Alfresco flooring

I've always loved an alfresco with timber decking - the look ah-mah-zing! But, the logical part of me says NO. Lots of maintenance (for Joe hah!), more expensive than tiling or pavers.

The timber decking is going to tie in really nicely with the wooden Karndean flooring inside. And it's actually going to make the interior seem longer, as it will look like it's flowing to the outside as we continue the wood onto the alfresco.

We've asked around a lot, and have researched the buggery out of the issue online... and we are definitely doing the timber decking! Quite a few of our mates have it, and said as long as you oil it every 6-12 months (and have chosen a decent wood), it will be fine. We don't have a huge alfresco, so we think it's definitely manageable!

Now for the next issue... WHAT WOOD. We are using the Karndean Merbau inside, which looks amazing. So you'd think the logical choice was to use Merbau outside.

BIG BIG NO!!!!

Why? It's actually now listed as a vulnerable species. The beautiful tropical hardwood species merbau, once so abundant throughout the Asia Pacific region, is today hovering on the brink of commercial extinction due to the increasing demand for luxury hardwood timber products. Unless current trends are reversed, merbau will be largely logged out within the next 35 years. (If you want to read more about this issue, you can check out the Greenpeace article here).

I like to think I do what I can with recycling, looking after the environment and all that. We're going to plan a WaterWise garden for this house, and will eventually have a rainwater tank for watering the gardens. I'm not the best greeny, but I try where I can! So I think Australian sustainable wood is the way to go here.

So it's going to be a no to the merbau. But what are our other options?!

I think the best bet is for us to head to a local timber supplier, along with the Karndean sample, and see what comes close.

Here's some of our options:

Joe's definitely more of the expert with this, so final call will be with him! But from the looks of things, it will be between the Grey Ironbark, Red Ironbark and Jarrah. But now to figure out the costs!!!

I think it's going to come down to us heading down to a timber mill and checking things out, and haggling on the costs.... as we will definitely be building the decking ourselves! (*cough* I mean, Joe and our two dads, with me supervising and providing refreshments, of course!! haha!)