AB Building Products performed a temperature test on the hottest day of the year, comparing a range of decking from a range of decking manufacturers, Aluminium decking, Composite, Foam core and Porcelain decking.

A common question our customers have is; “Does your decking get hot in direct sunlight?”. Many of us have been there, it’s the weekend, the sun is out, you walk outside on to your decking and within seconds you’re jumping around like a cat on a hot tin roof.

With the UK finally getting a summer and the mercury rising into the 40’s, we felt that it was a great opportunity to conduct a non-scientific, in-house test. 

At AB Building Products we can supply a wide range of decking brands for any project, from a small back garden deck, fire-rated XDECK or CDECK for balconies and rooftops, walkways, marina’s. We are non-bias and simply want to offer the customer the best choice, the best advice and the best product for their projects. So if it’s half a dozen boards for your garden or half a dozen container loads for a complete apartment block, we can help.

The brands tested are as follows (left to right in the videos and photo above):

1. NewTechWood Essential Range

2. NewTechWood Pro Range

3. NewTechWood Naturale Range

4. Trex Decking

5. AB Composite Decking Tiles

6. AB Composite Decking Boards

7. Cladco Anthracite

8. Cladco Ivory

9. Millboard Antique Oak

10. Millboard Coppered Oak

11. AB Phoenix CDECK Fibre Cement

12. AB Phoenix XDECK Porcelain Walnut

13. AB Phoenix XDECK Porcelain Limed Oak

14. Standard 2×2 timber (Timber decking not available on the day)

15. Adek Aluminum Decking

16. None branded standard Aluminum Decking

We set up a simple test on top of a aluminium joist in open sunlight. The samples do vary in size as these are simple the sample sizes each manufacturer supply. 

We perform regular measurements throughout the day using an infrared laser thermometer. We believed that by using different brands, different core materials (WPC, Foam, Aluminium, Wood and Porcelain), different structured samples (hollow and solid) and a range of colours, this would be a very interesting test.

Test Conditions; Ambient temperature: 10am 28°C – 3pm 39°C; Test date: 19th July 2022; Location: Andover, Hampshire.

The video below is the 10am test.

While our tests are performed in-house, they provided us with some useful indicative results to help our customers understand the ramifications of using different decking materials and even colour choice.