Last updated 20 January 2026

Key considerations for 2026 decking projects:

• Designed for Australian Homes: Look for resistance to intense UV, moisture, and pests (termites). NexGEN’s products are termite resistant and will not warp or fade – they are designed specifically for harsh, changeable Australian conditions including UV, extremely high heat, or freezing temperatures.
• Bushfire Safety: Australian Standards demand appropriate Flame Zone Decking. NexGEN offers options for various BAL areas, including Aluminium DryDeck for BAL-FZ areas of extreme risk.
• Sustainability: Traditional timber can come with environmental issues depending on the source, and many composite boards simply “kick the can” in terms of waste as they end up in landfill eventually. NexGEN’s solid-fill, hardwood composite boards are made from recycled materials (plastics and wood saved from landfill), and can be recycled at the end of their lifespan.
• Warranty: Anyone can say their product is long-lasting, but few will have the warranty to back it up. NexGEN’s fade and stain warranties and performance guarantees are the best on the market, giving you the confidence to invest in premium decking.
• Maintenance: Choosing an ultra-low maintenance option (like NexGEN’s Permatech® composite decking boards) is key to ensuring you spend more time enjoying your outdoor living space, and less time cleaning or restoring it.
• Safety: Splinters, cracked boards, mould and mildew – all things you don’t want around your family while you’re enjoying your deck. NexGEN’s Permatech boards stay smooth and cool to touch, aren’t slippery underfoot, and have a protective capping which prevents mould spores and other from growing even in humid, tropical environments.

Why is NexGEN the best composite decking brand in Australia?

We offer the industry’s first 50 year fade and stain warranty AND a lifetime performance guarantee – making us one of the best composite decking brands in Australia. Our composite decking boards are made in the USA by Fiberon, so you can buy with confidence. If you have a decking project to complete this year, NexGEN should be your first choice for durable and beautiful materials that outlast traditional timber by decades.

How long has composite decking been around?

Composite deck boards have been available for just over a quarter of a century – appearing on the market in the 1990s. It is impressive how it has taken off, but not surprising when you consider the longevity and superior quality of premium composite decking materials.

Backyard decks are for relaxing and recreation—the barbeque, cocktail party, quiet lunch, and of course, naps are what outdoor living is all about. The constant maintenance required by timber decking, which needs to be scrubbed, bleached, and stained, can be a colossal time sap. And periodically, wood boards that had splintered, warped, or rotted needed to be replaced. Natural materials exposed to the elements through every season take a beating – weathered look decking is not to everyone’s taste. Read about why our capped composite decking is virtually maintenance free.

Composite decking material – then and now

When composite boards first came onto the scene, they cost more than a timber deck. There were relatively few colour choices, but builders and homeowners opted for easy-to-maintain, long-lived, resistant to insect pests, and even relatively more fire-resistant composites (which kindle at a much higher temperature than woods).

Honestly, in the early days of composite decking, there were some problems with mould build-up and mildew. Nevertheless, the use of composite wood soared. Then companies (like NexGEN) began to offer much better products – more attractive, more durable, and better value over time.

Related: Why You Can’t Afford to Buy Cheap Composite Decking.

These low-maintenance composites looked like newly cut cedar or Brazilian walnut and never turned grey. (All woods, unless treated and maintained, eventually go grey.) Sales took off to the point where in 2019, they amounted to about $1 billion. That is a big consumer market vote of confidence in composite timber decking.

Today’s composite decking

Durability, colours, patterns, and ease of installation are a world away from those first composites. The capping on our PermaTech Composite Decking has a non-porous surface layer co-extruded into the wood fibre. The same as golf ball technology. And installing it is a breeze – no nails are required.

The upkeep required by a capped composite deck, as compared with wood, amounts to virtually no maintenance. A once-a-year washdown does it. Occasionally, vacuuming the space between boards may help a bit—but there’s no more sanding, painting or staining needed.

Just consider that composite decking, which comes in long straight lengths that are easy to install, never warps or rots. It is free of splinters, unlike ageing wood decks. It requires no paint or sealing, yet it is exceptionally scratch-resistant and termite resistant (particularly important to surviving in Australian conditions). It’s no wonder that it is increasingly the choice of homeowners and builders in Australia and worldwide.

As for cost, the best composites are more expensive than some woods but about the same cost as quality hardwood decking. For example:

• Spotted gum timber is considered a premium hardwood but is still susceptible to certain pests and mould.
• If you instead used spotted gum composite decking for your next project, you would get to enjoy the look and a solid structure for much longer – making it better value and more sustainable than natural timber.

Hardwood timbers are increasingly scarce and costly as the world’s forests keep shrinking. At the same time, however, the savings on finishes, cleaning, maintenance work, and earlier need to replace a wooden deck mean that, on average, the deck constructed of capped composite materials makes up for its extra cost in five years or less.

For more information on composite decking prices, see our free Composite Decking Price Calculator.

Composite decking products offer a design advantage

Because materials for composite decks can be ordered cut to your specifications, such decks require some advanced planning. And that planning stage, with which we can work with you, offers many design choices not always available with natural timber. Beautiful deck patterns are possible and enhanced by the no-nails method of construction (no rusting nails, for one thing).

Also, smart options for materials (like pre-grooved deck boards) save a great deal of time in the installation of your deck. With good pre-planning assisted by our expert sales force, we can provide detailed instructions for each step in building your new deck. Upscale projects such as decks accommodating tree trunks are a natural choice with composites, and require no specialised tools or trades to install if you want to DIY.

Related: Capped Composite Decking vs Uncapped Composite Decking

Beautiful, premium composite decking inspired by nature

Composites offer a wider choice of textures, surfaces, and colours. For example, our Select Range of products is given a distinctive matte surface with our proprietary low-gloss treatment and micro-texturing process. As for colour, we have taken our lead from natural elements and pigments; an Australian colour palette of earthy hues and tones.

Our boards are subtly streaked with multiple tones that give your deck a sense of depth and visual impact. Finally, our manufacturing process ensures a realistic grain pattern, mimicking the natural beauty of real timber with a finesse that you will not find in other decking products; no easy-to-discern patterns suggest your composite boards are artificial.

Learn more about our range and the colours available:

Select – Jarrah, Spotted Gum and Graphite

Escapes – Blackbutt and White Oak

Good Life – Cottage and Cabin

Or browse our complete showcase of composite colour choices.

Related: How to Choose the Perfect Composite Decking Colours

Meeting the environmental imperative

At the same time composite timber decking improved and their use soared, the industry ran into the environmental recycling imperative facing our planet.

Beautiful, durable, splinter-free, eco-friendly decking material called “composite” can be made of wood scraps, sawdust (otherwise wasted), and recyclable plastic such as bags and bottles – saving on landfill. The amount of recycled material used in each board is impressive, and the figures are truly significant in an entire deck.

If you enjoy nature in your backyard, you are helping to protect and sustain it when you use low maintenance capped composite wood for your deck. It is estimated that every 6 metres of decking board use up about 13 kilograms of material that otherwise would go straight to a landfill. That’s millions of kilos every year that homeowners use and enjoy instead of dumping into the environment. Make the sustainable choice!

The NexGEN Difference: Unbeatable quality and an amazing warranty

As capped composite decking suppliers and manufacturers, we stand behind our product. Our PermaTech® boards are made in North Carolina, USA, by Fiberon Composites. Our Select range of products is backed by a lifetime performance warranty and a 50-year stain and fade guarantee. No other brand or company on the market can match our warranty. This is why we’re one of the best composite decking brands in Australia.