Sponsored by: Weyerhaeuser Hardwoods



A Red-Hot Hit

Jarrah’s a red-hot hit, both with interior and outdoor applications. A popular and well regarded species of eucalyptus from Western Australia, jarrah has long been a favorite because of its strength, hardness, durability and pleasing red tone.

Martin Ives, export manager for Gunns Timber Products in Australia, often works with jarrah timber. He said it is a very unique species, which grows in only one area of Western Australia because it needs the right soil and climate conditions to thrive. It is a very hard, robust and durable species with a wide range of uses that range from leisure and fine furniture to construction and bridge building. “Once it is kiln dried, it is suitable for a variety of uses in any environment, from extremely cold and dry weather to hot and humid temps. Jarrah is a wood that offers users beauty as well as strength. You will find jarrah used for wine cabinetry, corporate interiors, custom furniture and cabinetry.”

Government Regulated Species
Ives said jarrah is a long-living tree with life spans of 500 to 600 years. “It typically grows to 100 to 120 feet with fairly clean and long, straight boles that are easy to mill. Jarrah is widely used in its home state of Western Australia, with half the volume used staying there and roughly 40 percent exported. The supply of jarrah is government regulated and comes from native Western Australian forests, not plantations,” he said. “Western Australia restricts commercial milling to 131,000 cubic meters per year. It’s not a huge resource, but the government and people who love this species are committed to managing it for the long term.”

Terry Redman, Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry, Western Australia, said the forests which produce jarrah are “managed to the world’s best practices and all Western Australian jarrah is now from regrowth forests, with no harvesting of old-growth forests allowed.” The WA Forest Products Commission has received environmental accreditation under ISO 14001. It also is committed to accreditation under the international Programme for Environmental Forestry Certification (PEFC).

Jarrah’s popularity also has been spurred by its unique color variations. “When first cut the color varies from a salmon-pink color, but it darkens to a dark reddish brown and left untreated it will eventually turn a silver gray,” Ives said. “With jarrah, if you lightly sand the weathered surface the original color can be found just below. This allows people to regain the original look of the wood and maintain it with treatment.”

Erick Hall, product manager at Weyerhaeuser Hardwoods, which imports the species, said that although jarrah is not a high volume seller like some other woods, it is popular. “Our customers are using it in all kinds of applications. You see it in flooring and interior joinery. It is a popular choice for custom work of all kinds. It’s extremely well-regarded for exterior uses such as benches and exterior furniture and decking. We see it used for staircases, too.

“Jarrah is one of those woods that sells by word of mouth in addition to marketing,” Hall added. “One person sees it in a particular application like flooring or decking and it makes an impression.”

When Rick Kunkel decided to expand and remodel the deck on his Minnesota home, he picked jarrah for “nostalgic” reasons. “After living in Western Australia for a year on two occasions I was familiar with jarrah. I thought it was a beautiful wood.” He used a biscuit joiner to cut grooves in the sides of each board, then used polypropylene fasteners to secure the board to the deck. “There are no nail holes or screws through the deck boards, so from an angle, it nearly looks like a hardwood floor.”

The wood’s durability is well documented. “Jarrah jetties and piers built in 1900 are still around today,” Ives said. “Jarrah sleepers dating back to the 1850s were recently unearthed in the London underground and they were completely intact.”