Exterior decking (for a sala floor and exterior walkways)

[DineshR]

Hello,

 

I am currently building a house and would like some guidance on material to be used for the flooring of a sala and potentially exterior walkways. The flooring will be exposed to the weather and must tolerate rain as well as heat.

 

While good wood would be a good solution, wood such as teak is very expensive as I have found out. So, I started looking at alternatives and have found a few.

 

- From HomePro - they offer a fake wood plastic product that looks like wood and they claim can be used outdoors without any issues.

- From SCG - they offer the SCG deck system - I think is a fiber cement plank that also looks like wood and they also claim can be used outdoors.

- and then there are companies that offer wood such as treated pine etc which are more expensive.

 

For cost reasons, I am looking more at either the HomePro or SCG solutions.

 

Would appreciate guidance from anyone that may have used either of these products and can advise me on what the best product would be ? Or alternatively, suggest any other alternatives.

 

Thank you in advance for your help.

[thaibeachlovers]

Assuming the house is in Thailand, why don't you do what the Thais do and make it concrete with tiles? I think Thais know best what works in Thailand.

However, be smart and use non slip tiles so they don't become lethal when wet.

[beachproperty]

I don't understand .....why your mind is set on a wood product or similar. Tile is the best weather resistant material. I have used ruff tile (non-slip) surrounding my house and for the driveway.

 

Good luck whatever you choose.

[thaibeachlovers]

1 minute ago, beachproperty said:

I don't understand .....why your mind is set on a wood product or similar. Tile is the best weather resistant material. I have used ruff tile (non-slip) surrounding my house and for the driveway.

 

Good luck whatever you choose.

I agree. Unless able to afford teak, wood would be the worst choice IMO. Termites love the stuff. Next door to where I lived an empty house had all it's wood architrave eaten away by them.

How many houses does one see being made of wood? Not many.

[sometimewoodworker]

6 hours ago, DineshR said:

I am currently building a house and would like some guidance on material to be used for the flooring of a sala and potentially exterior walkways. The flooring will be exposed to the weather and must tolerate rain as well as heat.

 

While good wood would be a good solution,

Wood is a bad choice as the heat wet and termites will show you.

 

we have used 20mm sherawood  in both our outdoor salas 

 

they are about 4 and 8 years in use and while they could do with some paint, are in perfect condition.

[Crossy]

We used Conwood Decking for our deck on a steel framework.

 

The decking needs similar support spacing to wood and is resistant to any of the local wildlife. 

 

You can get pre-coloured or use the special paint for a wood-like look.

[mogandave]

For the walkways (as long as they are not elevated) I would go with paving stones. 
 

For the Sala I would go with one of the sherawood type products. 

[DineshR]

Thank you all for your replies. I currently use Sherawood type planks for wall siding as well as a makeshift fenced area for pets and for these applications they are fine. But for flooring, I don't believe they are strong enough.

@Crossy - thanks for your information. That is exactly what I am looking for and I've already gone through Conwood's website. Will go to a nearby retailer and find out more. Thank you.

@mogandave Yes, I think I will go with the type of small stone flooring similar to the ones you see in swimming pool areas (called chattahoochee in the US). I just checked here and they run about 280 baht/sq m (m/t and labor) (without the top coat). This is cheaper than good tile and the plus is that hard water stains are not nearly as visible on this type of floor as opposed to tile.