What is the Lowest Cost Composite Decking Board? The Most? (30+ compared)

The cost of composite decking varies between brands and decking lines. Generally, composite decking will cost more than pressure-treated decking. The cost of composite decking depending greatly on profile, colour variation, streaking, and durability.

For a quick reference, composite decking will cost between $2.25 and $9.00 a linear foot, with the majority of compositing decking costing between $3 and $6 a linear foot. Prices will vary by boards and brands. The more expensive are usually PVC decking, the most economical a three-sided capped scalloped composite with a single board colour.

Wow! That is a broad price range. One decking board costing 4 times more than the other one. But before you give up and just install pressure-treated decking, which is still the cheapest decking on the market.

Let me give you some examples of prices of composite decking by brand and collection. And then explain what changes the cost of decking.

What will you pay more for, and what will save you money.

Comparing Composite Decking Costs by Brands

There are so many decking brands on the market these days.

Sometimes I long for the days when Trex was the only option and some knock of. Oh, 1996 was a good year. Then Trex only had one board option. Uncapped composite, so little to compare.

But today, we have these 10 popular composite decking brands to compare.

• Armadillo
• Deckorators
• Fiberon
• MoistureShield
• NewTechWood
• TimberTech/Azek
• Trex
• Wolf
• UltraDeck
• Zuri

There are many more but let’s keep the price comparison on these 10 brands.

Most Economical Costing Composite Decking [Less than $2.50]

Prices will change with each collection but if you are tight on cash, look to Trex, Fiberon, and TimberTech. If you’re in the Midwest, take a look at Ultra Deck, which also has some economical decking boards.

They all offer composite decking for less than $2.50 a lineal foot in most markets.

A 12′ X12′ composite decking costing less than $800.

You got fasteners on top of that, but we will get to that later. 

Nationally, Trex’s Basic Enhances boards are the most economical. Costing as little as $1.60 a lineal foot in some markets. More often closer to $2. Still, that is close to the price of pressure-treated.

Fiberon’s Goodlife and Armor Guard will cost a little bit more than Basic enhance. But still close to the $2.00 price.

In the midwest, you have Ultra Deck as an option.

Both Triumph and Rustic are less than $2.50 a lineal foot. Making it comparative to Trex, Fiberon and Armadillo economical deck boards.

For uncapped, hollow deck boards, Natural is Ultra Decks most economical line. It is hard to beat at around $1.60 a linear foot but is only warrantied for 10 years and will fade in colour. Not possibly, but practically guaranteed.

TimberTech also has a budget board. Their Prime+ Collection® but it’s on the higher end of $2.50, often costing more. They barely make the list of economical boards. You are more likely to pay more than $2.50 than less. But still it’s TimberTech most economical decking option

Deckorators also has three lines for less than $2.50. Distress and Tropics, which are exclusive to Lowes. Both with light streaking adding depth to their colour. Destress is unique with the feel of old fashion machine on the decking surface. A hint of back to the days of hand-scraping Barnwood.

Included with Deckorators economical decking is Trailhead. Rounding out their entry-level decking options.

Budget but Not Cheapest Composite Deck Boards. [$2.50 – $3.00]

Moving up slightly in price we have Budget decking. Not the Cheapest but still designed to fit a budget.

The $2.50 to $3.00 tier includes boards from Trex, Armadillo, NewTechWood and UltraDeck.

In the Mid-West, UltraDeck offers Fusion and Fusion 2.0. With scalloped bottom and better caps than their more economical lines. But both are less than $3.00 a lineal foot.

Again, Nationally, Trex comes in with some very economical options. With their “Better” decking offerings, Enhance Naturals and Select.

What separates Naturals from basic is colour variation. Where basics you have one solid colour decking, Naturals has a blend of shades. My personal favourite is Foggy Warf, which is grey, with black streaking with a blue hue. An attractive colour in my opinion.

Armadillo’s Lifestyle is close to $3 but is considered their higher-end composite decking. For what you get, it is very well priced. Including colour variation, which is typically reserved for higher-priced decking.

Mid-Range Cost Composite Decking [$3-6]

This is the biggest category of composite decking. Almost every brand offers something priced between $3 and $6 a lineal foot.

What sets this price bracket apart from the lower ends is colour, performance and warranties.

There is just too many options to mention each one individually. But I would like to highlight a few.

First, Wolf’s Serenity PVC decking. Coming in on the low end of mid-range decking costs. Which is truly amazing considering its durability along with many other characteristics that makes PVC superior to traditional composite decking.

“We offer premium products without the premium price.”

Wolf

Wolf has achieved this by offering a premium PVC decking board close to the entry-level pricing.

Deckorators also sells their premium mineral-based composites at this price point.

Mineral-based composites is superior to composite decking with minimal expansion and contraction and outstanding traction. Making Frontier, Vault and Voyage competitive with premium PVC boards and in many ways superior.

Fiberon’s Concordia at the time is unmatched in warranty. Coming with a lifetime warranty of 50 years. Competing with PVC but still made with wood fibres and recycled content. Most other composite decking is only backed with a 25-year warranty. TimberTech goes a little further with 35 years, but Concordia is a level to itself. If you never want to replace your decking, consider Concordia.

In the middle is Trex’s Transcend. Two things to highlight about Transcend.

• Superior Cap
• Solid profile

I have built many decks with both Trex’s Enhance Basics and Transcend. During construction, when the potential for decking damage is the highest, Transcend is more resistant to scratches than their more economical lines. It is one hard cap.

Also, Transcend is a full profile decking. Which allows the use of cortex plugs. Hiding all the deck fasteners even on the outer edge of the deck.

But the most compelling reason to buy mid-range decking is appearance. This price range has variegation colouring, streaking and realistic wood grains.  Eye-catching decking. Both in the store and decks everywhere.

High-End Cost Composite Decking [$6+]

Premium decking at a premium price.

You don’t expect or want a BMW to cost the same as a Ford. A BMW is both a status symbol and a performance vehicle.

 “Designed to last and impress.”

High-end decking is the same. Priced to match their performance. These deck boards are not looking to save but have a deck un-matched in appearance and performance. That the second guest steps on your deck, they know it’s the jewel of your backyard.

Zuri PVC decking is designed to bring the beauty of hardwood outdoors. I have seen no decking that matches Zuri is appearance. With names like Walnut, Chestnut, Pecan, Brazilia, Weathered Gray, and Hickory, you know you are installing the finest imitation wood decking.

Zuri is also designed with one of the most durable caps on the market. Withstanding levels of wear that would destroy most other decking. Resisting food spills stains for a full 30 days. Zuri has created a unmatched decking both in appearance and performance.

Unfortunately, Zuri warrantied does not match its performance. With a entry-level of only 25 years. This is disappointing considering how well it performs.

Azek’s Vintage is hands down their best-looking decking. Closely resembling the look of wood without all the maintenance. Backed by a 50-year warranty.

MoistureShield, as their name implies, is all about resisting decking damage from moisture. The number one reason for decking failure.

MoistureShield’s Vision line combines their patent encapsulating technology prevent any water from damaging the decking with appearance. So much so that you can build a deck underwater using MoistureShield.

All MoistureShield decking comes with a 50-year structural warranty, but Vision also includes the same length warranty for stain and fade. Saying how much they believe in their decking to last even in the wettest conditions.

I would not say Vision is the best-looking decking on the market, but if water is a concern for you, MoistureShield is designed for that.

Factors Impacting the Cost of Composite Decking

Even with over 30 deck boards prices listed, I am sure that there are many more available. And I am fully aware that prices are affected by markets. You cannot expect to pay the same amount for Trex’s Transcend in Whitehorse, Yukon as Austin, Texas.

But there are a few ways in which manufacturers attempt to reduce cost which you can readily tell the price of the board.

Profiles

Composite decking being an engineered product, allows for reduction of material and cost.

“less material = less cost”

There are 3 common ways to reduce composite decking material and costs.

1. Thinner boards
2. Hollow decking
3. Scalloped bottoms

Trex Select is a good example of thinner boards. It is only 7/8″ (22mm) thick compared to the industry standard of 1″ (25mm). It may not seem like much but it brings Select into the lower price bracket. Saving you on average $1.80 a lineal foot.

On a much broader note. Almost all synthetic decking is thinner than traditional decking. It use to be standard that decking boards were 1 ½” (38mm) thick. Now, even wood decking is often only 1″ (25mm) thick.

TimberTech and MoistureShield have thicker boards, but this is the exception, not the rule.

Hollow decking is not very common but is a way to reduce material costs. NewTechWood is an example of hollow boards. With round cylinders reducing the weight of the decking, cost and allowing two different finishes on the same deck board.

The most common way to reduce material is scalloping. Almost every budget deck board is scalloped. It is the easiest way to reduce cost without impacting appearance.

The number, width and depth of channels will vary a little between brands, but all are able to reduce cost by removing material on the underside of the decking.

Colouring

Next to profile, is colouring. The greater spectrum of colour, comes increase beauty and cost. The fewer colour, the lower chance of defects in manufacturing the less it will cost.

Almost all lower-end decking by price will be a solid colour. Often a shade of grey or brown.

As the complexity of colour increases, so does the price.

Warranty

Warranty often reflects the quality of the product, but it is also a liability for the company. Regardless of how well the decking is produced, there will be some “lemons,” causing a warranty claim. The longer the warranty, the greater chance of a claim.

To provide a longer warranty the company has to charge extra to have sufficient cash for warranty claims.

25 years is the industry standard, and you shouldn’t install any composite decking with less. But as the years increase, so will cost.

Fasteners

The hidden cost. No pun intended.

But we shop around for the best price decking, but the required fasteners can change the price by as much as a dollar per square foot.

An easy example is Trex vs TimberTech. Trex’s hidden fasteners will cost around $1 a square foot, CONCEALoc required by TimberTech $1.66. For a 500 square feet deck, that’s over $300 difference.

There is many more factors when deciding which decking is best for your deck. I hope you are better educated to make the right decking solution for you. If you are trying to decide between different brands check out some of the “VS” articles.

Like TREX VS TIMBERTECH, two of the leading brands by market share.