Hardwood - bangkirai

Hardwood deckboards are naturally durable and hard wearing, without treatment the boards weather to an attractive silver/grey colour. Customers wishing to preserve the natural colours are recommended to use Osmo or Liberon Decking Oil that contains UV protection to slow down discolouration.

Two main types of hardwood boards are normally stocked, Ipe and Balau (also known as Bangkirai). Whichever hardwood is selected it should be noted that because these boards are natural and untreated there will be colour variations from one decking board to the next – this is particularly noticeable when the decking is first laid. Oiling will help to mellow the colour differences which will disappear if the boards are allowed to go grey. Hardwood deckboards are naturally rot and insect resistant, because they are air dried the fresh boards might show periodic lighter strips along their length where they have been sticked to allow free movement of air around the boards.

Balau (or Bangkirai) decking is another very durable hardwood decking, this stock is TFT (Tropical Forest Trust) certified, the boards are of Malaysian origin and are a yellowish brown colour with a moderately fine grain. Balau is the collective commercial name which covers over 40 similar species, these boards are usually available in the range of 3.0 - 3.9 metre lengths from our TFT source. Balau is incredibly dense, hard timber, it has some unusual characteristics including pinhole and some light leaching. Boards are 21mm thick and 145mm wide.