Sleeping Beauty

for all you professionals out there, what wood would you recommend for decking?

the people that we have had in for quotes are non-commital and have said it is personal choice.

Timber Floor Au

We use Kwikl/Merbau.

Available from www.narangbatimbers.com.au

Ste

Sleeping Beauty

thanks ste. i understand that treated pine is good at stopping the white ants/termites and other pesky things. but, we are not impressed on how it looks overall. how does the Kwikl/Merbau wood fare in this department. as it is so expensive, we want it to last, but look good as well. can you get these woods treated?

>Trigger<

Echo what timber says,my personal preference is Merbau,make sure you use a decking nail to fix them...the nails have a slight twist in them..stops the deck from lifting...and their galavanised


http://www.otter.com.au/nails_hints.php


Feast watson or cabots for decking oil or stain...pain in the butt job..ours gets done every year

Sleeping Beauty

OH is a painter and decorator, so it can come with the job title

what about the termites etc - no worries?

>Trigger<

Not really...it's hardwood, takes em a while to get thru it...so just your normal visual checks

themerlin

It will wear out quicker as well (being soft wood).

ozzieeagle

Isn't Bamboo cheaper and resistent to termites ?

I've seen some classy bamboo finishes.

Sleeping Beauty

mmmm, now there's a thought - i will run it past the OH, i'm sure he will be mighty impressed

Sleeping Beauty

..........thought these woods were hardwood

steve`o

more info the you can shake a big stick at

http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com...splay.php?f=77


i`m using merbau with harwood joists n bearers on steel posts

as shown here

youngy73

i would avoid bamboo as it goes black if it gets wet. i used merbau when i built the deck around our pool a few years ago. we were happy with the finished product although decks are high maintenance if you want to keep them looking good. below are a few photos both mid and post production. it took me a couple of weekends to complete.

ozzieeagle

I've not heard about that issue of bamboo going black before, would that only be the case if the protective layer started to wear ?

http://www.bambooandtimber.com.au/ne..._flooring.html

youngy73

i used to manage property maintenance and i had one house where the dishwasher blew up and leaked all over the floor and was not discovered for a couple of days. the bamboo flooring went black and had to be replaced. this was however internal there may be a different product for external use. being a sparky im not that up on timber stuff.

Sleeping Beauty

both look good. steve'o, i know you are a sparky, but youngy73, are you are carpenter? we are planning on doing it ourselves after some very pricey quotes, and seeing as we have no money whatsoever, need to do what we can. brother is planning on helping us, in exchange for OH painting his house, and he is a design draftsman, so hopefully it should look ok on paper

a timber merchant mentioned cypress to me - he raved about it. any opinions on this wood?

although merbau seems to be the front runner.