The first step in weatherproof decking is to walk around and inspect the deck for any signs of rotting, loose boards, popped nails, or splintering wood. Now is the time for repairs, from tightening loose fasteners or nails or replacing damaged decking. Once that’s completed, you’re ready for the next step.

Seal and coat for longevity and looks

Over time you need to reapply stains and paint as well as seal. By sealing your deck, you can protect it from the deluge of fall and winter moisture and water penetration and ultimately reduce the risks of rot and mold growth. While you don’t have to worry about rot and mold growth with Accoya, other natural wood options require proper sealing. With transparent stains to retain a natural wood look, the material will eventually fade to a lovely natural silver-gray patina. If the natural look is not your thing, you can stain Accoya any color, even black, using oil- or water-based stains. Our stains enhance your wood deck’s natural beauty and offer added UV protection to shield it from the sun’s harmful rays.

Give your deck a bath

After inspecting your deck, grab a stiff brush and clear water to clean your Accoya wood deck if you notice debris or dirt. This process can be improved by wetting the brush before cleaning, as the soaking softens the biofilm. (Decking forms a “biofilm,” a layer that holds water and reduces the drying speed. Regular cleaning can help control its build-up.) For more persistent stains, a cleaning agent can be used, and, at Accoya, we recommend a cleaning agent with a PH value below nine and rinse the decking thoroughly with clear water. Never use a high-pressure washer, even on the low setting— you can destroy your wood deck.

When choosing a color for your house deck designs, select options that complement the color of your house and align with its style. Bright colors might work on a modern home but look out of place on a farmhouse-style home, for instance. Consider harmonizing two color options so the house and deck color combinations seamlessly blend.

For instance, earth-tone-colored homes with darker-shade decking or timber decking would work, or a classic white house matches well with a natural wood finish or a light gray deck, and Accoya natural or color can deliver.

For a bold and eye-catching look, if your home is painted a neutral color (white or light gray), coat your deck with a vibrant hue like teal, red, or deep green to add personality and a modern or eclectic style.

Grey, a popular choice today, is a versatile yet neutral color that can work well with many home styles and designs. But with any exterior product, it needs to withstand the elements and stay looking as fresh as the day it was built. Accoya Color Grey is the perfect deck and siding choice that complements almost any other color. Better yet, it’s also an ultra-high performance decking product that combines the beauty and benefits of 100% natural wood but without the drawbacks. Colored through completely from surface to core, the gorgeous Color Grey delivers a premium, lasting look.

To learn more about Accoya Color Grey and to get inspired by decking projects, visit here.

With a 50 year above ground warranty, Accoya wood offers architects, specifiers and homeowners a material that will last. It is an ideal choice for decking, siding, doors and windows. The consistency, quality and stability are ideal for a wide variety of finishes that will look better and last longer.

Accoya is made from sustainably sourced fast-growing wood and contains no plastics or toxic elements to leach out, prevent recycling or cause subsequent pollution problems. It combines exceptional performance, high-quality characteristics and market-leading sustainability credentials, with Cradle to Cradle Certified™ Gold status and many more environmental accreditations.

We want to inform, create awareness, and above all inspire people with what they can accomplish using Accoya® wood, and our new website is designed to do just that.

We still have all the information, data and details about Accoya’s fantastic qualities and sustainability, but now we’re really showing just what you can do with it.

There are new ways to explore our major applications of windows, doors, cladding/siding and decking, and an extensive (and filterable) projects section that highlights some of the amazing places and buildings around the world that feature Accoya® wood.

We want to provide an online experience that delivers useful, relevant and inspirational content to all our audiences, and helps you find what you want and need through either browsing or searching – and our new ‘Knowledge Hub’ can help answer any questions you may have.

The Handlebar Café is cycle-friendly, socially-sourced, straddles an old railway line and was designed by the young minds of spudYOUTH, a RIBA award winning charity.  Accsys has been supporting the project throughout its development, contributing both funding and sustainable, long-lasting Accoya® wood for its cladding and decking.

Accsys, together with its distributor James Latham (www.lathamtimber.co.uk), has provided the Accoya wood to help the students realise their dream project: a cyclist-friendly and community-centred café along the Viaduct Cycle Path at the foot of St Catherine’s Hill, south of Winchester.

After extraordinary community support from local businesses, individuals and the local authorities, over £350,000 was raised turning their concept into a reality with Handlebar Café officially opening for business yesterday.

A ‘model of sustainability’ and constructed largely from timber, the design was inspired by the train carriages that no longer run along the railway line.  Fitting in perfectly to the project’s sustainability goals is the use of Accoya® wood for the exterior elements.

Accsys’ proprietary acetylation process transforms FSC® certified, sustainable, fast growing wood into a building material that can also outperform man-made, unsustainable or heavily carbon-polluting alternatives. This means the Handlebar Café will not only look great, but will also be locking up captured atmospheric carbon in the wood of its walls and flooring for decades.

As Accoya wood is so stable and durable, the trees used to make them will actually be regrown several times over during the lifetime of products made from it – and the carbon footprint for production is very low (or even negative).

Local children, working with the spudYOUTH charity, designed and planned the venue to provide ethically-sourced food and drink, cycle hire and repair facilities, and training and jobs for young and long-term unemployed people.

It will also provide a venue for charity and community activities, with up to 140 free architecture workshops per year for up to 20 young people each. The project also aims to promote healthy and environmentally friendly living – not only through encouraging cycling, but also through ethical, local and sustainable sourcing.