Garden decking

[PinkKecks]

Going to put an offer in on a house, but the garden has decking in it that is at least 20 years old. How long does decking last for? How much does it costs to replace? Would it be cheaper/better to rip it out and put in a patio? How much does a new patio cost? Just trying to factor that all in before I put in an offer (The house is in the Hertfordshire/Essex border area).

Thanks for any insight! :-)

The decking is v likely to be at the end of its life at that age. Replacing with new decking is likely to be cheaper than a patio. What size is the area?

agree decking is probably on its last legs. To replace, wood is very expensive at moment. We found a new slabbed patio cheaper and alot less hassle to maintain.

Mine is almost that old. I put my foot through it. Had quotes for the plastic stuff which was £3-5k for a tiny area. So I'm getting quotes for a stone patio tomorrow. I expect it will be expensive

Thanks all.

@Sprig1 - The area is roughly 2m x 8m.

@TheMerryWidow1 - would you mind saying how much the patio cost?

@CottonSock - good luck for the quotes tomorrow, hope they aren't too outrageous. Did the quote to install plastic decking cover the cost of removing the old decking or is that separate? Did you get a quote for wood decking too? Which is more expensive? Would be very interested in hearing how you get on tomorrow with the patio quotes.

Our wooden decking was falling apart after 20 years so we ripped it up and replaced it with composite decking. It looks great and will last longer than the timber decking. I can't help with costs as it was a DIY job and we're not in the UK. It was cheaper than a patio would've been though, it's a large area.

5k it’s a large area x wanted composite decking but neighbours had that and had problems with it melting and too hot to stand on, we are south facing so when it’s hot we get a lot of sun

Complicated job in the expensive south east, replacing a couple of terraces with brick walls + about 6m x6m of patio = paid £4.5k about 5 years ago, if that’s any help!

We were due to get composite decking installed early next year as part of a ground floor extension. Our builder has just pulled it from his quote as his supplier says the price of it is due to go up sharply next year. We are now looking at getting a raised brick and flags patio built instead. It's what I wanted originally and will be able to be used for storage underneath. I'd avoid wood patio at all costs - my parents have it and it's unbelievablely slippery after rain, even worse when frosty.

One of the guys that quoted for me said the composite was £30 a length vs £11 for wood. And that price keeps going up and up.

My more expensive quote (£4.5k) included removal. The 3k one didn't. This decking is tiny. 4x4m.

I just remembered. The cheaper quote he wasn't able to proceed anyway as he said they ran out and sale price ended. He recommended I wait till winter and hopefully more supplies. I imagine he won't be surprised I'm getting a quote for stone. He kept asking if I knew how expensive composite was at the moment.

And wood is lethal when wet and a pain to maintain.

I had mine replaced recently with composite decking. The decking cost me just over £2k for 20 m2. My old decking was made from wood and kept going green along with the paving slabs we had laid.

Composite is crazy expensive at the moment. It was cheaper for us to do an Indian stone patio from scratch than just put composite decking down on the existing decking support structure.

Here is where I got mine from

www.edecks.co.uk/subdept/58/0/RealGroove™-Composite-Decking