Teak FAQ

For teak to become Grade A the teak tree has to grow for at least 45 to 50 years to fully mature before it is harvested. This length of time gives the tree time to produce a very heavy oil concentration, allowing the oil to spread to all parts of the wood, bonding the wood and making sure that nothing penetrates the wood.

B and C grades of teak are harvested just after 10 to 20 years. This results in a lack of oil in the tree, which will give the timber a much shorter lifetime since water will be able to penetrate into the wood.

For cracks or separation of seams that don’t disappear and you want to get rid of or for splits in the wood, you can do the same that the teak factories and we also do at our warehouse…….use a good wood glue and fill them in.  The teak factories recommend either Gorilla Glue or TiteBond Premium glue…..our preference is the TiteBond because when it sets up in 8-12 hours… it expands the least and dries clear. A business card or paper clip can be helpful sometimes in pushing the glue in small cracks. Sometimes a clamp can be used in this process depending on where the crack/separation/split is….A little sanding with fine sand paper (150 grit) may be needed afterwards to sand away the excess glue that set up and expanded.  After this process, that part of your teak furniture will actually be the strongest part of the furniture piece.

Teak is a very hard, closely grained wood that is high in natural oils. These three properties combined together, is what creates this wood’s legendary endurance, truly making teak the King of woods, best suited for outdoor use that is extremely resistant to water and humidity.