Thread: Feedback on MODWOOD decking??

I used it and sure wish I hadn't. It is awful stuff. It splits, cracks, warps, and shrinks but worse of all - it grows algae faster than a petri dish.
The manufacturer recommends just sweeping it but I can tell you that, in my case, that did nothing. I tried detergents and other chemicals (like bleach) with a firm brush but in the end, I had to bring out the Karcher. The manufacturer advises against pressure washing, but I had no option as my deck was so slippery with green algae all over it. What pressure washing seems to do is to get rid of the algae temporarily but makes the surface rougher so it is more likely to grow more algae the next time. And faster. I am now considering painting the infernal stuff. I do NOT recommend this product.

After losing our house in the bushfires of Jan 2020, we made a point of avoiding any external timer when rebuilding. Looked at several products like Modwood for decking, but all of them seem to have issues. I'm not sure a lot of them are suited to the high UV levels here in Oz....

In the end we went with galvanised metal frame, and Hardiedeck planking - boards are fibre cement about 18mm thick and just clip together for fast installation, no screwing through boards required.

Home | HardieDeck™ system

They don't move, don't crack, don't warp, and don't burn. You can either seal them with a clear sealer to give an industrial/cement kind of finish, or paint any colour you like with decking paint. When paint gets dinged up after a few years, just give it a fresh coat of decking paint. Very happy with the product

Oh man! That must have been so heartbreaking. I can't imagine. We were evacuated during the Ash Wednesday fires but escaped unscathed. The hardiplank solution sounds like a good one. My neighbour went for an aluminium product which also clipped together. It was watertight and gave him a dry storage area underneath. It does get very hot to walk on in bare feet in summer though. Still, wish I had done the same.

I don't recommend it. The only thing that survived was my workshop, being only about 10m from the house but upwind of the 80km/h winds fanning the flames from the house.

One side effect that people don't talk about - I have completely lost any desire to own "stuff", of any description. Haven't replaced much of what was lost in the fire, and I actually find the remaining belongings and tools I still have more of a burden than a pleasure. I'm currently working my way through workshop contents and selling a lot of it off. As a consumer, I'm ruined !

I looked into several brands of composite decking boards, not just Modwood, before going with the Hardiedeck. All of them seem to have very mixed reviews, and certainly don't live up to the manufacturer's claims even in the short term.

Originally Posted by Farnarkler

I used it and sure wish I hadn't. It is awful stuff. It splits, cracks, warps, and shrinks but worse of all - it grows algae faster than a petri dish.
The manufacturer recommends just sweeping it but I can tell you that, in my case, that did nothing. I tried detergents and other chemicals (like bleach) with a firm brush but in the end, I had to bring out the Karcher. The manufacturer advises against pressure washing, but I had no option as my deck was so slippery with green algae all over it. What pressure washing seems to do is to get rid of the algae temporarily but makes the surface rougher so it is more likely to grow more algae the next time. And faster. I am now considering painting the infernal stuff. I do NOT recommend this product.

I had it for about 20 years and have heard all the stories about twisting and cracking but mine never did that at all. It did have some algae problems but not major ones and that may well be due to climate and shading etc. I think the installation is the most important thing, make sure the joist centres are as specified or even less, pre drill and countersink all screw holes and most important of all pay attention to how close you place screws at the end of each plank because if you do get too close they WILL split. On the plus side Modwood is super easy to install as it stays straight and does not warp or twist like most natural timbers do.

We have it in throughout our work camp; it has survived quite well with no structural or algae issues. What I did notice however within seconds of walking on it is that the boards end up feeling a little slick underfoot. We have hundreds of people walking over them every day in Olivers or Blunnies so they cope with wear very well; but you can “feel” that the surface isn’t real wood by the tiny amount of slip you get with every step.

This is very old school stuff - my dad told me that when the fires came through you could hear the bangs from the asbestos cement siding houses as the heat got too much for them. The weatherboard houses didn't do that - they burned - or didn't. Have worked at a place that made transportables for fire regions - 2 layers of 13mm plasterboard behind the Colourbond cladding. They seemed to have forgotten about the floor - or the roof!

Not Shure of the branding - local shopping centre had something like that - sagged over 2 years.

Theres alot of brands of composite out there now.

Mod wood is basically the cheap bunnings brand of composites. Talking to a chippy who has used it, he theres good and bad

Bad, its a fairly cheap product with a cheap finish. Ive heard people mention the early versions flaking after a few years

Good, its cheap and the fact its bunnings means you can just walk in and grab a spare board as required... that bunnings warranty.



Im looking at using either newtech wood, which comes from some distributor in qld. But can be bought from places like dahlsens.
Wood-Look Decking Australia | Recycled Wood | NewTechWood

Or evowood, which is aussie owned and has a showroom in Melbourne, they are looking to setup a distribution warehouse in sydney soon

I much prefered the look and texture of those two. Millboard was another brand that looked nice and had self hiding screws but was pretty much the most expensive one, but seemed to be very good quality.

Most suppliers will send you free samples

There are lots of brands with varying quality. I have seen it buckle and sag and in other brands stand up very well. It is very popular on floating marinas and jetties and handles the punishment very well but that is obviously one of the better brands.
I personally don’t care for the look but it is a durable maintenance free product which makes it appealing. Some discolour quickly and there is not much you can do with itwhen it does

I was one of the first customers that used Modwood years and years before Bunnings began to stock it and Modwood custom cut the boards so I had very little to do besides laying it. The reason we were forced to use it was after the 2000 bushfires in NSW Wollongong council refused to allow us natural timber decking during renovations and the only practical other alternative was compressed cement and tiling which was obscenely expensive and hard to obtain. About two years ago we did more renos and pulled all the Modwood decking out and it went to a friend who promptly re-laid most of it for another deck. To put the fire thing in perspective our backyard ends at the boundary of the National Park south of Sydney and those forum members who have visited our place can tell you how tall the trees are.

I built a deck for my house, and one for my sister-in-law's back in 2011. I have not had any issues. Yes, I will recommend it.

I have a small deck near a pool, used trex.
It's certainly not the cheapest but I'm pretty happy with it..
Easy to clean, non slip. No sign of sagging, but if i recall joist spacing is only 400.(as specified).