Southeast Queensland deck finishing question

[yhprum]

G’day all,
Two years ago I sanded my merbau or jarra deck down to bare wood and put down three coats of ultra grain water based deck varnish. It gets rained on and goes cloudy until the sun dries it out and all, but now it is failing again and needs a complete redo.
the last time, I seriously considered using a quality decking oil as an alternative thinking it’s better to really soak it into the wood and regularly redo it once a year or so.
interested if this is a good strategy. Thanks!

[Greg Q]

I have never heard of a forever varnish. Lots of effort to strip a failed film coating. Your idea of oil is sound. Make a date every year when we don’t set our clocks ahead to re do it.

[double.d]

i seriously wonder how a water based product for a external horizontal surface is even allowed on the market:~

Give it a deep sand nip up the screws or punch the nails and give it 2 good coats of oil.

[Cgcc]

I have hardwood balustrades and posts that get blasted by the SEQ sun. I was recommended Cutek CD50 by the manufacturer.

It is fairly expensive by volume but does go a long way. I am very happy with the result. The bits in full sun will start fading within about a year but it's literally just opening the tin and wiping down with a rag or paper towel to refresh periodically.


G’day all,
Two years ago I sanded my merbau or jarra deck down to bare wood and put down three coats of ultra grain water based deck varnish. It gets rained on and goes cloudy until the sun dries it out and all, but now it is failing again and needs a complete redo.
the last time, I seriously considered using a quality decking oil as an alternative thinking it’s better to really soak it into the wood and regularly redo it once a year or so.
interested if this is a good strategy. Thanks!

[yhprum]

Thanks all for the advice. I am definitely going with oil this time around. I am going to try some Viccon deck stripper. You put it on and pressure wash after it lifts. Cheers

[jack620]

Oil all the way. If you’re going to redo it every year, I wouldn’t waste your money on exotic products. I use the Cabots decking oil in the yellow can. I’ve recoated my merbau deck so may times now I can get 3 years between stripping and recoating. I use home brand nappysan to clean off the old stuff.