Decking for Hotels and Resorts in Singapore

Decking in Singapore: how to make the right choice?

The first thing that facility management of any hotel / resort in Singapore has to consider when buying decking is the tropical weather of this beautiful country. A lot of structures and projects keep investing on this beautiful floor called decking, but there are things to know prior to plan and most of all to buy (in order not to experience bitter surprises).

 First of all we must choose the right surface and decking material according to the area (restaurant, bar, swimming pool, park). For example an hotel buying decking for the bar/restaurant area will have to prefer a strong surface, easy to clean. If the area is instead a swimming pool, the choice will go to an anti-slip material. Which are the best material available and optimized for the Singapore weather?

DURO: is an extremely innovative composite developed to be the one and only alternative to real noble wood. Duro is made of RICE HUSK (skin of the rice grain) and PVC (not recycled). Yes, you got it right... RICE HUSK, a by product that would be otherwise burnt and create CO2 is given a much more noble second life into decking boards with incredible structural performances. It has to be compared to a noble wood other than common composites. Rice grows into water, and the skin of the rice protects the grain till the moment it’s ready to blossom! NATURAL HYDRO REPELLENCY, in fact it is only the micro surface to absorb. Duro is Anti-Slip certified, an EcoFriendly material ideal for places like swimming pools and wherever the situation needs a natural look and feeling with all the benefits of a stable product.

Etherno Bamboo: Bamboo grows much faster than any tree and is among the most prolific resources on earth. Through a specialized process of compression and thermo treatment, ETHERNO provides strength, stability and durability. Etherno Bamboo is particularly ideal for any area where high volume of people is expected. Its Dark color would perfectly blend in any Park (can be national park or a park in a resort / private house).

SKUDO: the brand new ultra resistant shield decking that can be installed with the new EasyClick and EasyChange Technology. This new composite decking has a realistic embossed wood grain finishing on each board surface! It’s not just about fashion and look (which is always important), the SKUDO boards are protected by an ultra resistant shield all around giving the decking the most searched and aimed characteristics for this kind of product: anti-stain / easy to clean, no splintering, low maintenance. 

After this little overview on the materials, it’s important to reveal that success of a decking in a hotel or resort is strictly linked to 2 main factors:

• Method of installation
• Maintenance

Point 1: Method of decking installation in Singapore

This is strictly linked to point number 1. As we already said, any decking project or replacement in a hotel should follow the rule: NO SCREWS to fasten the board to the understructure. Let’s see why and go through the the different methods from the most common to the most innovative ones:

Traditional HIDDEN FASTENERS Decking Systems

No matter if it is face fastened or hidden fastened… Singapore weather is a major enemy of any kind of screw that with time looses its grip! If you are buying decking boards that have to be installed like that just be prepared to face a lot of structural maintenance, because, it’s just a matter of time, and this like this are going to happen:

iDecking Revolution Systems: ZERO SCREWS / EASY INSTALL AND REMOVE !

iDecking Revolution is the company born to innovate in the field of decking/cladding installation systems and materials! The company patented a whole generation of innovative decking installation systems optimized for the Singapore market! Many installations have in fact been performed with success in Singapore, bringing iDecking to be the leading company in innovative decking systems and materials.

EasyClick  is the innovative system which allows you to install iDecking Revolution boards simply using your feet. No need to use any nails, screws, drills, spacers or “obsolete” clips. The EasyClick system helps ensure a quick and simple troublefree installation. EasyClick is essentially comprised of an understructure “rail system” which comes with pre-installed and pre-spaced patented EasyClick nylon clips. Our patented grooved decking boards are then simply pressed and locked in place. The system can be used both for Wood and for Composites such as DURO, SKUDO and ETHERNO (Carbonized Bamboo).

What are the highlights of EasyClick system?

• Decking installation up to 5 times faster than traditional deck building
• Boards require Zero screws, nails or other fasteners
• Drastic reduction of installation errors
• “Effortless” installation
• Doesn’t cause water stagnation
• Increased structural integrity and strength
• Self blocking and Self aligning system

Just to give you an example on How Fast the EasyClick system is, compared to traditional ones:

Then if you have any doubt on the strength of the EasyClick clip compared to any screwed clip… here’s a little video that says it all:

EasyChange is the only system in the world which allows you the ability to remove and replace every single board of your deck using a special iDecking key. No need to utilize any drills, screws, spacers or “obsolete” clips to install the decking. iDecking Easy Change system helps ensure a quick and simple troublefree installation. EasyChange is comprised of an understructure which comes with pre-spaced special rotating nylon cams. Decking boards are then locked in place with a simple turn of the EasyKey. The system can be used both for Wood and for Composites such as DURO, SKUDO and ETHERNO (Carbonized Bamboo).

What are the highlights of EasyChange system?

• Remove and replace any decking board from anywhere in the floor
• Up to 50% faster installation compared to traditional deck building
• Doesn’t cause water stagnation
• Increased structural integrity and strength

To conclude the point, it’s clear that iDecking installation systems are perfectly optimized to achieve the best budget optimization for any kind of project in Singapore. iDecking in fact gives major and unique benefits to the whole chain, from the buyer to the user, and here they are:

• Systems instead of a single product: iDecking systems are engineered to work together and supported by test reports and project references, while most of the companies only sell decking boards / planks leaving the customer without any knowledge of what kind of structure and clips will be used for the installation. Highly increasing the risk of structural failures
• Ability to replace the plank: as we said, Singapore is a tropical country and there’s common concern about pests and insects under the decking. iDecking EasyChange is 100% inspectable and you can remove/replace any plank from anywhere in the deck !
• Reduction of installation errors: Vast majority of labour forse in the Singapore construction industry are foreign workers. They are not trained and masters of deck building, so exposed to fatal errors when installing. The iDecking systems structures come with the clips pre installed in order to drastically reduce the chance of errors!

Point 2: Decking maintenance

Always remember that once bought, the decking must be serving your needing and NOT THE CONTRARY. So first of all, any architect / committee / maincon should be informed on products whose maintenance is the lower possible. There are two kind of maintenance: Aesthetic maintenance and Structural maintenance. The first one is almost ok for every product, since it only affects the look and it’s just about regular cleaning and, in case of wood or certain valuable composites, lay a coat of transparent treatment once per season in order to maintain a vivid color. The structural maintenance instead can bring BIG TROUBLES in the case of choosing the wrong product. For example, any deck installed with screws or screwed clips can result in boards elevation and in consequence: 1 - be dangerous for people and kids who’d risk to fall. 2 - force to do structural maintenance which means putting down new screws every time the installed one loose their strength (which under Singapore’s tropical weather can happen more than twice per year). So, the most important thing would be opting for a decking whose boards don’t need screws to be installed on the substructure (they exists… we’ll see those in a bit)!