Softwood is not necessarily soft - nor hardwood hard! Both types of wood are suitable for decking, and a properly treated and maintained softwood deck can last up to 40 years.
All timber used in an exterior situation, end up the same colour if it is not treated or stained in some way - grey! A softwood deck - if stained, can look similar to hardwood. Sometimes even timber merchants cannot tell the difference. A large timber supplier recently had a picture of a softwood deck on their website - built by Top Deck Decking Ltd - claiming that it was hardwood! We pointed out their error!
When new, most hardwoods will either have a golden brown or red/brown appearance. Treated softwood will typically be light green/brown, and after just a few weeks exposure to light, will turn what is best described as 'honey-brown'.
The vast majority of decks in the UK are constructed from commercially treated (tanalised) softwoods. Typically, the guarantee against rot - providing that all cuts are properly treated - will be 15 years. You can expect a properly constructed deck to last many years longer than that.
A typical stack of good quality softwood decking. The colour soon changes to honey brown
Below - A disaster of a hardwood deck!
A 6 month old hardwood surround to a swimming pool!
Note the splits starting - for bare feet!
