Every year, thousands of decks are built in Canada, many of them with composite decking. But of all these decks made in Canada, how many are made with composite decking made in Canada?
2 brands make composite decking in Canada, TruNorth and Lanai.
The most recognizable of these brands is TruNorth
. Its name gives that away.
But what do these Canadian brands of decking have to offer beyond being manufactured in Canada?
Characteristics of TruNorth Composite Decking Made in Canada
TruNorth also purchased Clubhouse decking based out of Florida and moved manufacturing to Brantford, Ontario. Unlike TruNorth’s other rice husks lines, TruEcono and TruNorth Solid Core, Clubhouse is PVC Polymer Decking.
There Clubhouse is a made with a high level of traction, making it one of the best composites for slip-resistance.
TruNorth is not new to composite materials but has been extruding plastic for over 50 years in Canada.
TruNorth Rice Husk Composite Decking
A unique element of TruNorth decking is the rice husk. It is not the only company that makes composite decking with rice husks, but this sets it apart from many of the big brands of wood composite decking like Trex and TimberTech.
TruNorth is made from 95% recycled material if you include that rice hulls are an agricultural waste product.
The rice husks are mixed with high-density polyethylene (HDPE), a winning combination.
One of the biggest advantages of rice husk decking is low water absorption. Making TruNorth decking an option for decks close to water.
Unfortunately, unlike their Clubhouse PVC boards, TruNorth rice husk decking is only average for traction.
| Dry | Wet | |
| TruNorth Slip Resistance | 0.57 | 0.53 |
I say average, but the traction rating is better than Trex decking. Something to consider if you want to buy Canadian.
Their boards are also designed to be cooler with Heat Blocking Technology. Not the same, but MoistureShield makes a similar claim with their “Cool deck Technology”.
Along with TimberTech Azek which promises to be 30° cooler than the competition.
These cooler boards come in 12 different colours available for both their lines, TruEcono and TruNorth Solid Core.
The boards are capped on all four sides with the same woodgrain embossing allowing boards to be flipped. Going one step further thanTimberTech has fully wrapped boards, but the bottoms are not textured.
But similar to Fiberon’s Concordia collection, which is also wrapped on all four sides and is reversible.
TruNorth Clubhouse PVC Decking
Similar to TimberTech and Azek, both companies merged into one brand, selling composite and PVC decking.
With the purchase of Clubhouse from Tapco in 2018, TruNorth also has a PVC decking among their Canadian-made decking.
The solid decking is extruded in Canada from foamed polyvinyl chloride (PVC) with an acrylic cap. Giving it increases durability, colour and traction.
Again not the same but similar to Zuri decking. PVC with an acrylic cap.
The Clubhouse collection contains 2 lines with 10 colours to choose from.
One of the greatest advantages of Clubhouse decking is slip resistance.
| Wet | Dry | |
| Clubhouse Slip-Resistance | 0.86 | 0.97 |
Back by a 25-year warranty. A shorter warranty for a PVC decking but still long enough to assure homeowners they can look forward to enjoying their deck for years to come.
Characteristics of Lanai Composite Decking Made in Canada
Lanai is also a PVC (PolyVinyl Chloride) based composite decking. But with a distinctly different approach. Making their deck boards in four-foot planks. The idea is to create the look of hardwood on your porch with a low-maintenance decking material.
“Proudly headquartered in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, we knew how important it was to create a decking product that could handle temperature swings, snow, ice, salt, sun, and anything else Mother Nature throws at it.”
Interestingly Lanai is not named after some world-renown Canadian landmark but after a Hawaiian island. The reason is that the word doubles in use by the locals to also refer to an outdoor living space in which to enjoy nature. One of the biggest reasons we build decks in our homes.
Lanai has a limited colour selection of only 4 colours. All these appeals to scenes you would enjoy on the beach.
These colours are warrantied against fading and staining for 25 years. A pretty standard warranty length for composite decking.
But many PVC boards offer a “Lifetime Warranty”, which Lanai does offer for the structural component of their decking. Being a full PVC deck board, it will not rot and will last a long time with nothing to rot.
Conclusion of Canadian-Made Composite Decking
If it’s important to you to have Canadian-made decking, manufactured in the great white north, your choices are limited. With two Canadian-based companies, TruNorth and Lunai that make their decking here in Canada.
The good news is TruNorth has many of the features of top composite decking brands like Fiberon, TimberTech and Trex. Meaning you can enjoy the benefit of these top brands while still buying Canadian.
