Decking outdoor events are big business for decking.
Outdoor events are worth £1.1bn a year to the British economy, according to trade body the Business visits & events Partnership, with festivals and cultural events contributing a further £1.1bn. In recent years decking has been taking a growing share of the pie.

Some 160,000 visitors to the Burghley Horse trials last September trod over 3,000 linear metres of SnowDek boards.

The Land Rover stand at the goodwood Festival of Speed was fitted with decking from Snows timber. "Orders for significant sporting events in summer 2015 means sports fans will find SnowDek helping them safely to negotiate around courts, courses and riversides, as our business with outdoor event organisers is expanding," said Sales & Marketing Director Mark Bowers.

With the Health & Safety executive’s focus on slips, trips and falls in recent years, and the inherently uneven ground upon which many outdoor events take place, event organisers are attempting to reduce the risk of claims by visitors through providing walkways and outdoor exhibition stands with a firm footing of decking.

Many firms provide linked temporary plastic walkways, however, prestige events and premium brands exhibiting at major events are opting for the safe, solid and up-market naturalism of timber decking, often in the form of anti-slip deck boards. "Environmental policies amongst event management companies have also produced a demand for decking certified to FSC and/or PEFC," said Mr. Bowers.

Lignia expands into Decking
Fibre 7, the producer of Lignia modified softwood, will be another new player in the Uk decking market this year with its Lignia XD external performance grade.

The company is close to completing negotiations on a European wide distribution deal.

"You are looking at a product that has a 50-year warranty above ground and one which we can dial up the colour or density and that will be locked in all the way through, so the cherry or walnut or oak and the weight will always be the same," said Fibre 7 director Paul Duncan.

Lignia modified wood has been used in other applications for some time, manufactured from radiata pine from new Zealand. In the Uk it is predominantly used in door lippings.

An XD version for external uses has been licensed in the US and it is about to come to the UK now that a european plant in Slovenia is about to be commissioned. Fibre 7 will use a combination of logs from new Zealand and europe.

The resulting boards have additional stability, are defect free and available in much longer length than many hardwood and premium timbers. Lignia XD is also pH neutral so there are no issues with laminating, coatings and fixings.

"New Zealand is where you can get 6m clear lengths, so we will be using those for the long lengths and european timber for the 2.4-3m lengths. our density is 650kg per cubic metre, but we can go up to 1000kg if needed and we can make it any colour – blue or orange if you like. It is all locked in," Mr Duncan said.

Fibre 7 will target the composite decking market but the company believes there may also be an element of trading up that would compete at the high end with a hardwood-focused market.

"Generally ours is more expensive than some, but cheaper than ipé and others, but we have the flexibility, the performance and the choice."

Dura Takes composite route
Dura composites was persuaded to diversify from its fibreglass and composite marine pontoon business by customers that wanted a decorative timber appearance for decking.

It now supplies wood-plastic composite decking in a standard 146x22mm board, a 225x30mm heavy-duty board and more recently a 150x22mm in a composite material.

"The standard pontoon board was 295mm so we had a lot to learn about our extrusion techniques," the company said.

"Maintenance is a very important issue; hotels for instance do not want to get in the way of their guests, and no commercial customer wants its gardens or walkways closed. also it doesn’t weather so they know what they will be getting year after year and their own customers are also interested in savings the forests."

TDCA App is in Hot Demand
The Timber Decking and Cladding Association App is now available on Android and iPhone and has attracted more than 600 downloads since it was introduced. It provides deck builders with a quick and simple means of quantifying the materials needed to produce a pressure treated softwood deck.

The app is aimed at professional and DIY installers, and can be downloaded free from iTunes. It provides design and build guidance and enables users to key in decking dimensions and materials and produce a cutting and parts list automatically.

The association said the aim of the app is to make decking installation easier and also to help improve workmanship, cutting down on installation problems which lead to product failure and consequent complaints. It was developed from a Swedish equivalent devised by the Swedish Wood Preserving Association, and was produced by the same Swedish software house.

"It is now available on Android," said Janet Sycamore, TDCA director of operations. "It is a real help; you just put in the dimensions and it calculates everything down to the number of boards and how many screws you need."

Deckwright targeted at merchant trade
A retrofit anti-slip decking product is now being marketed as a retail product for merchants.

DeckWright, the flexible strip made from aggregate and resin, is secured with adhesive between the grooves of previously fitted timber decking. The makers believe it provides a professional looking and long lasting anti-slip system suitable for the most heavily used areas.

It was developed by Hull-based WJ Group, the timber component specialist, and has been approved by the Health and Safety Laboratory in Buxton in accordance with BS7976: 2002.

"It took some time to develop the optimum insert that retains the same qualities as our DeckWright system for new decking," said managing director Mark Eggleston.

"The result is proving of great interest to the timber and building trade and there is a real opportunity to offer this as a retail product in merchants’ stores."

The company has developed a rigid card retail display stand that can hold 48 coils of 2.5m length within a floor space of around half a square metre. A 90-second video plays on an integrated LCD screen, explaining how to use the inserts and highlights the safety aspects of the product.

DeckWright inserts can be retailed from the same stand in the coil format or 25m kits.

Aquadeck provides Drainage channels
Aquadeck has continued to make inroads into the decking market where anti-slip applications are key, but also provides special draining capabilities that add to the performance and durability.

A standard board of Scandinavian redwood Vths with two strips filled with an EPDM (Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer) rubber crumb provide an anti-slip surface and also collect water. The water permeates through to a 6mm channel that runs the length of the board into which holes are drilled to allow the water to drain out.

Manufacturer Gripsure said that in traditional rubber infill decking, boards can retain more than half a litre of water, which risks algae growth and the water freezing within the board, creating a slippery surface.

"The concept of rubber on timber decking has been around for a long time, but it is the draining and the method of drainage that is the change," a Gripsure spokesman said.

"It is aimed at anywhere for young people, schools nurseries, play areas, around public areas for children in zoos or holiday parks.

The product is FSC accredited and has the 15-year preservative warranty.