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Summertime and the living moves outdoors. Enter teak, one of the premiere woods for outdoor applications due to its natural resistance to insects, fungi and weather. Teak has long been a popular choice for patio and garden furniture and decking-actually anything used outdoors because of its strength, durability and stability in changing climates. Teak weathers exceptionally well, as it can be oiled to maintain the original color or left alone to eventually fade to an attractive grey tone.
As mentioned, untreated teak will turn to a silvery grey color over time, but its color varies according to the origin of the wood. The heartwood is sometimes dark yellow when first cut, but darkens after exposure. Some teak will have dark chocolate brown to black markings. The grain also varies. Burma teak is usually straight grained while other teak will have a wavy grain. The sapwood is sharply demarcated and usually a pale yellow color. Teak has a long history of use with architectural woodworking. The veneer is usually separated into two looks - often sold as golden teak or streaked teak. Jim Dumas of Certainly Wood, Inc. in East Aurora, NY, said his company sells teak veneer, primarily to the architectural woodworking market. "Historically, our biggest seller for teak was a medium color with dark veining, but for the past five to seven years there was a strong push for golden teak, the veneer without the black veining," said Dumas. We are starting to see a switch back to veneer with contrast. I'm not sure why the trend changed although it could have been due to the market liking a slightly lighter color or the fact that the other (contrast) has been so hard to get. It also could be that we in the veneer business are slaves to fashion and things just go in and out of style." Dumas said he doesn't purchase plantation grown teak. "It was a great idea to grow teak as a cash crop. It was one of the first woods to be treated this way and it has to do with the wood being so popular and in such demand that supplies were getting rare." Dumas instead purchases forest-grown teak logs. "You rarely see plantation teak at our end of the market. Plantation teak has environmental benefits and was a wonderful idea, but it doesn't usually get used in architectural grades or attain the stature of first-growth teak from Asia, for example, where you will see the largest, most mature trees." Architectural teak today, said Dumas, is used in a variety of applications. "Much of it is going into the interiors of yachts." Walter Crouch, secretary of Cocobolo Inc., Pinellas Park, FL, sells plantation teak lumber, primarily to the marine industry. Crouch said some of the plantation teak in Burma was planted by the British some 150 years ago and it is pretty big. "Plantation teak and Burma teak are from the same species. It's the same wood," Crouch says. "Some of the teak from Burma is from forests and some will be from plantations, and it can be hard to tell the difference. "The plantation teak from Latin America will be much different from the so-called naturally growing teak or teak in the wild. The plantation teak from some counties won't be as old. If you look at the growth rings, they will be further apart, so that tells you the tree is a lot younger. Teak grows fast when it is young, and as it ages, it grows slower and you start getting the real tight growth rings. Plantation teak is definitely teak with the same great properties, said Crouch, but origin and age will affect the way it looks.
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