CPSC, Kadant Composites Inc. Announce Recall of Certain GeoDeck™ Decking and Railing Materials

Recall Insight

This CPSC action (record #05247) was formally reported on August 19, 2005. It is classified under Moderate severity, with a current status of Active. Kadant Composites Inc., of Bedford, Mass. is listed as the recalling firm. Federal records indicate About 11,000 constructed decks units are affected.

The documented reason for this recall is: When the decking or railing material is exposed to hot temperatures and sunlight, it can prematurely degrade. The degraded material could break, posing a fall hazard to consumers. Distribution information was not included in the agency filing, so consumers should assume broad potential exposure until the firm publishes point-of-sale details. The remedy documented by the agency is: Consumers should check their GeoDeck™ decking materials for visible cracks on the surface and check to see if the surface can be easily scratched with a fingernail or the corner of a credit card. How… — consumers holding this product should act on that instruction rather than relying on general guidance.

To put this record in context, PlainRecalls indexes 83,949 recalls across the FDA, CPSC, NHTSA and USDA FSIS going back to 1995. Within the same product category, the database holds 6 closely related recalls, of which 6 were also issued by CPSC. That clustering is a signal — repeated actions in a narrow category often indicate a systemic quality-control issue, a supplier-wide contamination, or a design defect that has propagated across product lines. This recall is roughly 21 years old; older recalls can remain relevant because many units enter resale, rental, and secondary-market channels where the original warning never reaches the end user. Always cross-check the recall number against the official agency page before relying on any summary.