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 :)