“The industry has adopted cellular PVC as the material they will use to serve the highest end of the market,” according to PN reporter Matt Griswold, who notes that cellular PVC deck board “is said to resist staining, scratching and color fading better than its wood composite counterparts.”

The top three market leaders in wood composite decking all have announced plans to launch a cellular PVC decking product in the coming weeks, Griswold reports, adding that the PVC product “fills an important performance niche in alternative decking.”

Ralph Bruno, president of market-leading Azak Building Products Inc., is reported by PN to be excited about the growing interest, noting that there is more product differentiation in cellular PVC than in wood composite decking.

John Polidan, president of Enduris Extrusions and 2008 chairman of the Vinyl Fence, Deck and Railing Manufacturers Association, told VNS that he agreed with the Plastics News story and Ralph Bruno’s comment.

“It is quite true that cellular PVC products have become a fast-growing segment of the building products industry, both in deck and trim,” he said. “One of the main reasons, as Plastics News notes, is that these cellular vinyl products successfully address the 3 S’s (Staining, Splintering and Scratching) as well as the color fading issues that have been encountered with the traditional polyethylene wood composite products.”