Demand for decking in the U.S. is predicted to increase 1.8% each year to reach 3.55 billion linear feet in 2020, according to the Wood & Competitive Decking report from the Freedonia Group. That amount of decking would be worth $7.1 billion, the forecasting group said. Freedonia says that the increase is due, in part, to homeowners resuming decking projects after they postponed the projects in the wake of the Great Recession.

The non-wood share of the market rose from 12.5% in 2010 to 15.8% in 2015. Freedonia expects that the non-wood share will continue to rise and will reach 17.9% in 2020. Demand for wood decking is forecasted to increase 1.3% annually through 2020, which is a slower than the 4.5% annual increase predicted for wood-plastic composite decking. Part of this disparity could be because homeowners are turning to composite decking because they want a deck that looks like wood, but with a longer lifespan and less maintenance than a real-wood deck offers, according to Freedonia.

The report is available from the Freedonia Group for $5600. Find it here.