# Forum Home Renovation Decking  Treated pine decking vs Merbau decking?

## Impulse

Hi, I'm tossing up between using merbau decking or Treated pine decking with a stain for a deck. I am after a few opinions on what are the advantages and disadvantages of each timber. Also with proper maintenance how long can I expect each board to last in exposed conditions? 
Cheers

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## Marvin

We just had a similar situation putting on our new deck. The run down the builder gave us was basically that merbau is ultra stable, hardwearing but will release heaps of tanins for months afterwards, which can stain anything under it. The main issue for us was that it is made from Malaysian rainforrest. Just couldn't go there. Apparently treated pine won't last as long as good hardwood, but I'm definitely not a decking expert so don't quote me on that. We wound up going with spotted gum instead, which was a bit more pricey but not astronomical. We've been really happy with it so far.

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## barney118

Merbau bleeds it tanins and can make a mess when water/oils are used. It looks good initially. You cant go past Aussie hardwood, I have heaps of TP I am in the process of ripping up and replacing with spotted gum or similar.
I build my pool deck with spotted gum and couldnt be happier.

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## Bloss

If you want lower maintenance then TP, better look then Aussie HW or the merbau.

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## stevoh741

pine is really soft. If you stand on a nail lying on the deck whilst installing it will indent the timber. It scratches and dints easily. IMO pine and stained pine looks terrible after a couple of years - compare a 5yr old pine fence to a 5yr old hardwood fence and tell me which one has held up better. 
Spotty gum is a class1 hardwood, hard-wearing and fire resistant. For the extra couple $$$ you will thank yourself for many years you didn't go with the pine. Don't believe treated pine lasts forever. I pulled up some H4 treated sleepers recently thet had only been down half in ground for 2 years and they were so rotted i could push my fingers straight through them - in some cases the bits in ground had totally rotted out.

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