Thread: Need help with finish for Merbau Timbre

Hi,

there is a sister site to this called renovateforums.com. You might find many posts with answers on similar questions there.

I am in Brisbane but my experience of oil and clear finishes on extrnal timbers on houses and boats is that they require a lot of work to maintain. That means re-oiling a deck every six months with a good decking oil. Now I let my jetty walkway go grey!

I have used Deks Olje on external Australian Cedar doors and jambs and have gotten away with renewing it every two years. One advantage of that set of oil finishes is that you can just lightly sand and recoat if you do so before the timber goes grey or black.

I have only used the water based clear finishes on interior architectural elements. Once those finishes deteriorate you may have to completely remove them before applying more of same or other finish. That is painful work.

I am sure others will have more experience and advice.

good luck with it.

David

Hi Garron, Haymes make a couple of products called Uvex and Dexpress, specifically for Merbau and other decking timbers. They claim 6 times and 4 times longer respectively than other decking finishes. Might be worth checking out.

Their catalogue:
http://www.haymespaint.com.au/assets...ject-guide.pdf

Welcome to the forums, too, mate.

Regardless of whether you end up using a 'penetrating oil' to finish the deck or use plastic 'overcoat,' Merbau is a naturally oily timber (partly why it's so popular for external timbers) and this can/will affect the quality of any finish.

After sanding it's a good idea to lightly wash down the surface with something to remove any residual oils (including oils from bare feet, etc. while sanding!) and letting it dry before applying the finish.

For furniture I'd wipe it down with acetone, but for a deck I use... Napisan! It works. A clean bucket & new mop-head are important... there's no good in removing the oils if you're replacing 'em with other contaminants!

This only removes the surface oils long enough for the finish to penetrate/adhere. If you leave the timber overnight before finishing, sub-surface oils will seep back to the surface, meaning you have to remove them all over again.


I dislike the 'plastic overcat' type finishes with a passion and don't use them, so I'll refrain from any comments there... however, I've yet to come across any penetrating style decking oil that won't last a couple of years before a recoat is needed. By the same token, I've yet to see any deck oil that doesn't look better if it's given a recoat every year.

You don't necessarily need to lightly sand annually, although IMHO it's always a good idea. You SHOULD clean off any built-up contaminants (dare I say it again? Napisan!) before recoating, whether you sand or not.

(I'm assuming that your deck, being pre-existing hence aged to some degree, is NOT showing signs of bleeding out tannins all over the place? Some pieces of Merbau are so oil/sap saturated that they will leave stains no matter how the timber is sealed. )