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Hello all,
I'm going to redo my outdoor decking area. I believe the wood is Merbau. I was originally thinking about just staining it in a similar colour, however i have now seen some grey colours and thinking i may do this instead. With going grey is this possible if the wood is already a brown colour?
My Plan:
1. Preasure house deck.
2. Apply a chemical to remove stubborn dirt and stains.
3. Sand deck and rails back.
4. Clean deck with sugar soap or similar.
5. Allow to dry.
6. Paint with an oil or stain.
Any other suggestions please let me know.
Thanks
@Jason @MitchellMc
Here is a picture of the deck with a second coat. I'm quite impressed with how it turned out.
Just curious to know how much oil should I to be using. My decking area is 60m2 so that should be 6 litres per coat, right? i have used around 9 litres for two coats, I didn't go too thick with the oil. I'm hoping its enough and not too thin.
Id be impressed also! 
That looks like its just been put in, The whole area really looks new now.
So whats the next project?
Dave
I've got one more coat on this to go.
Then going to focus on deco for this area and make it a nice area to relax in.
Going to have a break after this and spend time with the kids. I've been non stop since we bought this house
AMAZING work, @bowmatty! The deck looks sensational, and you should be REALLY proud of your efforts. I don't think it could come out looking any better than this. I'm just looking back at your first images, and just WOW! What a difference. Splendid work!
If you were applying the product too thinly, you would probably see lap marks and inconsistencies with coverage. Looks all good to me.
You're likely fine with the two coats you have on now. The timber appears fully nourished. To test whether more oil could be taken up, place a few small droplets of water on a board in an inconspicuous area that's not in the sun. If the water beads and doesn't get sucked into the timber within a couple of minutes, the timber is fully saturated with oil and doesn't need any more. You could apply another coat if the droplets don't want to bead and get sucked straight into the timber. However, it likely wouldn't hurt to do the third coat; but that's only required in harsh conditions like full sun.
Well done, and thanks so much for taking us on this ride with you. This will be an excellent resource to point members to when the question of oiling a deck arises.
Mitchell
Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @Bjory. It's great to have you join us.
You might like to share some photos of your deck so members can see what you are working with.
I would certainly encourage you to consider sanding the Merbau boards - they can often look like new again. I've done it a couple of times on my deck. The first time was documented here - Deck renewal using floor sander.
Jason
Morning @Bjory
Id also like to say hello and welcome to the community
Decks fade with time and yeah we generally dont treat them as we should I didnt oil my deck for about 9 years and then sanded it back and reoiled it. I used a belt sander compared to @Jason I thought I had a project showing it but whoops missed it.
I found it impossible to undo/remove the deck screws as they would shear off, I ended up sanding the boards and then oiling them again. I would consider this in "turning over" your boards that you mentioned. (My boards were screwed to hardwood joists but even softer timber the age you mention would bind them tighter.)
Dave
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