounter these stains after a period of rain - especially if the materials have been installed during a drier part of the year.
The stains can be removed by washing with water if required, but otherwise they will disappear as the board has been wet and dried several times - for example after a couple of rain showers (but hopefully not too many so that you can’t enjoy your new decking!)