The use of American southern pine among UK deck installers has quadrupled in the past two years.
American Softwoods says there are now 12 installers using the species, up from just three in 2000, which it attributes to the “superior” nature of the wood compared with other softwoods and the success of its decking seminars last year.
Enquiries to American Softwoods, a UK-based association representing the Southern Pine Council and the Softwood Export Council, have doubled, with more than 600 trade and consumer calls received in the first six months of 2002.
Eddie Pearce, the association’s European marketing director, said: “Treated southern pine comes with a 40-year standard guarantee against rot or decay, compared with 25 years for European alternatives. This is a powerful endorsement of its suitability for the British climate and an obvious attraction to installers and consumers.”
The association’s seminars, organised in the wake of the BBC‘s Ground Force programme which popularised the use of timber decking, were run for installers, landscape companies and timber importers.
