Moved in! Day 50 - 24/04/2011

New photos of our deck + hut from a different angle :) (btw its still not complete)

Moved in! Day 48 - 22/04/2011

Hosed the deck down today and as you can see the wet look is how it will look like after it gets oiled, just less glossy. I am wetting it daily (except rainy days) so that the tannin in the Merbau bleeds out of the timber. This process is called weathering and i will be doing it for a few weeks although i have found that suggestions vary between 2 weeks to 4 months (but since i have to wait for the deck to be completed anyway its sitting there weathering). This process is followed by some and not by others, but the people for this process says it prepares the timber for oiling much better and gives a better end result as the tannin will have been bled out. While the people against this weathering method say it only allows the timber to dry out and cracks can appear. I am following the majority with our first deck so weathering it is :)

The weathering process will eventually turn the timber grey and dull with all the sticky tannin and dirt stuck on top. This is when we clean it properly with a deck cleaner, along with a good scrub and rinse. Let the timber dry for a day usually, then attack it with the oil you prefer over a day or usually 2 days if you want 3 or more coats as each coat can take 3-6hours to dry. All these will require at least 3 days of good weather and total cost for cleaning and oiling the deck = approx. $400. Time required = couple of hours over 3 days. Repeat this process every 6 months to a year and the deck will look as new for many years to come :)

Moved in! Day 47 - 21/04/2011

We finally got our bedroom curtain after an 8 week wait! Now we can finally have privacy without waking up some mornings to find our temporary cloth-drape-curtain thing had fallen off during the night. The curtains also gave us an illusion of a higher ceiling in our bedroom, its pretty cool :)

Also our Merbau decking boards are finally in!! :D Well, most of it anyway, job is not complete.. nails are not all in either but at least we have something to stand on now and not just mud. Its the Easter long weekend from tomorrow (Good Friday) so the guys won't be back till the following Thursday we were told!! Arrggghh... delays, delays and more delays. They are killing us with inefficiency! This job was meant to take 5 days and finished before 4th of April. We are now approaching May plus i was never told 5 days not = 5 consequtive work days. They would work for half a day, then return a week later to work another 2 days .. then rest another few days and come back for half a day.. Come on! We understand the weather played a part as it is Autumn and Victoria has been unusually wet this year but seriously we would never use them again!

Anyway, we now have to wait 1 week to see more progress. In the meantime we will be washing the deck with some water and stiff brushing just to get the mud off. Not preparing the deck for oiling yet, will do that when its all finished of course. Also i (Zee) will be doing more hard labour while we wait, wheelbarrowing 6m3 of filling soil in the next few days to level the backyard. The last time i wheelbarrowed 4m3 i ended up with bad sunburn and a sore back for a week! I am a bit smarter and fitter this time i hope :)

Also i have decided to use Cabot's Merbau stain for our Cypress posts to give it a more uniform look, and Feast Watson's Merbau Oil for our Merbau deck :) Should turn out nice, just like a $40,000 deck, not :p

Moved in! - Day 44

Sub flooring for our deck and hut finally complete after all sorts of dramas! The hut was completed today as well, now we are just short of installing the hand-rails for the hut and laying the Merbau deck and reed fencing + gate. The Cypress posts look fantastic as it is and we are trying to decide what stain to use on it. Should we stain it Merbau colour (Reddish-Brown) or use a clear coat (Yellowish-Orange). I am leaning towards Merbau so that it all blends in but will reserve decision till i see some samples and the natural colour of the hand-rail (Australian Hardwood).

Moved in! Day 40 - 14-04-2011

Our Merbau decking finally got delivered but there is no one to lay it! The weather wasn't kind and pelted down huge rain drops for a day and a half. When the rain eased we got some guys here to start on the hut. The correct square cypress posts we ordered got delivered and concreted into the ground and that was it as it was way too muddy (last picture).

Moved in! - Day 35 (09-04-2011)

More progress with the deck, and now we have to wait 3 days because the company supplying our timber can only do delivery on Tuesday. One of our rafters for the hut was also broken by a worker :/

Moved in! - Day 33 (07-04-2011)

Moved in over a month now, and finally some work to our courtyard and backyard area. Here are some pictures of what has been done this week.

The deck in progress -

The retaining wall in the backyard -