I've coated many decks and the best advise I've been given is "leave it natural". Most timbers go grey after a few months and don't look too bad. If you want a bi-annual maintenance job the other bit of good advise I've had directly from the manufacturer is put down four coats minimum. The third and fourth coats won't use so much oil because they don't soak in. A very light sand between coats keeping in the direction of the grain is a good idea to retain a finish without wood grain or dust spoiling the final appearance. Two coats, no matter which brand or type of oil will last about a year in our sun.

I am going to be the odd man out...I greatly admire dark painted vanities: charcoal, navy, dark grey, even a mid grey, but I certainly understand restored timber would also be beautiful. If you were to do this, I would also paint the mirror frame in same colour. I am not sure you will achieve a particularly good result by painting the decorative tiles. For one thing it would be almost impossible to match the colour to existing tiles perfectly. I did this recently in an old kitchen (using linen colour chalk paint) and the outline of decoration still shows, and I painted the entire backsplash. In saying that, it was a good temporary fix for our purposes. The painter who painted the interior of this same older house recommended I paint the rather ugly old kitchen floor tiles, and he named a paint but I can't recall it just now. I like your idea about painting your floor light grey. I viewed the drivenbydecor link provided above in another post and was impressed with the results. It's worth a shot. Would also contrast beautifully with a dark painted vanity, hint hint.

I was going to suggest that the shower and hanging for togs and towels be placed in the red zone using the pool house plumbing. It looks great where you have it but it should have somewhere for the togs and towels as kids will use them several times a day in hot weather. If the Pool House was a POOL house and open to the pool would that mean you could just fence it and the pool together, but I guess by being multi function that changes the rules

Hi Geraldine Your enquiry to waterproof the underside of your balcony is one we receive a lot of. We build balconies, patios etc and line the undersides of such structures. From our experience in doing this for 25 years, we don't know of any system put into an existing structure that can be guaranteed 100% waterproof by the manufacturer of the product or the installer. I could be wrong however I'm sure there will be a disclaimer in your quote. We have used the NexGen system with success in a Cottesloe balcony (WA) and used a different system in Mullallo and Peppermint Grove (WA) within 4 years of each other. With the Mullaloo balcony, we've had no issue after 4 years of install however the Peppermint Gove balcony waterproofing system installed in Janaury 2021, approved by the engineer, had to be cut on a two unusual angles to meet the 300 mm beam. With the first down pour, it did leak and we returned twice to rectify the problem with installing additional flashings (covering the beautiful Merbau beam). It may be a case of starting over with removing the existing decking boards to install the waterproofing membrane and installing new decking boards on new framing, keeping in mind this will raise the existing floor level. The other consideration is that this is not a straight edge balcony so whatever waterproofing system is used has to be cut on a curve which may compromise the integrity of the membrane. You'll require a gutter and down pipes on the front of the structure also. Whatever you decide to do, make sure you engage with a company who knows what to do. Best wishes! Castlegate Home Improvements