How to treat Merbau decking garden seat?

[bee2]

I am about to replace the old timber in a garden seat with merbau pre-oiled decking. I read it is necessary to wait 8-12 weeks for tannins and oil to leach out before applying decking oil finish.

I  was hoping to get it done and usable for christmas guests to sit in the garden, but now I'm worried they'll end up with tannin and oil stains on their "seats". Any advice  appreciated thanks.

[MitchellMc]

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @bee2. It's great to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about prepping timber.

You don’t need to wait the full 8–12 weeks before using your merbau decking in a garden seat. To accelerate the weathering process, you can give the timber a good clean using a timber prep product, such as Cabot’s Timber Prep, followed by a rinse. Once you've done two applications of the timber prep, you can finish with a clean using Cabot's Deck Clean.

Once it’s cleaned, you can assemble the seat and apply your decking oil. This way, your garden seat can be ready and usable for your Christmas guests without significant staining issues.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell
 

[bee2]

Thanks Mitchell, Your advice is much appreciated.