How to renew timber deck?

[all-thumbs]

Hi,

We recently purchased the house. Its patio needs some TLC. Being a newbie, I am not sure

• Should we sand the deck before oiling it or just clean and oil? Photos 1 & 2.  Photo 2 shows some blemishes.
• The nails in the deck are jutting out of the timber as seen in Photo 2 & 3.  Do I need to do anything to them if I need to sand the deck?
• The pillars are exposed to the elements so have discolouration - Photo 4.  How do I fix that?
• Can someone help identify which timber this is?

Would love some advise from the community.  Thank you.

 

 

[JacobZ]

Hi @all-thumbs,

Thank you for your question and welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community, it is fantastic to have you with us.

The deck looks to be in fairly good condition, so a full sand back doesn't look necessary. Cleaning and oiling the deck will be the way to go, however, the posts may need a bit of extra work as they look to be quite weathered.

You can follow the steps in How To Oil Your Deck for cleaning and oiling your deck.

For the posts, I'd suggest sanding them back with 80 grit sandpaper, either by hand or with a random orbital sander. Once sanded, brush them down to remove any sawdust and then cover the balustrade wires with masking tape to stop oil from getting on them. You can then oil the posts in the same way you would the deck.

In the future, if you are planning to sand the deck back, you will need to use a nail punch to set the dome head nails just below the surface of the timber. If you do not punch the nails down, you will find that your sandpaper will repeatedly rip prematurely.

It's hard to say with 100% certainty, but the decking certainly looks like Merbau.

Let me know what you think and if you have further questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Jacob

[all-thumbs]

Thank you JacobZ, appreciate the guidance.

[JacobZ]

No worries @all-thumbs.

If you have any questions along the way, don't hesitate to reach out.

Jacob

[all-thumbs]

Thanks for your advice @JacobZ. Have oiled the deck and it looks good. Since this is the raised patio, do I also need to oil the under deck?

[EricL]

Hello @all-thumbs 

If you are oiling the bottom of your deck, I suggest covering the flooring area with painters drop sheets to prevent staining your floor. Oiling the bottom of your deck gives you an extra level of defence against the elements. Quite often the bottom of the deck is un-oiled or unprotected, this results in the deck deteriorating faster. Not only does it offer extra protection it also gives it a uniform finish with the top of the deck.

If you need further assistance, please let me know.

Eric