Hi all... As said earlier I designed and built a house with a large deck area then moved in 20 years ago. We designed our dream house in the late 80’s, then 1994 bought a property in the NSW Northern Rivers, rehashed original design to include veranda decks around 40% so we could drink in the magnificent views to the border ranges. The house was built by me as owner/builder with contract labour and we took occupancy in 1999. All as designed. Double brick cavity walls to the N and W with timber decking to the NE and E and plain timber boarding to the South. Great.
Being from WA we learned to love WA Jarrah. DYK they even used it to build and repair ships. So when we built the house we ordered Jarrah decking from the local merchant. No problem we were told. It arrived fully wrapped to protect it from the weather. Six months later we laid the deck. Great. We were surprised at the colour variations but didn’t query it. Roll forward ten years… deck boards splitting, some boards showing rot but not all. We went back to the suppliers.
Years later I discovered when recoating the deck that I did not have WA Jarrah, just "mixed red hardwoods". The deck area is not entirely under cover in all areas; one section is heavily exposed to full sun plus the onslaught of heavy weather. Some time back when investigating why some boards seemed not to last, I discovered that a large portion of the boards laid were imported Jarra (note the spelling) from South America.
We had received mixed red hardwoods. No wonder there was such a colour variation. The mix we were assured was created around Jarra. Oh yeah. Note the spelling; no ‘H’. Imported from Brazil. Given the mix of species there was an obvious lack compatibility with the deck weatherproofing treatment especially for the Brazilian crap.
So obviously I looked for new suppliers. All east states suppliers without exception said WA Jarrah was exhausted and no longer available. I said bulldust. So I started contacting Jarrah timber mills in our old stomping ground around Pemberton. Yep… still available. Ordered sufficient to relay the main deck area. It arrived no problem plastic wrapped again. Yep. This time we unwrapped it. All real Jarrah. No knots all straight grained and consistent across every board. We then stacked the jarrah on concrete blocks under the house set well back from weather so that it all could dry out uniformly. Now its all perfect, stable and ready to lay. One characteristic of Jarrah is that it remains stable and equally workable no matter how old it is. Some of the outer boards exposed to light have greyed a little however its all dry and straight. Beautiful.
Plan is now to rip the old boards off, cover the bearers with today’s Malthoid equivalent, Camo hidden screw in covered areas and SS bugle head screws in exposed areas. Sand the lot for uniformity, replace handrails and balustrades with laminated Jarrah boards, seal it all then enjoy the views at our feet and far away all over again.
Now the original deck is truly unsafe to toddlers (grandkids) and I am preparing to replace the deck however I am looking for recommendations in regard to what preservation treatment to adopt, both before laying and after.
Now Bunnings, east coast version has an issue. Would you believe it we have Jarrah round tables and stools on our deck bought from Bunnings in Midland way back in the ‘80’s. And they were only ever coated (oiled) once.
So it’s become clearly evident now that none of the east coast advisors know a thing about WA Jarrah. All they seem to know is that Jarrah is a colour that comes in a can and is used on lots of timbers to, guess what, make the crappy Jarra or Merbeau etc., look like Jarrah.
So how do I get a reputable reference to a product that best suits optimising the natural weather resistance of WA Jarrah while retaining its natural colour and not adding to it. All key to regaining our dream house before I croak.
Anyone got any ideas/suggestions?
