Thread: Merbau pricing - Where to buy?

Originally Posted by oohsam

Clackerz..where did you get your decking from. Im at the point where Im about to buy 500lm of decking and would love your help.
Also, I have not heard about this "Decking season"...sounds a bit odd to me, a sales pitch maybe to get u to buy as I've seen the prices of Merbu stay the same for a while now.

Agreed, it does sound like a sales pitch, but I heard it from several places on my hunt. So I took my chances and bought now - the price was right anyhoo!
I found a place in the trading post in Dandenong. A little place in the back streets. I was a little sceptical, but having been there a few times to take a look, plently of peeps were there loading up their trailers etc.
He did say he would beat any price as well.
90 x 19 - He also has non-KD Merbau @ $3.00 and 'older' stock at $2.20 (the catch is you must buy a whole stack -1600 l/m)
If you want I can PM you the address - not sure of the name though....

I know of a place in dandy in the back streets ( i grew up in the south east!) that recylcle Timber...Maybe the same ppl. can you plese PM me the address. that would be most helpful!
How is the quality..I only need 500L/m so I'll have to pay a bit more but I've got mates that want some merbu so maybe we can all 'chip in' (excuse the pun!) LOL.

Originally Posted by oohsam

I know of a place in dandy in the back streets ( i grew up in the south east!) that recylcle Timber...Maybe the same ppl. can you plese PM me the address. that would be most helpful!
How is the quality..I only need 500L/m so I'll have to pay a bit more but I've got mates that want some merbu so maybe we can all 'chip in' (excuse the pun!) LOL.

PM sent.
The quality (if you're referring to the $2.20 of 1600 l/m) appears to be A grade - then again I looked but not closely.
I would have def thought about it if I had some peeps I knew wanting merbau.

The "decking season" starts about now and runs to about christmas. Everybody is trying to get their decks in before christmas and the holidays. Decking material prices don't change that much however some tradies may try it on during their busier season.

is it merbau that is being used for gates and driveway gates at the moment on all new houses?
screwed in horizontally in slats?

yep....they love it!!!

If anyone in Brisbane is getting ready to buy some Merbau, Narangba Timbers has it for $3.75 and Bunnings is $3.98. I asked if they will match the Narangba price and Bunnings said yes plus the 10%. So that makes $3.375 which is a big savings, especially for me as I'm about to buy just over 500lm.

PS Great forum, has helped me with all those little things that you need a second opinion on when building a deck.

Regards,
Adam

I was pricing up both 70mm and 90mm Merbau for my fence a couple of months back and i ended going through Fowles Auction Timber. There located on Princess highway / Blackburn rd near Mulgrave. I'll check tonight on the price i got but it was certainly a lot cheaper than Bunnings and all the other places around Melbourne.

They were the cheapest out of any other place (i spent a lot of work hours googling and phoning). I only bought 130lm and he mentioned that he gave me trade price without me even asking for a better price but he said they generally have the one price for both trade and general public. The quality was excellent.

Fowles is not that cheap. I was there the other day checking the price. They quoated 3.60 per liner meter for 90x19 and when asked for a better price they said no.
They had B grade merbau there but ya dont want that for ur decking.

That's interesting when i was there they had no troubles in giving me a better price, i checked my docket and i was charged $3.49 for 90mm (65lm) and $2.20 for 70mm (65lm) which at the time was cheaper than anywhere else. Can someone tell me what B grade merbau is? I've found compared to other jobs my mates have done that mine had the best true color and not the light brownish/grey like some. Plus mine had no blemishes or warps.

I put a post up about this a few days ago, the B grade thing.
Basically, its graded at the mills, the merbau could be bent, warped, or discoloured, sometimes its 90mm at one end and 100mm at the other end, so you have to plane it down,sometimes its got mould on it, or cracks. They reccon out of a 1500lm pack you could get 500lm of good stuff thats usable...

Alot of tradies buy it for the work they do in parks and stuff for the government, as 100% quality is not that important, as it will be used alot.
I wouldnt put it on my deck.

Did you hand pick your merabu want2learn or did it come i packs of 5? When I was at fowles in south melbourne, they had all random peices....The blokes there know what they are talking about too, great help!!

Seems like you got a pretty good price.

Originally Posted by oohsam

I put a post up about this a few days ago, the B grade thing.
Basically, its graded at the mills, the merbau could be bent, warped, or discoloured, sometimes its 90mm at one end and 100mm at the other end, so you have to plane it down,sometimes its got mould on it, or cracks. They reccon out of a 1500lm pack you could get 500lm of good stuff thats usable...

Alot of tradies buy it for the work they do in parks and stuff for the government, as 100% quality is not that important, as it will be used alot.
I wouldnt put it on my deck.

Did you hand pick your merabu want2learn or did it come i packs of 5? When I was at fowles in south melbourne, they had all random peices....The blokes there know what they are talking about too, great help!!

Seems like you got a pretty good price.

I only got 130lm so it wasn't a huge amount but i was able to sort through all the stock and pick my lengths which were all 1.8 and 3.6 for both 90 and 70. This was my first ever project so its all a learning experince, its just about finished bleeding so i can't wait to stain it. Here's what my merbau looked like

Geez..that looks great. I really like merbau fences. They are getting really really popular...
Good job want2learn...What did you use for the posts? Treated Pine 90x90?

Originally Posted by oohsam

Geez..that looks great. I really like merbau fences. They are getting really really popular...
Good job want2learn...What did you use for the posts? Treated Pine 90x90?

Thanks, I was pleased with the result as i had never used a saw, drill etc being a young first home buyer, anyway the post i used were 125x125mm rough sawn Cypress pine which were then shaved (terminology?) 2mm all round . I then stained them with an intergrain natural stain.