Young teakwood

[Thian]

Our outside doors are all rotting so i 'm willing to replace them with something durable and i prefer wood.

 

Doors from young teak cost 6000 but old teak cost 12000. 

 

My question is: Does young teak rot or get termites easy? What doors would you go for if you want something durable? I don't like pvc because i have many locks i want to screw in the doors.

[Jonathan Fairfield]

I'm far from being an expert on this but was recently told by someone who sells teak wood furniture in Thailand and to suppliers overseas that teak  is naturally resistant to termites. 

 

Apparently there is a substance in the wood that keeps termites away. I've no idea if that's true mind. 

[Thian]

5 hours ago, Jonathan Fairfield said:

I'm far from being an expert on this but was recently told by someone who sells teak wood furniture in Thailand and to suppliers overseas that teak  is naturally resistant to termites. 

 

Apparently there is a substance in the wood that keeps termites away. I've no idea if that's true mind. 

 

Yes that's true but young white teak has less oil and i heard that termites will eat it if there's nothing else to eat. About rotting i don't know for young teak.

 

Very old teak furniture costs much more than new, because the old wood doesn't crack anymore...

Edited September 6, 2017 by Thian

[carlyai]

Our outside doors are all rotting so i 'm willing to replace them with something durable and i prefer wood.
 
Doors from young teak cost 6000 but old teak cost 12000. 
 
My question is: Does young teak rot or get termites easy? What doors would you go for if you want something durable? I don't like pvc because i have many locks i want to screw in the doors.

I've got a lot of teak furniture and termites haven't touched it.

We never had a termite problem in the house (but we could see where they'd tried to eat away the door jams) with all the teak furniture inside, but SWMBO got some built-in cupboards made for the bedroom and when we returned after 6 months, they were everywhere in the soft wood, but not the teak.

Maybe go and have a look at a place that collects old wood. Maybe just seasoned hardwood, but would look rustic (all carpentered up and fitted).
Probably a lot cheaper than teak.

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[Thian]

5 hours ago, carlyai said:

I've got a lot of teak furniture and termites haven't touched it.

We never had a termite problem in the house (but we could see where they'd tried to eat away the door jams) with all the teak furniture inside, but SWMBO got some built-in cupboards made for the bedroom and when we returned after 6 months, they were everywhere in the soft wood, but not the teak.

Maybe go and have a look at a place that collects old wood. Maybe just seasoned hardwood, but would look rustic (all carpentered up and fitted).
Probably a lot cheaper than teak.

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Old wood from the recycleshops costs more than good teak (not the white wood), it's insane what they dare to ask for it but they all do so.

 

Mai daeng (redwood) also works good against rotting and termites but it's very heavy.

 

I already have a door from some unknown wood which i placed myself but it's 5 years old now and rotting, the other doors are very cheap wood and i can easy stick my finger through it now after 7 years old.

 

The doors have been in the flooding so i want to be prepared for that coming decades.

We also have loads of teak which is great, we also spray against termites 5 times a year and i heard termites especially like abandoned houses (we live in ours).

 

All neighbours have termite-issues even though they spray (but not as often as us). Some lost the whole staircase or ceilings or laminate floors.

 

Actually i'm in doubt if i buy doors from white or brown teak, so 6000 or 12000 for each door. Mai daeng is too heavy, i can't build those doors in alone myself but that's mostly used for stairs.

 

I would like to know if white teak will rot, after a flooding especially. Our doors have only been in floodwater for 2 weeks but that killed them.

[grollies]

Mahogany or teak (young or old) is good stuff.

Mai daeng is great, I used it for rafters in the chicken shed roof (more spoilt than @Crossy chickens) and never a termite problem.

 

Your problem is the flooding.

 

Solution: as per my stepson in Sing Buri, remove all aircon, doors, windows furniture, etc upstairs when flooding threatens and replace when floods subside.

 

Footnote: we did tell him to modernize upstairs instead of downstairs but some people don't listen.

[Thian]

5 hours ago, grollies said:

Mahogany or teak (young or old) is good stuff.

Mai daeng is great, I used it for rafters in the chicken shed roof (more spoilt than @Crossy chickens) and never a termite problem.

 

Your problem is the flooding.

 

Solution: as per my stepson in Sing Buri, remove all aircon, doors, windows furniture, etc upstairs when flooding threatens and replace when floods subside.

 

Footnote: we did tell him to modernize upstairs instead of downstairs but some people don't listen.

I've never seen mahogany in BKK, but also i would like to buy doors from the shelf so i can't choose the wood i guess...But i want very durable wood that's more important than the price.

 

I never order anything in Thailand anymore, only buy products which i can see totally...

 

Yes mai daeng is great, very hard and heavy. Only bad thing is the sawdust from it can stain white floors i noticed, had to bleach the floor to get it white again....

[grollies]

33 minutes ago, Thian said:

I've never seen mahogany in BKK, but also i would like to buy doors from the shelf so i can't choose the wood i guess...But i want very durable wood that's more important than the price.

 

I never order anything in Thailand anymore, only buy products which i can see totally...

 

Yes mai daeng is great, very hard and heavy. Only bad thing is the sawdust from it can stain white floors i noticed, had to bleach the floor to get it white again....

Go to a sawmill or timber yard, they'll have on site joiners who will make bespoke doors, windows, cabinets, etc from whatever wood you specify.

 

We had 3 sets of cupboard doors made and fitted for B900 per set.

 

 

[DDbkh]

It takes nearly a hundred years to grow teak to the stage when people want to illegally cut it down. There are plenty of sustainable trees that can be used for furnishing houses.
Please use them.

[Thian]

5 hours ago, DDbkh said:

It takes nearly a hundred years to grow teak to the stage when people want to illegally cut it down. There are plenty of sustainable trees that can be used for furnishing houses.
Please use them.
 

So the teak will go to europe and become gardenfurniture or decks of yachts??

 

Let them use meranti wood, in the tropics you need teak or will get termites//rotting issues if used outdoors.

Also teak turns black outside in Thailand, it's a fungus which comes from trees/

[Formaleins]

Young Teak will be devoured by insects, termites are only one of the problems. The biggest problem is a flying insect that bores a hole in the stem about 1/2"wide, lays some children and they eat the soft water bearing mulch inside the branches.

 

Any Teak that is still a whitish colour is not resistant, it is susceptible to insects, and even when dried will absorb moisture, warp and distort. It is useless for construction.

 

If you want to buy good teak, you do not need to buy "Old Teak" just make sure you buy kiln dried teak, it will cost you about twice the price of the cheap stuff, but after you use it you will appreciate why.

 

I have been growing teak for more than 10 years and believe me it is not insect resistant during most of this time.

Termites may not be able to eat the actual trunk, but if they are plentiful in the soil, they will eat the smaller water bearing roots that go to feed the tree. The roots at ground level get weakened, then given a good hard wind the trees will snap off like a carrot!

 

Teak is not really a hard wood, it is more akin to something like Pine, it is only classified as a hard wood because of its behaviour in shedding leaves during the winter.

 

Take a piece of Teak and take a piece of Mai Deng....try cutting both of them, you can clearly see which one is a REAL hardwood.

[Formaleins]

2 hours ago, DDbkh said:

It takes nearly a hundred years to grow teak to the stage when people want to illegally cut it down. There are plenty of sustainable trees that can be used for furnishing houses.
Please use them.
 

What rubbish, teak - depending upon the variety is useable anywhere from about 4 years onwards. Window frames etc. can easily be made from young trees.  It might take a tree 100 years to grow to a reasonable size out in the wilds, but teak trees that are cared for grow a darn site quicker than that. Many of the teak trees sold for extremely premium prices are less than 20 years old. It depends upon the variety and the growing conditions.

Edited September 6, 2017 by Formaleins

[Formaleins]

3 hours ago, Thian said:

I've never seen mahogany in BKK, but also i would like to buy doors from the shelf so i can't choose the wood i guess...But i want very durable wood that's more important than the price.

 

I never order anything in Thailand anymore, only buy products which i can see totally...

 

Yes mai daeng is great, very hard and heavy. Only bad thing is the sawdust from it can stain white floors i noticed, had to bleach the floor to get it white again....

You can buy Malaysian redwood at a fraction of the price of Thai wood, it will not be eaten by insects, it is as tough as a Glasgow housewife and will last you for years. You can also select the "shade" if you visit the sawmill, so you can buy light enough not to stain your floors. It is however a horrible wood to work on, it is like cutting iron, it will fill your hands full of spelks that will turn septic too.

[mikecha]

Go To Phrae  where the teak wood local factories are between Denchai and Phrae a there are many small Carpenter teak wood shops they make anything for a reasonable price  

 

[mikecha]

32 minutes ago, Formaleins said:

You can buy Malaysian redwood at a fraction of the price of Thai wood, it will not be eaten by insects, it is as tough as a Glasgow housewife and will last you for years. You can also select the "shade" if you visit the sawmill, so you can buy light enough not to stain your floors. It is however a horrible wood to work on, it is like cutting iron, it will fill your hands full of spelks that will turn septic too.

but it warpes in sun and rain needs to be clamped long time when glueing together   hard on tools and ruiter blades 

[cheeryble]

Someone hit the nail on the head, you need to worry about the source of water.
As far as doors, insects will not eat doors which are being used, only termites might come from underneath for the bottom of the frame.
So soak the bottom in borax and let it suck into the grain.
So you can use cheaper wood but KEEP AN EYE ON IT


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[themerg]

Coating, shellacing, varnishing,or staining should be done to teak.

Teak does not get termites. Teak does not rot.

[canopy]

I work with teak on a daily basis for years. It takes about 10-15 years for a teak tree to develop termite-resistant oil. And while the heartwood becomes termite resistant, the sapwood never does. A newly felled teak tree of any age often has powder post beetles burrowing in the juicy, damp sapwood. The sapwood also easily molds where the heartwood does not. Very wet teak will be eaten regardless of age. If one wants it to last, teak should never be in ground contact or exposed to standing water.

 

[Thian]

Okay thanks guys, i'll go for the mature teakwood doors from 12000 baht.

 

The doorposts are not exactly square so i'll have to cut the doors in the same angle, from redwood that will be a pain in the butt since i don't have a good circularsaw here...i built many things from redwood and yes it's hard but still workable. Teak is much easyier to work with though.

 

But if kept wet constantly redwood and also teak will rot.

 

Our teak furniture also has been in the flooding but you can't even see that. Not even stains.

 

Yes Thai teak is very expensive, even in Europe teak is cheaper than in Thailand..(import from indonesia).

 

But what i really don't like about teak is that it turns black from mould. All my outdoor teak furniture has mould and i oiled it yearly with teakoil.

 

What can i do with a <URL Automatically Removed> so it will never get mould?

 

[cheeryble]

Okay thanks guys, i'll go for the mature teakwood doors from 12000 baht.
 
The doorposts are not exactly square so i'll have to cut the doors in the same angle, from redwood that will be a pain in the butt since i don't have a good circularsaw here...i built many things from redwood and yes it's hard but still workable. Teak is much easyier to work with though.
 
But if kept wet constantly redwood and also teak will rot.
 
Our teak furniture also has been in the flooding but you can't even see that. Not even stains.
 
Yes Thai teak is very expensive, even in Europe teak is cheaper than in Thailand..(import from indonesia).
 
But what i really don't like about teak is that it turns black from mould. All my outdoor teak furniture has mould and i oiled it yearly with teakoil.
 
What can i do with a so it will never get mould?
 

Sure the black's not coming from the oil?
Teak tends to go a light grey outside......unattractive but durable if good wood


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[mikecha]

HI wash the teak down with a solution of caustic soda  not to strong and use rubber gloves and splash glasses this removes the black

cautic burns so watch out  mix with cold water  then add warm water for better effect dont add pure caustic to hot water if solusuin is weak mix in cold water and add

 

after that sand down lightley to get colour back  they say teak does not realy like extra oil but asmall amount of bankari oil put over with a cloth but lightley keeps it good 

 

[Thian]

Teak gets fungus when used outdoors in a garden with tree's, it doesn't turn black in a condo they told me.

 

I sure believe caustic soda will work but maybe it takes all the oil out of the wood so it can start rotting?

[cheeryble]

Quality repeat quality teak has so much resin you're supposed to wash it with solvent before you use varnish (I recommend no to varnish). The resin will only come out of a very very thin surface layer. I'm sure the resin will also stop fungus......unless it's low quality teak.


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[thaibeachlovers]

On ‎9‎/‎6‎/‎2017 at 5:15 PM, Jonathan Fairfield said:

I'm far from being an expert on this but was recently told by someone who sells teak wood furniture in Thailand and to suppliers overseas that teak  is naturally resistant to termites. 

 

Apparently there is a substance in the wood that keeps termites away. I've no idea if that's true mind. 

Rellies teak wood house in the village untouched by termites. Old house, but apart from some fading, wood is in excellent condition. Hard putting nails into it.

 

[Thian]

14 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Rellies teak wood house in the village untouched by termites. Old house, but apart from some fading, wood is in excellent condition. Hard putting nails into it.

 

Teak is not hard and easy to hammer nails in....Redwood is a whole different story though, is very hard.

[George Bowman]

This recent photo shows our 'Teak House' which was initially built over 15 years ago. We used mostly Teak and 'Mae Daeng'. Back then, we had a small budget but the prices for legal wood was reasonable. Not today. My ongoing experience constantly reminds me that I live in the tropics and all wood will eventually rot. Maintenance for both young and old Thai hardwoods is the key.

 

Gave up on the original Teak shingles. Looked great but required constant care. Finally changed to tile.

Edited September 10, 2017 by missoura

[sometimewoodworker]

On 06/09/2017 at 10:22 PM, Formaleins said:

 

I have been growing teak for more than 10 years 

 

Teak is not really a hard wood,

Yes it is

 

Then clearly you don't understand the difference between hard wood and soft wood. It is not based on the hardness ( density) of the wood.

balsa wood is a hardwood ( one of the softest woods) yew is a softwood (an extremely hard wood)

 

Hardwood trees are angiosperms, plants that produce seeds with some sort of covering.

Softwoods are gymnosperms, plants let seeds fall to the ground  with no covering.

Edited September 14, 2017 by sometimewoodworker

[Thian]

1 minute ago, sometimewoodworker said:

Yes it is

 

Then clearly you don't understand the difference between hard wood and soft wood. It is not based on the hardness ( density) of the wood.

balsa wood is a hard wood ( one of the softest woods) yew is a soft wood (an extremely hard wood)

 

Hardwood trees are angiosperms, plants that produce seeds with some sort of covering.

Softwoods are gymnosperms, plants let seeds fall to the ground  with no covering.

I see, i admit i don't the official difference...it's also confusing because americans use the term "heartwood" as well. I guess that's the innercore of a stem without the spintwood?

 

I thought it had to do with the hardness of the wood so i learned it now.

 

The reason why termites don't eat redwood (mai daeng) is because it's too hard to eat. I did see teakwood with termite-holes in it but that must be young white spintwood from teak.

 

 

[sometimewoodworker]

On 07/09/2017 at 5:43 AM, themerg said:

 

Teak does not get termites. Teak does not rot.

Young teak does get termites Young and old teak and powder post beetle 

[sometimewoodworker]

2 minutes ago, Thian said:

I see, i admit i don't the official difference...it's also confusing because americans use the term "heartwood" as well. I guess that's the innercore of a stem without the spintwood?

 

I thought it had to do with the hardness of the wood so i learned it now.

 

The reason why termites don't eat redwood (mai daeng) is because it's too hard to eat. I did see teakwood with termite-holes in it but that must be young white spintwood from teak.

 

 

In general the terms are heartwood and sapwood (I've never heard of spintwood) often there is a difference in colour as a well as resistance to insect and fungal attack. 

 

Sapwood can be prone to insect damage at any age if the tree.