Composite board is used in a variety of home construction projects, trimming, exterior shutters and other home products. It comes in a variety of colors and types and offers long-lasting protection from wear and tear. It's an ideal material choice due to the many benefits you can leverage.
At Monument Shutters, we use Extira® Composite material for many reasons, but durability and quality are our main focus. Extira panels may look like MDF, but they don’t perform like it. Different ingredients and a patented and proprietary manufacturing process lead to a superior performance.
What Is Composite Board?
Composite board is a wood engineered with both plastic content and wood fiber that has been extruded and heated. Also known as engineered wood, this special wood material also includes ultraviolet inhibitors, pigments and borate preservatives. These treatments and contents make this material an ideal choice for withstanding the elements. There are several types of composite board products. Here are some common types:
- Medium-Density Fiberboard (MDF). This engineered wood is made from a variety of materials, including recycled or mashed wood fibers, wax and resin. Its high-pressure and high-heat treatments paired with its wax content make it dense and durable.
- Oriented Strand Board (OSB). This engineered wood is made from trees that grow rapidly, such as mixed hardwoods and aspen poplar mixed with MDI-coated wood chips.
- Particle Board. This type of composite board is also called chipboard and is made from sawdust, wood chips or shavings from a sawmill. It comes in a variety of densities with the strength of the board increasing as the density increases. Particle board can also be created to resist moisture, fire and other elements.
- This engineered wood comes from veneer that is bonded using pressure and heat. It's also cross-laminated to enhance the stiffness of the engineered wood, which makes it a strong, durable material.
Benefits of Composite Board
Composite board comes with several advantages. Here are some composite board benefits you can leverage:
- Easy Installation. This man-made material is specifically designed to meet performance requirements for a variety of applications, including offering the ability to bend. These characteristics aid in simplifying installation.
- Cost Effective. Due to the manufacturing procedure, durability and availability, composite board is frequently a more cost-effective material to use for exterior home products than solid wood.
- With composite board material, you can choose the color or texture you prefer thanks to the wide selection of available treatments and sizes.
- Composite board offers long-lasting protection and strength. It's useful as a trim or an entire product, such as exterior shutters. Some composite boards, such as particle board, can also be engineered to withstand outdoor elements and resist moisture.
- Structural Resilience. With composite board's robust material, you can rely on this engineered wood's ability to hold its structure over time.
- Composite boards, such as MDF, can be made of recycled material using fewer trees than solid wood material. This makes it ideal for incorporating in sustainable design.
