Melbourne winters are hard on decks. Months of rain, damp clay soil holding moisture under the boards, barely any sun reaching a shaded southern yard, and by October the deck that carried your summer perfectly last year can look tired: greying boards, black patches in the corners, a couple of screws sitting proud. Spring is the season to fix all of that, because the weather window between now and the serious heat of February is exactly when decks want to be worked on.
After over 10 years of building and restoring decks across the inner west, from Seddon to Williamstown, we run the same spring checklist on our own clients' decks every year. Here it is, in order, so you can do the same.
1. Walk the deck and look for movement
Before anything cosmetic, check structure. Walk the deck slowly and feel for bounce, softness or creaking that wasn't there last summer. Inner-west clay soils swell with winter moisture and shrink over summer, which can lift or drop footings. A deck that has moved with the ground usually tells you with a changed step at the door, a fascia pulling away, or a post visibly leaning.
Give the balustrade a firm push at each corner and along the stairs. A rail that flexes at the base of a post needs attention before the first Christmas party, not after.
2. Hunt the black spots
Mould and mildew are the number one spring complaint in Melbourne, especially on south-facing and shaded decks. The pattern is predictable: wherever winter sun never reached, boards turn dark and slick. Left alone, the black patches hold moisture against the timber and accelerate decay.
- Treat the affected boards with a mould cleaner or a mild oxalic-based solution, working with the grain. Avoid high-pressure blasting, which tears up the soft spring growth rings and leaves boards fuzzy.
- Let the deck dry fully after cleaning. In spring that's usually one to two dry days in the west; in July it never happens, which is exactly why this job belongs to October.
- Check under pot plants and furniture. The classic hiding spot for early rot is under a raised planter that sat in the same spot all winter.
3. Check fixings and boards
Timber shrinks and swallows; steel rusts. Look for popped screw heads, cupping boards that hold puddles, and any tannin-stained dark streaks around fixings, which hint at corrosion. On older decks, a screw here or a board there is a minor repair, but many twisted, cupped or soft boards together are the deck telling you it's closer to restoration than maintenance. Our four-season deck maintenance guide covers the small repairs in detail; restoration with sanding, board replacement and re-oiling starts from $153 per square metre.
4. Time your re-oil for the weather window
Spring is the best season in Melbourne to re-oil a timber deck, and it's not close. The reasons are practical:
- Temperature: decking oils need surface warmth to penetrate, but not the 40-degree days that flash-dry the coating on top of dry, thirsty boards.
- Rain: oil needs 24 to 48 hours without rain after application. Spring showers are scattered and predictable enough to plan around; winter offers no window at all and summer's risk is a thunderstorm on day two.
- UV load: oiling now protects the timber ahead of maximum summer sun rather than after the damage is done.
Sand back the grey, apply two thin coats with the grain, and don't flood the boards. Hot tip for inner-west homes: if your deck cops the brutal western afternoon sun, choose an oil with strong UV pigment, or the fresh finish will silver off within a season.
5. Clear the drainage and airflow
Sweep out the gaps between boards. Debris packed into the gaps traps moisture against the joists below, which is where decks actually rot first. Check that nothing has grown up over the deck edge or blocked the gaps under the deck, and move stored items so air can move underneath. On the low, close-to-ground decks common on period homes in Brunswick West, ventilation gaps are small to begin with, so every centimetre of airflow counts.
6. If the checklist keeps getting longer, do the spring sums
Some decks reach the point where every spring starts with three days of repair before you can use them. That's the year to price the alternatives honestly. A new deck in 2026 Melbourne prices starts from $290 per square metre in treated pine, from $440 in hardwood, and from $550 in composite, while a full restoration runs from $153 per square metre. When the annual repair list costs more each year than a couple of square metres of new deck, the maths has already decided. Our decking cost guide breaks down what moves those numbers.
Every year the same rule holds: decks that get one careful October live longer, look better and cost less than decks that get an emergency visit in February.
Wrapping up
Structure first, mould second, boards third, oil fourth, airflow last, and an honest decision about rebuild versus restore once you've seen what winter left behind. If you'd rather someone else climb around under the deck this spring, that's exactly what we do across the inner west — free on-site inspection, clear advice, no pressure. Call 0420 412 616 or request a quote below.