Bottom line: the entry tier is not a discounted version of the premium board — it is a different board, with a three-sided cap and a shorter warranty, and its published installation rules can ask for closer joist spacing, closer stair stringers and a second board type for borders and treads. On a plain rectangle it saves money. On a deck with stairs, a picture frame or a diagonal, the saving can be spent twice over in lumber.
A low board price is only one part of a useful comparison. Price the same deck layout with the correct board lengths, stair profiles, border supports and fasteners. The extras can change which option is cheaper.
What the entry tier actually gives up
Every major brand sells a good/better/best ladder, and the bottom rung is consistent across all of them. TimberTech is the most useful place to start because it publishes the whole comparison in one table.
Read across that table and the pattern is the same at every brand:
- Cap coverage drops from four sides to three. TimberTech's chart splits its composite range into "FOUR-SIDED CAPPED COMPOSITE" (Legacy, Reserve, Terrain+, Terrain) and "THREE-SIDED CAPPED COMPOSITE" (Prime+, Prime, Premier). Fiberon describes Good Life as having a "three-sided cap layer." The uncapped face is the underside, and it is the face that sits closest to the ground and to whatever collects under a deck.
- The warranty shortens. TimberTech's four-sided composites carry a 30-Year Limited Product and Fade & Stain Warranty; Prime+, Prime and Premier carry 25 years. Trex's ladder runs Enhance 25 years, Select 35, Transcend and Transcend Lineage 50, Signature 50. Fiberon publishes 30 years for Good Life's Escapes boards and 25 for Weekender; check which sub-collection you are buying.
- The manufacturer rates it lower itself. This is the row worth pausing on. TimberTech's own chart marks moisture resistance GOOD for Prime and Prime+, BETTER for its four-sided composites, and BEST for its PVC. A footnote repeated through the guide adds that "the proprietary capping on the Prime+, Prime, and Premier Collections does not feature Mold Guard Technology."
- The board is often physically lighter. Trex describes Enhance boards as "scalloped, making them our lightest composite deck boards"; TimberTech's Prime and Prime+ are scalloped too, and TruNorth's Enviroboard is a hollow core against the solid Accuspan. Less material is exactly how the price comes down — and, as the next section covers, it is also why the rules underneath change.
What the entry tier does not give up. It is still capped composite: it is designed to resist decay, it still needs washing rather than oiling or staining, and it still carries a real warranty document. Trex publishes the same composition for Enhance as for the rest of its range — "95% recycled plastic film and reclaimed sawdust." A cheaper board is not a worse material. It is a smaller specification.
Entry-tier prices today, and one step up
Live Composite Deck Shop board prices for each brand's cheapest line and the board above it. Compare the gap against what the step up buys: a four-sided cap, a longer warranty, or a solid board for stairs.
fiberon-goodlife-weekender-composite-decking
TruNorth Accuspan is the solid board TruNorth specifies for borders and stairs, rather than a higher tier.
fiberon-goodlife-escapes-composite-decking
Composite Deck Shop prices as of Sep 29, 2026 · CAD, before tax and delivery
Board prices only, per board as sold. The frame, fasteners, fascia, stairs, guards and delivery sit on top, and on a deck with stairs or a border they can outweigh the difference between tiers.
TruNorth manufactures in Brantford, Ontario, and its boards use rice husk rather than wood flour. That is a supply-chain fact rather than a performance claim, but it matters to a budget: a shorter route to site is one fewer thing between a deposit and a delivery date.
What a cheaper board asks of the frame
Composite boards are not structural. Every Canadian evaluation of these products states that the board "is not to be considered as an equivalent to dimensional lumber," and TimberTech says the same thing in its own installation guide: its decking is "NOT intended for use as columns, support posts, beams, joist stringers or other primary load-bearing members" and "must be supported by a code-compliant substructure." So the frame is a fixed cost — but how much frame is not, and the board you pick is one of the things that decides it.
Stairs are where it shows up first
Trex's installation guide publishes a stair stringer table, and the cheaper boards sit in the tighter row:
| Board | Maximum stringer spacing, on centre |
|---|---|
| Transcend 1" x 6" | 12" |
| Select, and Enhance (scalloped bottom), 1" x 6" | 9" |
| Transcend & Select 2" x 6" | 12" |
Nine inches instead of twelve is roughly a third more stringers on every flight, cut and hung by someone being paid to do it. The same guide requires treads to be fastened "continuously across at least four stringers," sets tread gapping at 1/4"–3/8", and caps the tread overhang at 3/4".
The other two brands handle the same problem by changing the board rather than the spacing. TimberTech's composite guide states that the "Terrain, Prime, and Prime+ Collections must be used as a veneer in a stair tread application" — the scalloped board goes over a support instead of spanning on its own. TruNorth, which manufactures in Brantford, splits it by profile: its hollow Enviroboard is listed for "Main Decking" and its solid square-edge Accuspan for "Borders, Stairs," with the instruction "Stair joist support must be installed at a maximum 12" on center. Use the square edge solid boards instead."
Fasteners follow the board, not your preference
Grooved-edge boards take hidden clips; square-edge boards take face screws. Fiberon states the split in one line: square edge is "designed for surface fastening. Use for stair treads and for picture framing," and grooved edge is "designed for use with hidden deck fasteners." That means a deck with a border needs both profiles ordered, not one.
The scalloped underside that makes the entry board cheap also narrows the fastener list. Trex's guide is explicit: "Do not use any hidden fasteners that are plug based with Trex Enhance profiles with scalloped bottom," and Cortex and the Starborn Pro Plug system are ticked for Transcend and Select but not for Enhance. TimberTech excludes Cortex from "deck materials with a scalloped bottom such as, but not limited to Terrain, Prime, Prime+ Collections, and Reliaboard." Trex opens the same page with the consequence: "If any condition occurs which is attributable to the use of non-recommended fasteners, such condition shall not be covered under the Trex Limited Warranty."
One accessory to check before you order. TimberTech states twice in its 2025 guide that "the Drink Rail system works with all full profile, square-shouldered deck boards, but NOT with scalloped boards (i.e., Terrain, Terrain+, Prime, Prime+, or ReliaBoard)." If a flat top rail you can set a glass on is part of the plan, the cheapest board rules it out. Our deck railings guide covers the rest of the guard decision.
Layout is a budget decision before it is a design one
The single largest lever a homeowner controls on a composite deck is the shape of it, and it acts on the framing rather than the boards.
- Straight, perpendicular boards allow the baseline spacing: 16 in. on centre in TimberTech's guide and Fiberon's specification, and 16 in. (406 mm) in Trex's residential span chart for 1 in. boards.
- A picture-frame border keeps that 16 in. maximum but adds, in TimberTech's words, "additional support for picture frame structure" — blocking under every border joint — and requires square-edge boards face-screwed around the perimeter.
- A diagonal or herringbone layout drops the maximum to 12 in. on centre at TimberTech, TruNorth and Fiberon alike. Trex expresses it as a deduction instead: "At a 45° angle, maximum joist spanning is 4" (102 mm) less than listed in the chart," and half the listed distance at 30°. On a deck of any size that is more joists and hangers before a single board is cut.
- Curves and inlays are the same argument at a higher price, with the added cost that no manufacturer publishes a waste allowance for them.
Hidden fasteners are sold by coverage at a stated spacing — TimberTech's FUSIONLoc comes "packaged for 225-square-foot and 450-square-foot, at 16" O.C." — so tightening the joists quietly increases the clip count too.
Lengths, waste and the scrap factor nobody agrees on
Common full-length deck boards are 12, 16 and 20 ft, but availability varies by collection, profile and colour. Some ranges also offer shorter boards. Check the exact CDS product options before choosing the deck dimensions. A deck dimension that does not divide neatly into one of them produces an offcut on every row, and the offcut is usually too short to use anywhere except stair risers or a border.
That makes deck dimensions worth a conversation before the frame goes in. A 15 ft 6 in. run cut from 16 ft boards wastes very little. The same run cut from 20 ft boards wastes a fifth of every board.
On how much to add for waste, the two manufacturers who publish a number do not agree, and it is more useful to know both than to average them:
| Source | Published allowance | As stated |
|---|---|---|
| Trex | 5% | "the general rule of thumb is that you need 5% extra decking material to account for waste and mistakes" |
| TimberTech | roughly 10% | "it is recommended that you add roughly 10% to the total for a scrap factor" |
Neither figure covers a diagonal, a border or a curve. Higher numbers circulate in trade commentary for those cases, but no manufacturer publishes them, so we do not repeat them here as though they were specifications. What we would say is that the allowance is not the place to economise: a board short at the end of a job costs a delivery, and a colour that has moved on costs a whole row.
TimberTech publishes the rest of the method alongside its percentage — square footage divided by 5.5, 7.3 or 9.1 depending on the board length — and our material checklist works it through on a real deck, along with the fastener boxes and the second and third board profiles that a border and a set of stairs add to the same order.
A budget that survives the build
The parts you cannot value-engineer
- The substructure. Pressure-treated lumber sized to the Ontario Building Code, on footings below the frost line. No decking product substitutes for it. Our deck framing guide covers what that involves.
- Guards. Generally required once the walking surface is more than 600 mm above the adjacent surface, and on a raised deck often the largest single line after the frame. Heights and opening limits are on our railings page.
- The permit and the drawings, where your project needs them. Toronto's thresholds and drawing requirements are published, and drawings cost the same whichever board goes on top.
- Removing the old surface. TimberTech's guide: "TimberTech boards CANNOT be installed on top of existing deck boards." Re-boarding a sound frame can be excellent value, but only after the old boards come off and the frame is inspected.
- Fasteners the manufacturer approves. Substituting is the cheapest way to void the warranty you paid the tier premium for.
The decisions, in the order they arrive
- Fix the footprint before the finish. Choose deck dimensions that divide into 12, 16 or 20 ft where you can. It costs nothing at the drawing stage and saves boards on every row.
- Decide the layout early. Straight boards, a picture frame or a diagonal is a framing decision that has to be made before the joists go in, not a pattern you choose when the boards arrive.
- Count the stairs honestly. Ask which board is going on the treads, what stringer spacing that board requires, and whether a second square-edge profile has to be ordered for them.
- Price the guard as its own project, not as a finishing line.
- Then choose the tier. With the frame, stairs and guard settled, the board is the last variable — and by then you can see whether the saving on the entry tier is real or whether it is being handed back to the framing.
- Order the waste allowance. 5% by Trex's rule, roughly 10% by TimberTech's, more if the layout has angles or borders.
- Keep the paperwork. The invoice and the product name are what a warranty claim runs on, and the warranty is a large part of what the tier premium buys.
If you want the whole-project arithmetic rather than the board comparison, our Ontario deck cost calculator works through size, material, stairs and railings in that order, and the free deck plans guide covers what an Ontario-usable plan actually has to show.
For the brand detail behind these ranges, our TimberTech guide and Fiberon guide go collection by collection, Fiberon vs Trex compares two ranges head to head, and PVC vs composite covers the material one step up. The composite decking hub is the place to start if you have not narrowed to a brand, and the decking materials hub sits above all of it.
Common questions
What is the cheapest composite decking I can buy in Ontario?
It changes through the season, which is why this page shows it live instead of naming one. The price section near the top of this guide pulls current Composite Deck Shop board prices for each brand's entry tier — Trex Enhance (sold as Basics), TimberTech Prime+, Fiberon GoodLife Weekender and TruNorth Enviroboard — next to the board one step up. What does not change is what the entry tier gives up: a cap on three sides instead of four, a shorter warranty, and in TimberTech's case a moisture-resistance rating the manufacturer itself marks one step down.
Is a cheaper board a false economy?
Not by itself. On a straightforward rectangular deck, run perpendicular to the joists, with no picture frame and few stairs, an entry board does the job it is sold for and the saving is real. It stops being a saving when the design has stairs, borders or angles, because those are the places where the published rules for the cheaper board ask for more framing, more fasteners or a second, dearer board — and the extra lumber and labour can be worth more than the difference in the boards.
Why do stairs cost so much more than the deck surface?
Because the rules tighten twice. Stringers come closer together than joists do — Trex publishes a maximum of 12 in. on centre for a Transcend 1x6 tread and 9 in. for its cheaper Select and scalloped Enhance boards — and treads have to be fastened continuously across at least four stringers. On top of that, the cheapest board in a range often cannot be used on a tread on its own: TimberTech requires its scalloped Terrain, Prime and Prime+ boards to be used as a veneer over a support, and TruNorth tells you to use the solid square-edge board instead of the hollow one. A flight of stairs is a small area of deck and a large share of the framing.
How much extra decking should I order for waste?
The two manufacturers who publish a figure disagree, and it is worth knowing both. Trex says "the general rule of thumb is that you need 5% extra decking material to account for waste and mistakes." TimberTech's installation guide says "it is recommended that you add roughly 10% to the total for a scrap factor," and shows the formula. Neither publishes an allowance for diagonals, borders or curves, so treat those as a conversation with whoever is cutting, not as a number you can look up.
Can I just screw new composite boards over my old deck?
No — and it is the single cheapest idea homeowners bring to a quote. TimberTech's installation guide states it plainly: "TimberTech boards CANNOT be installed on top of existing deck boards." Re-boarding is allowed and can be good value, but it means removing the old surface and fastening the new boards to a substructure that is still sound and still meets the Code. The frame is the part being tested, not the boards you are taking off.
Does the cheap board limit my railing?
It can, in one specific way worth checking early. TimberTech states twice in its 2025 product guide that "the Drink Rail system works with all full profile, square-shouldered deck boards, but NOT with scalloped boards (i.e., Terrain, Terrain+, Prime, Prime+, or ReliaBoard)." That restriction applies to the board used as the drink-rail cap. You can still use an approved full-profile cap above a deck surfaced with scalloped boards. If a particular top rail or a plug-based hidden fastener is part of the picture you have in mind, confirm it against the board before the boards are ordered.
Useful sources
Collections, warranty documents and installation guides are revised on their own schedules, and the local range changes faster than any of them. Open the sources below and confirm against the exact product before you commit.
- TimberTech 2025 Product Guide (PDF): the collection comparison table quoted above — four-sided against three-sided capping, the 30-year and 25-year warranty rows, the PREMIUM/UPGRADE/STANDARD value row and the GOOD/BETTER/BEST moisture row — plus the Mold Guard footnote and the Drink Rail compatibility statement.
- TimberTech Composite Decking Installation Guide (PDF): the 10% scrap factor and its formula, the 16 in. basic, 16 in. picture-frame-plus-support and 12 in. diagonal substructures, the stair-tread veneer requirement for the scalloped collections, the Cortex exclusions, FUSIONLoc coverage, the structural exclusion and the rule against installing over existing deck boards.
- Trex Decking Installation Guide (PDF): the residential span chart, the 45° and 30° angle deductions, the maximum stair stringer spacing table quoted above, the four-stringer tread rule and tread gapping, and the fastener matrix with its scalloped-profile exclusions and warranty warning.
- Trex decking products and Trex Enhance: the price tiers and per-line warranty terms, the scalloped-profile description, the 95% recycled-content composition and the available profiles and lengths.
- Trex — How many deck boards do I need?: the waste allowance and common board lengths.
- Fiberon Good Life decking: the three-sided cap, the 30-year Escapes and 25-year Weekender warranty terms, the square-edge and grooved-edge use split, the 12/16/20 ft lengths and the 16 in. perpendicular joist spacing dropping to 12 in. at angles and on stair treads.
- TruNorth Decking Installation Guide 2025 (PDF): the board profile table assigning the hollow Enviroboard to main decking and the solid square-edge Accuspan to borders and stairs, the 12 in. stair support rule and the joist span rule for parquet, diagonal and herringbone layouts.
- Composite Deck Shop — composite decking: the live board prices, colours and lengths in the price section, read from the store each time the page loads.
This guide is practical public information, not engineering advice or a product approval. Your municipality, the current Ontario Building Code and the manufacturer's current instructions for the exact board you buy govern your deck.