Staining a grey merbau deck

Hi,

We have a small deck which was built about 2 years ago now, and was not stained or sealed. Over that time it has now turned grey, and I'm searching around for some advice on how to fix it. I'm an absolute wood newbie, but think its merbau, and the wood seems to be in a pretty good condition.

From what I've read so far, a good clean and stain should be the go - Cabots have some good instructions on their website, so I was thinking about using their products for the job.

The deck also sits right up against the house, which is rendered a beige colour. So I was going to run a line of masking tape along the join to prevent any stain hitting the render.

Any other tips/advice are welcomed !

Cheers,
Daniel

Hi Daniel & welcome to the site.
The gray is the natural weathering of the timber. Some people like it and use it as a feature. If the wood is exposed to sun and weather it will return to that colour. To remove the gray you will have to sand it. First with about 60 grit paper then 80 then 120 and so on depending on how far you want to go. Have you got a sander of some sort. It would be a big job by hand. Decking oil is the most common finish. Just brush on and wipe off the excess with a wad of rags. Second and third coats when dry. Instructions on can. The good thing about oil is you can just apply some to scuffs and scratches to take care of wear and tare. Then a clean and repeat coat about 1 or 2 times a year or if you reckon it looks a bit dry. The gray colour will return however if the deck is exposed to the elements. The other option is an exterior uv polly and will keep the colour for a lot longer but is a lot more work to touch up when it starts to look shabby. A lot of sanding back for a repeat application. Cabbots is a good brand and supply both oils and polly finishes. Keep posting how you go.

Regards
John

Hi daniel

If you are happy enough to spend some time just by a cheap orbital sander and do it yourself. This will bring out the colour so you know whether you like the colour and that will determine whether you just protect it with some decking oil or stain it to a colour.

Each to thier own, but I like decking oils as you can easily touch up whenever and not worry about colour matching.

For a super finish you can burnish it by putting the decking oil (tung oil, organoil or similar) and use the sander with 240 grit to finish it off. This gives a super smooth surface.

How large is the deck? and if you do sand dont forget to punch the nails flush so they dont tear the sanding pads.

cheers

I would first try giving it a good wash with an oxalic acid based deck cleaning product. These are supposed to remove the grey dead timber cells & restore the timber's colour.

There are plenty of different brands available where you buy deck oil & the like. Follow the destructions on the product container.


Cheers..................Sean

Thanks everyone for your advice so far. It's only a small deck, about 2m * 3m.

It was a pretty warm day in Melbourne today, so I picked up a bottle of "Timber Restorer" (has Oxalic acid in it) and a deck scrubber from Bunnings for $25, to clean up the deck and see how that would go. Was quite amazed how after one scrub the colour of the wood came back - it's like a deep red. Although it did find when it dries out, a lot of it goes back to a very dry and grey colour. Maybe I need to give it a few more scrubs with the acid...

What I'm after is that natural red colour of the wood uniformly over the deck without the dry grey bits.

Don't have a sander on hand ... so do you think sanding would be needed to get this out, or would some decking oil or stain do the trick?

Cheers,
Daniel

I've had the same timber down for over 20 years, very rarely it might get a sand but usually just oil, once a year. In your case I'd clean it again but it is outside, the highly unrecommended method at our place is hit with water blaster to rearrange spiders and dog hair and get the dirt off and then oil. But we have grown quite used to the grey.

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Originally Posted by thisreview.com

Don't have a sander on hand ... so do you think sanding would be needed to get this out, or would some decking oil or stain do the trick?

Cheers,
Daniel

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Yes. You lightly sand off the top layer of dried and rough timber to reveal the yummy timber underneath. You then oil it to protect it giving it a coat each year. :D

Or you could try the new "Super Dooper Magic Mystery Fix My Deck" in a jar. :-

If you want to bring back your deck to it,s natural color or get it to look like it was you will need to sand back the dead wood.
This can sometimes be tough, as all decks are screwed or nailed and the sanding will take the top off the metal and then they may rust.
There is a firm called Cutek oils and they are the best on the market, they have a timber product that takes the dead wood off and then you can treat the timber with there oils and you are back to a new looking deck that will need oiling over a period, but there is not a timber on the planet that does not need to be re-oiled if you want it to look it,s best all year round.
Do not use Cabots or Feast Watson, as they are vegetable oil based and will grow mould.
I have used these products for years and they are no good, Cutek is a oil based timber preservative that will keep wood looking it,s best.
I manufacture outdoor furniture and have tried all the major brands, and this product is the very best there is.
Go to the web page www.ctek.com.au and take a look, it is good for any type of timber either inside or out.
Howard

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Originally Posted by thisreview.com

Although it did find when it dries out, a lot of it goes back to a very dry and grey colour. Maybe I need to give it a few more scrubs with the acid...

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Yep, I'd give it another go with plenty of elbow grease