hardwood alternative to merbau decking

[schmiko]

I'm an owner-builder in Blue Mountains NSW looking for hardwood decking as an alternative to merbau. I'm in a high-level bushfire prone area, the approved hardwood timbers are: blackbutt, red ironbark, river red gum, silver top ash, spotted gum and turpentine. Any suggestions for suppliers, whether timber retailers or direct from mill, in Sydney to Bathurst area?

cheers,
Denis

[silentC]

Do you want an alternative to Merbau because you don't like it, or because you don't think it's approved for bushfire areas? If the latter, I'm certain that it is because I've recently built in a bushfire area and I've had the use of merbau decking approved.

[schmiko]

thanks silent c,

Yes, merbau is an approved fire resistant timber. Call me sentimental, but I'd prefer Australian hardwood mainly because it's locally produced and traditional. I'm hoping someone can come up with a competitive price to merbau. We shall see. Evenso, I'd be inclined to go with hardwood - like the way it weathers to grey, while remaining very stable without "bleeding".

[silentC]

Not sure if they do decking but Ironwood (in that suburb just this side of Balmain whose name I forget) do recycled blackbutt flooring, amongst other species. Might be worth checking them out anyway.

[glock40sw]

G'day

Hardwood decking.
85x19 Pencil round.

Spotted gun, Grey Ironbark or Tallowwood.
Same species also done in 64x19 pencil round.

Don't know the price.

Call Hardwood Floors at Victoria road,Marrickville

[Loki429]

Hi schmiko

I'm in the final stages of completing a deck in a bushfire area too, and also decided to use Australian hardwoods as much as possible.
Here's a link to a similar question I posted at the start of this project which contains some useful information and links to external websites - the australiainhardwood one in particular I found very useful. http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/showthread.php?p=579599#post579599

I decided to go with Ironbark and have been very happy with the result. Its been great to work with and looks very good too. I doubt you will find anyone selling red ironbark however; they all seem to be selling "grey" ironbark. Basically this is just a mix of the different colours. I found some to be very red, there were some greys, and very few yellows. I was after the red look and believe I have achieved it.

I used http://barrenjoeytimber.com.au/ for all my timber (fairly local to me). There's prices on their website and it looks like they will deliver to your area. In the end I had trouble getting quotes from many of the timber yards. I'd email or fax a list to them and still be waiting days later for a response. Surely its not that hard to quote on ~$10k timber?!?

You mention not likely the timber "bleeding" too - that's a very good reason to stay away from merbau!

Good luck!