Summary
• The RMI market has benefited the decking sector.
• Sales of structural balustrades have grown.
• Softwood accounts for most decking, but hardwood use is increasing.
• The decking aftercare market is now conservatively estimated at £40m.

Decking sales may not be romping away as they have done in the past, but they are providing some very welcome steady growth and stability. According to the Timber Decking & Cladding Association (TDCA) the total market value across commercial/domestic, DIY/professional installation and materials sectors was £135m in 2008 and that figure is likely to ring true for 2009.

The product’s resilience has thrown a life buoy to manufacturers and retailers alike and, according to the TDCA, sales have particularly held up through traditional timber and builders merchants, prompting one of them to say “thank goodness for decking”.

The repair, maintenance and improvement (RMI) market and the number of people taking “staycations” are held up as the most obvious reasons for continued sales. “A lot of people are staying put and seeing out the house price fluctuations,” said Steve Young, TDCA operations director. But, he added, they still have aspirations for their home environment, especially if they’re spending their summer holiday in it, too, and decking is the perfect aspirational addition to the garden.

The “improve not move” trend, and decent early summer weather, resulted in improved sales, agreed Catriona Nicholls, decking product manager for Richard Burbidge. “As the economy has started to gain some stability, consumer spending is steadily increasing and many are now investing in home improvements that provide instant gratification, such as decking,” she said.

It’s the same story for BSW Timber, which has seen improved sales of its Timeless Timber range of decking. “Our customers appear to be more keen to stay in their current properties and improve these rather than move,” said Bryan Crennell, group marketing manager. “We’re seeing the greatest level of growth in domestic decking as a result,” he said, “although the commercial decking sector is starting to show real signs of growth and we have announced a few deals in the past six months, especially within the hospitality sector.”

According to the TDCA, the commercial versus domestic split was roughly 30:70 in 2008, but it senses a skew in favour of commercial thanks to “some of the fiscal stimulus involving some major infrastructure projects”, anticipating more like 50:50 this year.

In terms of domestic installation, DIY has the largest – and growing – slice of the market. “The traditional split between professional installation and DIY was 70:30 in favour of DIY, but, largely as a consequence of the recession, it will now be slightly more in favour of DIY, say 75:25, as people try to save money,” said Mr Young.

This trend is certainly borne out by the record number of visitors on the TDCA’s website (www.tda.org.uk ), indicating that people are seeking advice on tackling a decking project themselves.

In addition to the installation of new decks, buoyancy is also being injected into the market as a result of replacements and upgrades. For example, said Ms Nicholls, “landscape gardeners are seeing demand increase, but are also securing more high value projects as homeowners become more knowledgeable about timber quality and look to differentiate their gardens”.

“The real areas for growth within the [domestic decking] sector are hardwoods and new balustrade systems.”

“There has been a strong trend in ‘remodelling’,” agreed Mr Young. “The early adopters of decking are now extending or replacing them with larger, more elaborate designs. Remodelling accounted for about 10% of the UK decking market in 2008 and we’re expecting that to rise to about 12% this year.”

The balustrade market has been boosted as a result of the move towards raised and split level decks. “Building Regs state that you have to have a safety barrier where there is a change of height of 600mm, so we’re seeing big advances in structural balustrades,” said Mr Young.

Indeed, Richard Burbidge, all of whose products conform to British Standards, has seen its balustrade business perform “better than anticipated”. And, it points out, balustrades can be retrofitted to an existing deck to provide a more instant-fix upgrade.

Remodelling may also include upgrading materials and although softwood still takes the lion’s share, hardwoods are creeping up and should hit 16-17% this year.

Modified woods, such as heat-treated deckboards, are also gaining ground and “have great potential”, but the composite materials (combinations of wood dust and polymers) continue to be regarded as a niche material. “It only accounts for about 1% of the market,” said Mr Young. “For certain applications it may be appropriate, but people still seem to want the benefits of natural wood – the warmth you get when you walk out onto a wooden deck in bare feet can’t be replicated.”

A trip to any DIY shed will provide ample proof that the decking aftercare market has also taken off in a big way. “As people have become more aware of wood they have become more aware of how they should look after it,” said Mr Young. “As a result, the aftercare sector has grown massively – from next to nothing in 2000, to one that is conservatively estimated at £40m this year.”