Thread: What's the best way to take Merbau back to raw state?

We've just moved into a house that has a timber deck made from Merbau. We think the deck has been stained with a varnish stain and it is in poor condition, has variations in texture and depth of colour.

We've added some merbau timber seating and planter boxes to the edge of the deck and have used an oil to enhance the new timber's appearance.

This really shows up the poor condition of the deck.

We think the best approach will be to take the decking back to its raw state and then apply the same oil as we've used for the seating and planter boxes.

My question is twofold - firstly what is the best approach to prepare the stained merbau for oiling (bearing in mind there are rows of round headed wood nails that hold the deck timbers down) and secondly if you think this is not a good idea what would you suggest we do.

Thanks

Len