# Forum Home Renovation Decking  Merbau around pool?

## obliss

Hi Guys, This is my first post but thank you for all info on this site.
I have just completed my first deck project and am a bout to start on my pool area.
My plan was to deck all the way up to my pool but i'm a bit confused as a few people have said that the merbau decking will not last around the pool. Anyone had experiance with this. I have added some pics of the pool area and my completed deck(i'm a cnc machinist by trade and this is my first attempt at decking). Cheers Andrew 
Pool area       
Completed Deck

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## ringtail

Nice one mate. I dont see a problem with merbau around the pool provided its well coated. Ironbark would probably be a better choice. Did you find it frustrating with the measurements been in mm. I always make things far to tight as my first trade is a motor mechanic and I'm used to measuring in thou. When I did my time as a chippy I was always getting told to stop doing cabinet work just bloody nail it. LOL. Now I work for myself and have gone back to been anal.

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## dukekamaya

Merbau like Ironbark has a durability 1 above ground rating so will be fine. The hardest thing will be keeping it looking good - I generally steer people towards composite decking around pools.

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## mijati

Congrats on the great looking deck...
Be careful about using plastic composites (Modwood etc) in bushfire prone areas..
Good luck with it...

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## Bloss

All depends how much maintenance you want to do on your deck vs the look you want. Salt and/or chlorinated water and timber finishes in exposed locations are not a good mix. That means merbau or any hardwood will need annual coating at least to keep the look up. The compounds are fine and very practical - if you like them (I don't). Treated pine is a good practical choice if you don't mind the green tinge under any stain - and is fine if painted with an opaque acrylic finish which gives you any colour choice you want (and light colours are cooler under foot) and will need re-coatng about every 3-4 years or so and can be made non-slip. You can leave TP uncoated and it will just turn a silver green/grey colour overtime - bit effectively no maintenance (which is why they are used on coastal and other boardwalks by councils and state governments etc). The other option is to use regular decking up to within 1.5m or so and then use a treated pine or just a different coating ie: opaque acrylic on the area most exposed to the water splashes. That could work well on that shape pool - as you would make the painted section the same shape.

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## dukekamaya

Treated pine decking left to weather does not last long, it is prone to extreme surface checking exposing the the untreated timber inside which rot fairly quickly.
The majority of marina and boardwalks are  made with treated spotted gum in NSW

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## Bloss

> Treated pine decking left to weather does not last long, it is prone to extreme surface checking exposing the the untreated timber inside which rot fairly quickly.
> The majority of marina and boardwalks are  made with treated spotted gum in NSW

  Well no actually - H3 TP decking is equivalent to Durability Grade 2 timbers so a 30year estimated life and similar to untreated merbau, jarrah and spotted gum. TP decking treatment goes all the way through as it does with other sizes of TP. Like all exterior timbers it depends on how much exposure to water and sun and how often. This thread has more info :http://www.renovateforum.com/f196/tr...os-cons-75182/

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## bpj1968

I've done merbau around my salt water pool. It has been down for 2 1/2 years.   Any oil finish doesn't last too long with the drenching it gets, Still happy enough with it, and it blends in with the other decking I have.  I just used 140 x 19 around the pool pool and 90x19 everywhere else.  I chose 140 to give it a slightly different look and they are short runs which makes the area look a bit bigger

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## dukekamaya

> Well no actually - H3 TP decking is equivalent to Durability Grade 2 timbers so a 30year estimated life and similar to untreated merbau, jarrah and spotted gum. TP decking treatment goes all the way through as it does with other sizes of TP. Like all exterior timbers it depends on how much exposure to water and sun and how often. This thread has more info :http://www.renovateforum.com/f196/tr...os-cons-75182/

  Uncoated treated pine decking will be lucky to last 10 years, I've seen it last far less. 
There is no such thing as a full saturation treatment of timber, anyone who tells you otherwise does not understand the nature of timber treating. 
LOSP treated timbers including H3 decking (clear stuff, not the green one) is classed an envelope treatment which has a penetration of less than 5mm.
Even H3,H4 and H5 CCA and ACQ treated timbers do not have full saturation - the need for resealing cuts would be non-existant if they were.

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## Bloss

> Uncoated treated pine decking will be lucky to last 10 years, I've seen it last far less. 
> There is no such thing as a full saturation treatment of timber, anyone who tells you otherwise does not understand the nature of timber treating. 
> LOSP treated timbers including H3 decking (clear stuff, not the green one) is classed an envelope treatment which has a penetration of less than 5mm.
> Even H3,H4 and H5 CCA and ACQ treated timbers do not have full saturation - the need for resealing cuts would be non-existant if they were.

  We are all entitled to our own opinion, not to our own facts.  :Rolleyes:

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## dukekamaya

You will not find a manufacturer that differs from what I am saying it is not an opinion but a fact.
I deal with treated softwood and hardwood in 5 different treatment types everyday as well as many companies that treat the timbers. 
You only need to read the product guidlines issued by the various treated timber manufacturers to see they contain the same information I have given

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## watson

*Editor's Note:*
The third umpire has been called in on this one and supporting references have been called for. 
Plus the bloody video replay

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## dukekamaya

http://www.timber.org.au/NTEP/menu.asp?id=113  
Take particular note to the diagrams under the CCA heading showing penetration and the need for resealing.
Higher H levels as shown do not represent deeper treatement or full saturation rather they represent retention of the areas treated.
That being said different treatments do penetrate further  than others, eg being CCA which penetrates further than LOSP tretaement.

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