I have miles of decking at two houses. All timber when put in the Australian sun will suffer. When building our beach house we decided to go for Spotted Gum and let it grey. Why fight it? We applied Cutek, and will on a regular basis. At our main house we have lots of Merabu or Quilla. Will not grey the same, and leaches lots of red stain. Cheap, but would not use again. What ever you use, use a good quality oil that seeps deep into the wood not a traditional stain/or top finishing product.

Looks like a lovely deck. Feels like there is a lot to accomodate.. Could the BBQ be folded up when not in use? Couch over near the slates on the right is my only other thought.

Looks good. The way to get the timber look without the maintenance is to use the Millboard Decking. Just hose it down.www.millboarddeck.com.au

Carolyn, yes your cantilevered deck can work if you throw enough money at it, and get an engineer to design it. There are no guidleines to cantilevered deck size as there are so many variables, so it really needs to be properly engineered for your live loads and house design. One of the hallmarks of Harrry Seidler, one of Australia's most famous architects, is his love of cantilevered decks. However they were often built with steel and concrete, and the design used the rest of the house to anchor it. If you are currently designing your home then now is the time to incorporate the required structure into the engineering design, as it can't be added in later. There are various tricks to make a large cantilvered deck work, such as the one in this photo using two angled suspension rods in one of Harry Seidler's designs. The main issue will be cost, and the value in going column-less. The second issue will be maintenance in that the beams under the deck have to be completely weather resistant. If they start to rot or rust when expsoed to the weather they cannot be replaced without removing your first floor! Best of luck, Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls