External timber decking for a house extension - is this better than paving?

The trend for most gardens now is to have a selection of contrasting materials in some form of formulated landscaped design scheme. This often means incorporating many external materials and decking is just one of several.

I personally have never been a great fan of decking other than for helping to form a raised terrace due to sloping ground levels for example. This serves as a great cost effective way of creating a flat terrace area usually outside some glazed door sets with steps down to the lower level garden. Completing this with masonry or stonework would be very expensive and probably lead to uneven settlement over the next 5 years and further repairs.

My issues with most decking is that it can start to look very tired, faded and tatty within a few short years if not regularly cleaned, repaired and maintained. The gaps between the decking are also a pain for losing small items from children and adults alike.

I personally cannot see why anyone would install deck level timber decking right outside a level garden adjoining a house extension when a well installed set of paving slabs nicely edged would be so much more robust for not much more money.

However, when timber decking has been well designed as an integral part of the whole garden rather than a ‘quick fix instant terrace’ just outside the new extension bi-fold door set, then they can become an intrinsic and important part of the garden.