Decks, Patios, Porches and Docks - Fire performance for composite decking
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creiter
05-30-03, 10:22 AM
This is a link to a site that has some good information about various composite decking.
They list the composition of the various types, pictures of each, and some really great photos of how each decking type fared when put to the flame.
I found this site a while ago after my parents told me a house burned near them, and the reason was that the composite deck caught on fire and the local fire company could not get it under control. I don't know what kind of decking they had, but some are definitely better than others when put to the flame.
http://www.ucfpl.ucop.edu/WDFireResearch.htm
They list the composition of the various types, pictures of each, and some really great photos of how each decking type fared when put to the flame.
I found this site a while ago after my parents told me a house burned near them, and the reason was that the composite deck caught on fire and the local fire company could not get it under control. I don't know what kind of decking they had, but some are definitely better than others when put to the flame.
http://www.ucfpl.ucop.edu/WDFireResearch.htm
Bruce H
05-30-03, 11:43 AM
Thankyou, creiter, for posting this site.
What an eye-opener with respect to fire performance. How would you like to have the decking shown in the first photo in an area you had to go across in a fire emergency? Your escape route is gone in 2-1/2 minutes!
Bruce
What an eye-opener with respect to fire performance. How would you like to have the decking shown in the first photo in an area you had to go across in a fire emergency? Your escape route is gone in 2-1/2 minutes!
Bruce
lefty
05-30-03, 01:16 PM
Good site, and, like Bruce said, an eye-opener.
But my question is, what would the results been for the redwood had the pieces they used been 20+ years old, instead of less than 2 years old? I ask, because of all of the redwood decks I have torn out in the past 8 or 10 years (probably about 30 to 40), fully half of them were over 20 years old, and I only know of 2 that were less than 12 years old.
I noticed a link in that site for comments -- I'll ask them.
My wood stove is anything but a controlled scientific enviornment. But I know how long a chunk of redwwod 2X6 that is less than 5 years old lasts, and I know how long a piece that is 20 or more years old lasts.
Guess we'll have to wait for more than 10 years to find out how a 20+ year old piece of composite would fair in this type of test. (Trex, the oldest of the bunch, has only been around for 10 years at this point.)
But my question is, what would the results been for the redwood had the pieces they used been 20+ years old, instead of less than 2 years old? I ask, because of all of the redwood decks I have torn out in the past 8 or 10 years (probably about 30 to 40), fully half of them were over 20 years old, and I only know of 2 that were less than 12 years old.
I noticed a link in that site for comments -- I'll ask them.
My wood stove is anything but a controlled scientific enviornment. But I know how long a chunk of redwwod 2X6 that is less than 5 years old lasts, and I know how long a piece that is 20 or more years old lasts.
Guess we'll have to wait for more than 10 years to find out how a 20+ year old piece of composite would fair in this type of test. (Trex, the oldest of the bunch, has only been around for 10 years at this point.)