Decking oils, stains and film-forming finishes
Penetrating oils, pigmented stains and film finishes behave differently in Australian UV. Here is how they fail, how often they want recoating, and when hardwood should simply be allowed to silver.
Timber, composite and finish
Materials
A designer deck is a materials problem before it is a furniture problem. This hub covers the species, profiles, fasteners and coatings that survive Australian sun, salt, termites and wet summers — and the ones that only look the part on a showroom board.
Hidden fasteners versus traditional deck screws
Clips give a clean face; screws give a repairable one. Stainless, coated, movement and coastal air decide which fastening is craft and which is a future squeak.
How to choose decking boards: profile, span and thickness
Nineteen, twenty-one and thirty-two millimetres are not interchangeable looks. Profile, span, ventilation and fall decide whether a board is a surface or a problem.
Composite decking in Australian heat and UV
Capped boards have improved on first-generation wood-plastic composites, but Australian heat, UV, expansion and tropical mould still decide whether a composite deck is a relief or a regret.
Treated pine versus hardwood: the honest cost of a deck
H3, H4 and H5 pine can be the right structure, the right wearing surface, or a false economy. Here is how treatment, stiffness, fasteners and lifespan actually compare with hardwood.
Australian hardwoods for a designer deck
A working guide to spotted gum, blackbutt, tallowwood, ironbark, merbau, jarrah and red gum — durability, movement, colour and the climates that punish the wrong board.