Composite or Wood? Choosing Decking for a Florida Dock

Composite decking costs more up front than pressure-treated pine and lasts longer with less work. That is the standard comparison and it is true as far as it goes, but on a dock in Central Florida it misses the two things that actually decide which one you will be happy with.

The first is heat. A dock is the one deck people use with bare feet, coming out of the water, at the hottest part of the day. Dark composite boards absorb a great deal of solar heat and can become genuinely painful to stand on by mid-afternoon; the same product in a light colour is fine. This is a colour decision far more than a material decision, and it is the one homeowners most often regret, because the sample looked good indoors.

The second is what happens underneath. Neither material stops the framing from rotting, and the framing is what fails. A composite surface on wet, undersized joists gives you a twenty-five-year deck board on a ten-year frame, and you will be pulling the expensive surface off to get at the cheap part. Whichever you pick on top, the money that matters goes into piles driven to bearing, marine-grade framing and the right fixings.

On fixings specifically: stainless or hot-dip galvanised, and not a mixture. Standard fasteners in a wet, sometimes brackish environment corrode and streak, and mixing metals accelerates it. This is a small line on the estimate that decides how the dock looks in five years.

Where wood still wins is repairability and feel. A pine board is cheap, available anywhere, and can be swapped by anyone with a saw; people who like maintaining things and want the look of timber are not making a mistake. Composite wins if you would rather never think about it — no sanding, no sealing, no splinters — and are choosing a light colour.

Deciding between them for a new dock, or wondering whether your existing frame can take a new surface? Call Sunrise Deck & Dock at (407) 530-7796 and we'll look at what you've got.