04 — Articles
NewTechWood in Québec: what the technical documents really say
NewTechWood is a serious capped composite and we install it. But its technical documents do not tell quite the same story as its brochures: the filler is rice hulls, the 25-year warranty is non-transferable and prorates down to 10 %, and the cladding is combustible, Class C. Here are the real numbers.
What is a NewTechWood board actually made of?
Marketing material talks about "reclaimed wood fibres." The ICC-ES evaluation reports all use the same wording. Report ESR-3923, which covers the cladding, describes a "wood-plastic manufactured composite product consisting of rice hulls, high-density polyethylene (HDPE), and other processing additives." ESR-3487 for deck boards and ESR-4747 for railings say the same thing, the latter specifying "rice hull powders."
Rice hulls, not wood fibre
This is not a cosmetic detail. Rice hulls are high in silica, which is a large part of why the product resists water uptake and rot. That is technically defensible and genuinely useful in our climate. What is harder to defend is selling it as reclaimed wood fibre when the report filed with the certification body says otherwise.
The "95 % recycled" figure is not publicly documented
The manufacturer's Canadian site states that "our composite wood products are made from 95% recycled materials." That is a marketing claim, not an openly verifiable figure. NewTechWood says it holds an Environmental Product Declaration, but the document is only released on request, the PDF posted on its own site is a scan with no machine-readable text, and we found no matching entry in the public EPD registries. The number is everywhere; the supporting document is nowhere. If recycled content matters to your project, ask for the full EPD in writing before you order, and read the virgin polyethylene breakdown.
What does the 25-year warranty actually cover?
The residential limited warranty is the most misread document in the range. Three things to know before you sign.
First, it is non-transferable. The text limits coverage to the "original purchaser," defined as the individual or individuals who owned the property at the time of installation, and requires that purchaser to maintain ownership of that property. Sell the house and the warranty ends. For a deck on a property you plan to resell in ten years, that changes the math.
Second, it is prorated. Twenty-five years is not twenty-five years at full value.
| Year of claim | Portion recoverable |
|---|---|
| 0 to 10 years | 100 % |
| 11 to 13 years | 80 % |
| 14 to 16 years | 60 % |
| 17 to 19 years | 40 % |
| 20 to 22 years | 20 % |
| 23 to 25 years | 10 % |
What the warranty excludes
Third, the exclusions target exactly the defects people assume are covered. The text rules out "discoloration, fading, spotting or staining from or caused, in whole or in part, by mold, mildew, other fungal growth, organic materials, metallic oxides or particles," as well as "normal weathering" — exposure to sunlight and weather that gradually makes a coloured surface fade, chalk or accumulate dirt. The separate stain and fade warranty sets the threshold at colour change greater than 5 Delta E (Hunter) units.
In practice: a board that lightens in the sun, or stains under a cast-iron planter, is not a claim. What is covered is structural failure — checking, warping, rot, insect damage — and that is where the product genuinely performs.
Is composite cladding combustible?
Yes. ESR-3923 rates the US09, UH46, UH58 and UH68 tongue-and-groove siding boards as a "Class C finish," with a flame spread index no greater than 200 — the lowest-performing of the code's three classifications. That is not disqualifying; plenty of solid wood cladding sits in the same category.
What it means in practice: composite has no business acting as a heat shield behind a combustion appliance, and limiting distance and facade area need to be confirmed with your authority having jurisdiction before you order, because the code treats combustible cladding differently. The report also imposes ground clearance of at least 6 inches (152 mm), or 2 inches (51 mm) above a concrete slab, porch or patio exposed to the weather.
If your project includes an outdoor heating appliance, we plan those clearances at the drawing stage — the same discipline we apply to an outdoor fireplace or patio heater.
Which profiles are approved for Canada?
One profile carries a Canadian Construction Materials Centre number: the UH61 Norwegian fluted cladding, under CCMC-14734-R. The manufacturer itself calls this "a first in the Canadian market for a composite fluted siding." No other CCMC number appears in its Canadian documentation. The UH61 measures 196.5 mm wide by 25 mm thick and comes in 12- and 16-foot lengths.
Every other profile rests on American ICC-ES reports. Those are accepted in many cases, but they are not a Canadian evaluation, and some municipal officials know the difference. If your permit is tight, the UH61 is the shortest path.
| Cladding profile | Width | Thickness | Wind load (ESR-3923) |
|---|---|---|---|
| US09 | 5.5 in | 0.5 in | 45 psf |
| UH46 | 4.75 in | 1 in | 67 psf |
| UH58 | 7.75 in | 1 in | 47 psf |
| UH68 | 6.75 in | 1 in | 52 psf |
Does it hold up to a Québec winter?
Two questions get blurred together here, and they deserve separate answers.
The temperature range is published
Contrary to what you sometimes read, NewTechWood does publish a service range. ESR-3923, ESR-3487 and ESR-4747 all state that the boards "have been evaluated for structural capacity when exposed to temperatures from -20°F to 125°F (-29°C to 52°C)." For Greater Montréal, that lower bound covers essentially everything winter delivers. It is a solid figure and you can rely on it.
Freeze-thaw data is not
We found no published freeze-thaw data at all: no cycle count, no test standard, no numeric result. The manufacturer's own winter-performance article cites only in-house comparison tests described without results. For a product sold into a climate that crosses zero dozens of times a year, that is a gap. So we promise nothing on freeze-thaw and instead install to the expansion tolerances, which is the real control variable anyway.
Why we do not install cladding below 0 °C
The expansion table in the installation guide stops dead at 32 °F, or 0 °C. There is no row and no recommended gap below that. Installing at -15 °C fixes a board at maximum contraction — by the first July afternoon it has nowhere to go, and it bows or shears its fasteners. Until the manufacturer publishes sub-zero values, we push cladding installs to spring.
| Temperature at install | Required gap — 16 ft board |
|---|---|
| 0 °C (32 °F) | 1/4 in |
| 5 °C (41 °F) | 1/4 in |
| 10 °C (50 °F) | 3/16 in |
| 15 °C (59 °F) | 1/8 in |
| 20 °C (68 °F) | 1/8 in |
| 25 °C (77 °F) | 1/16 in |
| 30 °C (86 °F) | 1/16 in |
What joist spacing and gaps are required?
For decking, ESR-3487 sets maximums by profile, for perpendicular installation only: 16 inches centre-to-centre for the US01 (22.5 mm × 138 mm) and UH02 (22.5 mm × 138 mm) boards, and 12 inches centre-to-centre for the hollow UH01 (20.5 mm × 141 mm). The installation guide adds 12 inches for commercial use, 12 inches on stair stringers, and subtracts 4 inches from the spacing for a 45-degree diagonal layout — so 12 inches residential.
On gaps, the report requires a minimum 1/16 inch (1.6 mm) between boards and a minimum 1/16 inch at butt joints, with fasteners set at least 1 inch (25.4 mm) from the edge and the end of each board. The installation guide is more conservative, calling for 3/16 to 13/16 inch at butt joints. For cladding, maximum fastener spacing is 15 3/4 inches on centre, and each board is locked at a single point so the rest of it can move.
From the field
We oversize the gaps, every time. The table values are minimums calculated for a board installed under the manufacturer's conditions. On a south-facing wall in Laval, a dark 16-foot board can run well above ambient air temperature. We take the row above the measured temperature at install, and we measure the board, not the thermometer in the truck.
We acclimatize boards on site for 48 hours. Flat, on sleepers, in the shade, never stacked against a heated wall. A board delivered from a 5 °C warehouse and fastened to a 25 °C facade expands after the fact, and the gap we calculated at install stops meaning anything.
We raise the warranty before the quote, not after. A client who plans to sell in five or ten years needs to know the coverage will not follow the house, and that fading is not claimable. Nobody has ever cancelled a project over it. But we have seen clients furious to learn both facts at claim time, and that is a conversation that belonged at the first meeting.
Common questions
Does the warranty transfer if I sell?
No. The residential limited warranty is restricted to the original purchaser, defined as the owner of the property at the time of installation, and requires that person to maintain ownership. A sale ends coverage, and the document provides no transfer form. If you are buying a house with a NewTechWood deck, assume it is out of warranty regardless of its age.
Will the colour fade?
Somewhat, and that is written into the contract. The fade warranty sets the claim threshold at colour change greater than 5 Delta E (Hunter) units; below that it counts as normal weathering. Darker tones and full-south exposures move more. Expect some settling of the tone over the first two seasons, which matters most if you plan to add boards later and want them to match.
Can you install cladding in January?
We do not. The manufacturer's expansion table stops at 0 °C and nothing is published below it. Installing cold locks the board at maximum contraction and all but guarantees bowing the following summer. The ICC-ES reports do confirm a service range evaluated down to -29 °C, so the product endures winter once installed — it is the cold installation that causes problems.
Can I use it near an outdoor fireplace?
Only with verified clearances. The cladding is combustible and Class C rated, with a flame spread index up to 200, and it does not replace a non-combustible material behind a combustion appliance. We design those zones to the appliance manufacturer's clearances, and we keep the ground clearance the report requires: 6 inches from earth, 2 inches above a concrete slab.
What is the difference between UH61 and the other profiles?
The fluted UH61 is the only one carrying a CCMC number, CCMC-14734-R. The others rely on American ICC-ES reports. In performance terms the difference is not necessarily large; administratively it can be, if your municipality wants a Canadian evaluation. We settle that question before the profile goes into the quote.
Is the 95 % recycled content verifiable?
Not publicly, as far as we can tell. The figure appears on the manufacturer's site, but the Environmental Product Declaration that should substantiate it is released only on request, the PDF posted online is not machine-readable, and we found no entry in a public EPD registry. If the environmental argument is decisive for your project, request the full EPD in writing before ordering.
What to settle before you order
NewTechWood remains a good product: capped on all four sides, dimensionally stable, evaluated down to -29 °C, with real resistance to warping and rot. You simply want to buy it knowing what the documents say rather than what the brochures say. Ask in writing for the full EPD, the ICC-ES report for the exact profile you are ordering, and the CCMC number if your permit requires one. And leave the boards room to move: expansion gap is by far the leading cause of failed composite installations.
At Mughet we settle these details on the drawing, not on site. Whether the composite serves as decking under a pergola, as cladding around an outdoor kitchen, or as finish on an outdoor sauna, the clearances, gaps and board orientation are decided before the order goes in. Our guides to the outdoor sauna in Québec and to outdoor heating cover the same climate constraints, and our Noréa Foyers division handles combustion appliances when a project includes one. To have a profile, a joist spacing or an installation window reviewed, send us your dimensions and the orientation of the facade.
