How to match deck colours?

boundxless

Hi guys,

Just after some advice on sorting our decking stains/colours out. First time deck owners and very unsure as to how to maintain. 

We had our house built late last year with a merbau deck (photo #1). It is near enough due for a freshen up, as it has faded quite a lot. Our builder can’t remember what supplier/oil/stain was used on it.

We have just recently completed a new deck at the bottom of the stairs, and about to build another. Both will have been done with the Specrite Pre-Oiled 19x90mm merbau. 

We’ve noticed the decking is completely different tone wise to our actual house deck. Absolutely love the colour of the Specrite decking (red tones), so wanting to match our house deck to it. 

Any advice on the best way to achieve this, as well as product recommendations? 

Also not sure if it’s a possibility, but we LOVE how the Specrite looks when wet (deeper glossy red, sort of seen in the photos). Is there a product that will help achieve this look?

Thanks! 🙂

JacobZ

Hi @boundxless,

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community, it is fantastic to have you with us.

It can be tough matching up colours with decking when different timbers have been used, as timber from different suppliers can have a fair bit of colour variation. Unfortunately, if the natural colour of the timber is different, you are never going to be able to make them look exactly the same. 

To give yourself the best shot of uniformity, it would be best to sand back the timber to remove the levels of wear and bring the timber to a more uniform, sanded state. Check out How To Sand A Deck for some guidance. Hopefully, the original deck and the new one are closer in terms of colour once sanded back.

Once the deck is sanded back, you can use Feast Watson Wet Look Decking Oil to achieve that wet look you are going for, or you could use a tinted oil like this Feast Watson Merbau Traditional Timber Oil if the colour is more important to you.

Whatever you choose to do, it would be worthwhile to do a test patch before you commit to the whole deck. If you are happy with the result, you can move on to coating things; if you aren't, it would be much easier to sand it back and try something different.

You might like to check out How To Oil Your Deck for some further guidance.

Let me know what you think and if you have further questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Jacob