For most of deck building history, the choice for framing was simple: wood or, more recently, steel. OC Lumber from Owens Corning adds a third option. TC Decks is a member of the OC Pro Build Team, so we get to work with it directly. Here’s what it is and where it fits.
What OC Lumber is
OC Lumber is a building material made by Owens Corning, the company best known for fiberglass. They call it Glas-Powered Lumber. It’s a composite building material made with glass fiber instead of wood, designed to take the place of wood in outdoor building.
Wood-free, rust-free, rot-proof
Those three words sum up why it’s interesting for decks:
- Wood-free. There’s no wood in it, so there’s nothing to rot, split or attract termites.
- Rust-free. Unlike steel, there’s no metal to corrode, even where water and fasteners meet.
- Rot-proof. Water and moisture don’t break it down. That matters most in the places wood frames fail first: where joists meet boards, ledgers meet the house, and posts meet the ground.
How it compares to wood and steel
Versus pressure-treated wood. Wood is cheap and easy to work, but it rots, warps and shrinks over time. OC Lumber is built to avoid all of that.
Versus steel framing. We’re big fans of steel framing too. OC Lumber is built for a similar long life, with no metal to corrode.
The right choice depends on the deck, the design and the site. We’ll walk you through the options when we talk about your project.
About the OC Pro Build Team
The OC Pro Build Team is a group of builders Owens Corning works with on OC Lumber. Levi has been out to Gulfport on an OC Lumber Pro Builder trip, and we keep up with how the product is used and installed.
Learn more
Read more on our OC Lumber page, or see how we put a deck together in our built-to-last guide. Planning a new deck? Call for a free estimate, and ask whether OC Lumber is a good fit for your project.