Decking for Swimming pools areas, whatʼs best for condominiums in Singapore?

Save money and time on decking installation, maintenance and price

Who lives in any condominium in Singapore knows very well that the swimming pool, and the decking area all around, is probably the most important one. Itʼs a matter of beauty in the look, wellness and functional living, to constantly bring attention and care about this area. No matter if itʼs a new project or a decking replacement after years of activity in the condominium, there are certain crucial things to take in consideration before signing a contract!

How to choose the best decking for your pool area in Singapore?

Point 1: Decking maintenance in the condominium

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)!

Point 2: 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 condominium 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.

Swimming Pool Deck at Metro Loft Condominium (DURO Excellence Dark Chocolate)

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 error
• 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 decking for the swimming pool areas of any condominium 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 3: Price and decking cost in Singapore

This point is crucial and strongly linked to the points above. Decking cost is in fact built up by three factors:

1. Material you want to use
2. Installation system you want to use
3. The very place where it has to be installed.

Why? Ok let’s be practical and dive into a couple of scenarios:

SCENARIO ONE: I perform my google research based on finding the best price for a composite decking, maybe a stock, and I find it ! Perfect ! Wrong... If I don’t remember the area I need to deck is irregular (steps, curves etc etc) I might discover the length of those boards might be not fitting my need... and I might do encounter to have too much waste of material or need to buy lot more. So always base your research on what you need, and what you really need is given by your specific case! Check te lengths and interval you want install your deck with (or ask your deck builder) otherwise you risk to buy the wrong sized jacket! Are we really sure we are saving money on that budget still??
Then we have the installation system!!!
If the decking I am buying is equipped with traditional hidden fasteners and screws, no matter the material the boards are made from, there will always be the same cost for installation! I know that in this case I shall bed advised that in one there will be more maintenance to do (boards/clips/screws to replace every now and then). If we go for face fastening, this is going to take forever and installation might even cost more than the deck itself!!! Are we sure we are saving money???

SCENARIO TWO: I am conscious about the area I need to cover with decking, and that is the center of my interest! So I know what kind of lengths would be better to use in order to have less waste. I opt for an innovative and faster installation system which gives a longer life to the deck resistance and of course brings even down labor costs!!! After these two simple mind tricks I already created a very good margin gap on my budget!!! Now it’s up to me to decide wether to use that margin to increase the quality (spend more on decking boards material) or just saving... in either cases I won’t encounter bad surprises! Are you curious about what modern technology offers to help you in Scenario Number 2??? Let’s have a look!

iDecking systems do bring down the overall cost of decking both immediately and in time. Immediately because the installation cost and time is reduced due to the simplicity and velocity. In time because the structural maintenance is brought down to near zero.

Point 4: Anti-slip decking for swimming pools in Singapore

Looking for a beautiful anti-slip or no slippery at all deck is the hardest task but essential for a condominium or hotel swimming pool in Singapore, because when looking around, the offer is really poor in terms of look and find the right balance between look and safety is a real nightmare! iDecking developed a material, patented an innovative formula, whose performances when wet are exceptional. The material is called DURO and it’s made with Rice Husk adding the surface a fantastic natural look and great anti-slip properties.

Point 5: DURO / DURO EXCELLENCE decking

Consciousness about all the limits linked to WPC/BPC composites lead the italian team of iDecking Revolution to develop a new material to fix the major problems coming from traditional composites used in the Singapore market.
Its name is DURO, the new material 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.