when good decks go bad

[johnmurrell]

G'day folks - great forum!!!

A friend of mine has recently (start of summer) had a deck built around the pool and facing north, BUT... the timber (Yellow Balau) was coated in linseed oil and now it is mouldy... AND there are splinters, splinters and more large splinters

The mould is easy enough - oxygen bleach, then clean and brighten with oxalic acid (I use Septone "Marine Clene"), BUT... what can be done about the splinters? any clues on what would be causing the splintering?

Sanding is not practical as the nails are dome heads, and the splinters are actually quite large (up to 5 mm long).

The deck is Yellow Balau and is in full sun, some areas have had one coat and others two coats of linseed oil. Does the Yellow Balau need much in the way of weathering/washing before oiling? Will too much weathering cause the splintering?

Thanks in advance for sharing your expertise

Cheers

John

[UteMad]

hi johnmurrel

thought i had better answer you so don't think everyone is ignoring your thread.I have looked a few times to see if anyone had a unique way of reversing the aging process other than applying a Loreal of paris anti aging lotion or something.... mate its a toughy ...... we don't use much yellow belau or batu cause i don't like the finish it comes with new let alone after it weathers a bit..... Like you said you'll have to clean it remove the algae and then use something other than linseed oil to coat it ( plenty of threads on coatings ) once you have coated it properly it should slow the weathering down but nothing can reverse whats been done til now..... Like you say sanding would be hard so i'd clean it up have a look and go from there but stay away from the linseed and organ oil causee neither one does much more from our experince than feed mould growth....

cheers utemad

www.dialadeck.com.au

[manoftalent]

G'day folks - great forum!!!

A friend of mine has recently (start of summer) had a deck built around the pool and facing north, BUT... the timber (Yellow Balau) was coated in linseed oil and now it is mouldy... AND there are splinters, splinters and more large splinters

The mould is easy enough - oxygen bleach, then clean and brighten with oxalic acid (I use Septone "Marine Clene"), BUT... what can be done about the splinters? any clues on what would be causing the splintering?

Sanding is not practical as the nails are dome heads, and the splinters are actually quite large (up to 5 mm long).

The deck is Yellow Balau and is in full sun, some areas have had one coat and others two coats of linseed oil. Does the Yellow Balau need much in the way of weathering/washing before oiling? Will too much weathering cause the splintering?

Thanks in advance for sharing your expertise

Cheers

John

As you mentioned above about sanding and as UteMad also said its a toughy ....mate ....if it were me I would first go round and punch in the nails ...then go and hire a floor sander ......and sand it back to remove the splinters .....then apply a somewhat better finish than linseed oil, I am afraid there is no "short and easy" answer to this one .....the only other option is to rip it all up and lay down jarra or merbu ....and that will be far more expencive than the nitty gritty I just mentioned .

[MikGan]

I'm the nubie here so I'll ask the stupid questions...

<noob_question> What end suffers from sanding prior to punching the nails in? the nails or the sander? Maybe just hire a sander and tear it a new one sanding straight over the nails if they are too hard to punch in? </noob_question>

[mic-d]

I'm the nubie here so I'll ask the stupid questions...

<noob_question> What end suffers from sanding prior to punching the nails in? the nails or the sander? Maybe just hire a sander and tear it a new one sanding straight over the nails if they are too hard to punch in? </noob_question>

Problem is you sand off the nail heads and the boards may work loose. I would use a wire brush on an angle grinder to brush them out. Sounds agressive I know, but it is a standard finish offered by recycled timber merchants and can look quite good. The problem is choosing the right wire brush that's not too agressive - probably not the cup-shaped one. And place a good finish on the boards straight away. Flood Spa-n-Deck is good. If the splinters are on the corners of the boards and tending to be larger, they may be glued back down with polyurethane glue and held in place with masking tape til the glue sets.

CHeers

Michael

[jimj]

I agree with all the suggestions offered and it is tough decision. With all of the information provided I would just punch the nails down and sand. You will at least get down to new bare wood which will recoat easily. You may have to hand remove the bad splinters. There are always raging debates about the purpose and best nail for decking and I don't want to stir up the pot but on decks with similar issues I just put on my knee pads and knock them down to allow for sanding. Yes you do have holes where water will sit after rain but that is usually shortlived. With your new coating it will flow into the holes and offer some protection. At least you havn;t sanded off the nail heads which as Utemad said will lead to problems. I have been on decks where the heads have been sanded off and that looks terrible. If you are lucky your joists may be pine which will make hand punching a little easier.
I want to pay credit to Larry McCauley. Larry has been a great source of information on this forum and is a professional floor sander. I too didn't think it was appropriate to punch domeheaded nails but he through this forum said to do it and I did. It works and I am glad utilised his sound advice based on his vast experience in flooring. And no I don't fill the holes with a filler. You can do that if you want but after I have done the nails on a 90m2 deck I have had enough of bending over.

Best of luck

jimj www.restore-a-deck.com.au

[johnmurrell]

G'day
thanks for the thoughts and replies.

At the moment the deck owners are trying to get the worst of it replaced by the builder, BUT.... he has a new big job to do, so he isn't even interested in completing this one, let alone fixing the mess.

Considering the splinters, would something solid like Spa'n'Deck give a better (less spliting and splintering) finish than an oil? Would the S'n'D stick to the timber since it has been oiled? or should it be "de-oiled" with sodium metasilicate or sodium hydroxide as well as the regular 2 step clean & brighten?

Does anyone else have experience with Yellow Balau? Utemad mentioned the "finish", has the builder dudded them on the decking?

I've got a couple of photo's - I just have to work out how to resize them, them I'll put them up.

Thanks again

John

[journeyman Mick]

John,
is the builder treating it as a warranty issue? If so, has he agreed in writing as to what repairs he will be making and the timeframe for completion? Your friends may need to discuss this with the builder and possibly the QBSA. Hard to tell from cyberspace how to best approach this. Sometimes builders can be a bit careless but sometimes clients can be unrealistic in their expectations. Not calling it one way or another. The timber sounds like it may be a warranty callback for the supplier, which will be an absolute pain for the builder as generally only faulty materials are covered, not the builders labour or associated materials (coatings and fasteners).

Mick

[manoftalent]

I'm the nubie here so I'll ask the stupid questions...

<NOOB_QUESTION> </NOOB_QUESTION>

MikGan, mate there is no such thing as a stupid question on this forum, its how we learn, by combining everyones experiance/s we can all learn from each other something new ....I have'nt been here as long as some, but I must admit even I learn something every time I log on

[johnmurrell]

Here are some photo's of "the" deck

Mick, I think the builder is treating it as a PITA - even the actual completion of the job. The owners are very dissapointed at the mould and the splinters, and I will probably have to re-explain the high maintenance nature of an oiled deck that is in full sun and next to the pool. If the worst happens, they will keep the (significant amount of) money owed and....

Thanks again

John

[journeyman Mick]

John,
okay a messy situation. They should go to the QBSA and by rights, they should pay the builder as the job is practically complete, even though they're not satisfied. If they don't go to the QBSA they could be successfully sued by the builder for non payment as this is a seperate issue to the quality issues.

Mick

[mic-d]

Apart from discolouration, the photo's don't show up the splintering at all, are they along the face of the boards or at the butt joints?

Cheers
Michael

[Bloss]

Aside from the issues on warranty I reckon the suggestion above is best - punch (using a big mother of a punch) the nails then get sanded professionally (floor sanders tear paper easily and can get very expensive and frustrating quickly for novices).

Next to a pool I reckon the coating should be an opaque acrylic type finish - I know that is not the woodgrain look that oiled finishes give, but next to wet areas or in humid or wetter climates you need to oil very 6 to 12 months. Not cheap and very inconvenient.

Whoever suggested linseed oil was way off the mark - the commercial decking oils are the go and have various volatile carriers, alkyds and other protectants to soak down and to impart some UV and mold resistance.

The use of an opaque (or semi-opaque) finish also means the mold and greying of the timber is no longer an issue.

Always a disappointment when the result you are after doesn't happen.