Hi Guys,
Not much of a handy man and just purchased my first IP in Queensland so was hoping some of the more experienced punters out there might be able to help. The previous owner has built a new timber deck to the rear of the property (not undercover) and when I inspected this I noticed that the top of the decking had been painted or sealed (not sure of the terminology) however looking from below the decking was the raw timber colour. Should I be concerned with this i.e. will it be subject to weather damage, pests etc or should the decking be pre treated and the colour difference just be for aesthetic reasons.
If it is a case that something needs to be done, I live in WA so advice on how to go about getting this work done would be welcomed.
Sorry for a basic type of question, really new at all this.
Cheers
Decking material is designed to be out in the elements and last a set number of years, say 10 years.
Anything you do additional to doing nothing, will add life to your deck.
Hardwood decks are usually oiled once or twice a year with decking oil.
Treated pine deckings particularly if from inferior grade and out in the open need some extra help to last the distance, so some resort to exterior paint, certainly not very nice.
The enemy of decking is water and fungus.
Previous to oiling you should wash it with a decking cleaner. Cabot sells one that really works. Some sware that Oxiclean, (Nappisan) in hot water and a pressure cleaner works miralces.
Decking oil is outrageously expensive for what it is, linseed oil with turps and a few drops of dryier. If you buy "diggers" linseed oil
they have a formula for applying it for exterior applications.
As for painting the underside, if the access is easy I would do it. Decking actually rots from below were the board meeds the joist.
PS
For further reference, technical information in the form of "how to" may be better addressed in this forum:
http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/forumdisplay.php?s=c97d1dd999584943eee7314b6fe3b5dd&f=751Winner wrote:Decking material is designed to be out in the elements and last a set number of years, say 10 years.Not Modwood. It is guaranteed for 10 years & would probaby last 50 years. Nearly twice the cost of Merbau, but doesn't require painting as the material has a colour pigment. The only downside is it stains & marks easily, but this can be reduced by applying decking oil.
As for typical timber (pine, merbau, etc), painting the underside without removing the panels is going to be useless, as you cannot paint in between the panels & joists where water gets trapped & causes rotting.
If malthoid was put in between the decking boards & the joists, it will reduce the rotting effect, so I would leave as is. If not & you MUST reduce rotting potential, then take the panels off, put malthoid on the joists & paint the underside with two coats & re-nail.Word of Warning: If the decking panels were attached correctly, they would have used screw-nails which can be relatively difficult to remove, compared with standard bullet nails.
By the time you did all that, it would be just as easy to replace the boards when they rot.
Dont worry too much, by then you will probably want to update kitchen and bathroom, so wait to do all that stuff then, and then get a new depreciation schedule, also a good time to get it revalued and pull out the extra equity for another purchase.
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