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Hello All
My wife and I recently bought a house in Brisbane and have been doing a bunch of projects inside and in the garden.
Next up on the list is tidying up the decks. The house has two covered rear decks, both roughly 5×10 m off top and bottom stories and a smaller, uncovered deck out front.
The prior owner renovated the house and built the decks probably 15 years ago, but in recent years didn't really look after them so they are in need of some love.
First photo below is of the front deck and steps. For this one it is in really poor condition and clearly needs a clean, sand back to bare wood and oil, which won't be too hard as it's only 10 or so m2. Question I have here is what type of wood is this deck and steps (I'm a kiwi so not familiar with Aussie timber) and what sort of oil should I be using for deck and stair treads? My guess was its all merbau as that seems most common and I should sand then use intergrain merbau oil??
Next photos are of the rear decks. Again what sort of wood does this look like and what would be best oil? And what is the current coating most likely, I can't tell if oil or stain or varnish?
Second question for the rear decks is, the current state of them is quite variable, in some areas they are ok, in other high traffic areas or weather exposed areas they are quite worn, in some places to the point where the prior coating is gone. Do they really need to be sanded back or could I get away with just cleaning and oiling them, or maybe just sanding the really worn areas? And if they do need to be sanded what would be best approach, would a floor sander be best, as sanding a 100m2 with my belt sander is a bit of a daunting prospect?
Photo of a portion of the deck which is in best condition
High wear, weather exposed area
Bottom deck
Top deck general condition
Thanks in advance for any deck revival tips!
Cheers
Pete
Evening @diypete
Nice decks 
And still in mostly a resonable condition
Well, just went to show you my hardwood deck I renovated over Christmas just gone and realised I havnt posted the project yet lol
It looks like your deck has nails and they are below the actual timber surface, That makes it a lot easier to sand. (I have screws that were at the same height of the timber) It also looks like the timber has not cupped which is another good thing.
I have not used a drum sander or hired a sander from Bunnings (I am sure @EricL or @MitchellMc know more then myself)
I have used an Ozito Belt sander on my 4m ish by 5m ish deck and it worked a dream, It did take a bit of work as I had to circumnavigate the screw heads but I was happy with the results.
The timber does look like Merbau and aged like it. (Mine was grey before the revamp) I would not sugest to sand damp timber just in case it has rained when you go to sand
I oiled my timber with Merbau natural oil Cabot's 4L Natural Decking Oil with two coats and the water still beads when the rain gets to it.
I have included some links to the pool deck I am talking about below. I will try and post the revamp project next week or over the weekend if I get time.
The deck is yellow gum (different from merbau but still a hardwood) I had some cupping as I have not looked after it for 14ish years 
It was still beautiful.
The question about do I sand just the high traffic areas or all. Sad to say I would suggest all. I think it would be very hard to feather in and match old area to new sanded and oiled area (The timber may be laquered even?) If you are not too worried about the undercover part you could leave it as a stage two and just do that very weather side part first. See how you go and see how it comes up (You may be surpprised at how good it will look) and then make the call for "Stage two"
The links that show how the deck was 14 years ago
and how it looks now.
Dave
Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @diypete. It's wonderful to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about rejuvenating a deck.
It's great to see that @Dave-1 has provided some excellent assistance.
I'd suggest sanding all areas apart from potentially your second and last image. However, as @Dave-1 suggested, while you have the hired equipment, it could be worth doing all areas so they have a consistent finish.
There could be variations in the hardwood but it's likely Merbau and Cabot's 4L Merbau Natural Decking Oil is a suitable coating . If you are happy with the colouring, as in image two, you could use Cabot's 4L Natural Decking Oil.
Here are some helpful guides: How to renovate a deck, How to sand a deck and How to oil your deck.
Please let us know if you have any questions.
Mitchell
We can't wait to see your results @diypete. Please reach out again if you get stuck or have further questions.
Mitchell
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