Teak wood garden furniture and the grading system

Posted by: admin in Garden Furniture on Nov 04, 2008  

When you are buying your teak garden furniture how do you determine the quality of the wood you are purchasing?

The most important factor is the grade of the teak wood used to make garden furniture and it should always be Grade A. Below is a short guide on how you can determine the quality of the wood you are buying.

GRADE A:

This is the highest quality wood available and is made using the centre of the tree; the heartwood. The wood should normally be uniform in colour usually a warm honey colour and have a slight sheen. There should be no sap wood, no knots and no black or water grain. The wood should be free of defects, very dense and rich in natural oils. The grain should be curvy, close and unique. Grade A teak wood is approximately 10 times more expensive than Grade C. This grade is normally produced from trees which are 30-50 years old. If your garden furniture uses this wood it should easily last a lifetime.

GRADE B:

The wood is a lighter colour than Grade A and has a less shiny appearance. Small knots usually no more than 5% are acceptable for this grade. Some discolouration is normal and black natural grain is allowed. The wood should be uniform in colour with some even grain. Some water grain is normal for Grade B. As the wood has less natural oils than Grade A your garden furniture will not last a lifetime.


GRADE C:
This is the lowest grade wood which uses low quality, young sapwood which is softer than heartwood and more easily damaged. The wood contains large variations in colour, with dark and light streaks and contains large knots. It is common for the wood to be chemically treated with acid or H2 O2 to disguised the appearance of this low quality wood. This process starves the wood of natural oils causing brittleness. Dead knots are often removed and filled with wood filler. The wood is very cheap to purchase and has a very short life span. Your garden furniture will be unlikely to last the season if this inferior quality wood is used.
Please use this article to clarify the different grades of teak wood and read this carefully before you purchase your garden furniture. Although there are hundreds of e-tailers selling grade C and B teak garden furniture (often saying its grade A hoping you will not know the difference) there are only a few who specialise in quality grade A teak. The main ones are Barlow Tyrie and Faraway Furniture. Both offer exceptional quality garden furniture coupled with renowned customer service.