COMPANY FOCUS: MILLBOARD BOARD ALL ABOVE
When is a timber deck not a timber deck? Fiona Russell Horne meets a company that is making waves at the top end of the landscaping market.
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f it looks like wood, chances are that it’s wood and will behave like wood, right? Wrong. Millboard, the decking company, is proving that a product can have the same aesthetic properties of timber, but none of its inherent disadvantages. “If we are talking about most product sectors having a good, better, best scale, then the product we are offering is very definitely in the best category,” says David Jackson, Millboard’s sales director. “Originally, decking was all timber decking with the occasional hard wood if you could afford it. Then the wood/plastic composite (WPC) entered the market. The big difference with that was that the WPC board contains both wood and plastic, so you get the benefits and disadvantages of both: expansion and contraction because of the plastic and additionally the wood content would cultivate algae, leading to a slippery surface and it would eventually deteriorate and lose colour retention over time. What makes Millboard decking different is the fact that it is neither a timber board, nor a WPC board,” he says. Jackson explains that the manufacturing process is quite different; the boards are moulded and not extruded. It’s not dissimilar to the technology used to replicate natural stone paving. Which makes sense when you realise that this company was set up by the same
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innovative family that started the Stonemarket paving company.
“Most people are surprised when they learn that every single board of Millboard decking is produced in-house, at our factory in Warwickshire. But it fits with our brand principles to ensure that every single length is manufactured to the highest standards here in the UK. We actually source real timbers to create moulds for our collections and each ‘master’ board is hand selected by our managing director, Jerry Douglass. His process is to sift through hundreds of specimens until he finds a piece with an outstanding balance of characterful grain and distinctive knot patterns.”
Quality focus
“Once he’s found the perfect pieces, these are brought to our workshops where our specialists focus on bringing them to life. From the unique Lastane surface, right through to the pouring of fibre-reinforced resin-mineral core, they focus on achieving the finest quality of finish. As a brand, we are obsessed with achieving an authentic look so that demands that we carry out so much of the detailed work by hand. For example, our craftsmen hand-colour each individual piece to create a convincing wood finish. We have great respect for the skilled eye
of an artist and are therefore committed to this system.”
The lack of actual wood in Millboard decking means it does not support algae growth or absorb water like timber. This means we see a
Millboard Limed Oak
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net May 2019
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