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If you are thinking of buying Teak Furniture then take 5 minutes to read this first!
We have had several calls recently regarding some strange 'characteristics' of furniture bought from other suppliers.
Simply put, brand new Teak furniture has warped, cracked, and even in one instance rotted.
Following those instances, I have decided to write a brief guideline of what is acceptable 'wear and tear' and what is completely unacceptable.
What you can do to avoid buying such furniture and what questions you should ask before handing over your credit card. This will hopefully assist some people to make a more informed decision. I will try and write this in as an unbiased way as possible but please understand that it is unavoidable for me to make some comparisons to our own company.
What to look for when browsing/shopping for Teak furniture:
Ok, the first step in the decision process should be your budget.
To a certain extent it is true that you get what you pay for in this industry and I will explain why a bit later.
It is wholly possible to buy low grade furniture at an expensive price but much less possible to buy good grade furniture at a cheap price.
Unless of course you find a stock clearance sale where the company has gone bankrupt and stock is selling below cost price.
Even in those cases you HAVE to take into account that you will have no warranty or any kind of comeback if anything goes wrong in the future.
There are several types of Teak grades and types and I will list them in their quality order.
Grades Of Teak:
Grade A Teak: Term covers usage of the mature heartwood section of the teak timber.
It is normally a uniform 'warm honey' colour, very dense and rich in protective oils.
Burmese Grade A teak will contain mostly a straight grain while
Indonesian plantation grade A teak contains more of a unique curvy grain.
This grade of teak makes up only 20-25% of a mature log making it far more expensive to purchase (over 12 times more expensive than Grade C timbre!).
Grade B Teak: Term covers usage of the semi-mature outer heartwood (but still heartwood).
Normally a lighter duller colour with greater variation then Grade A with slightly less of a shine once sanded.
Some small knots are acceptable on this grade. This grade of teak makes up around 25 - 35% of a mature teak log.
Grade C Teak: Term covers usage of sapwood from the outer sections of the log which is the living section of the tree.
It is used by the tree to transport water and minerals to the rest (crown) of the tree.
It is much softer then heartwood and can typically be very easily damaged.
With large colour variations, virtually no protective oil content, large water content and the allowance for large knots
(even dead knots that are removed then filled using wood filler) it is considered the worst type of wood to use.
Due to its lack of practical usages, it is extremely cheap to buy and in some cases it is simply disposed of.
This grade of teak makes up around 40-50% of a mature log and 100% of immature logs.
Before continuing you should bear in mind that good quality teak is not only defined by its grade.
Grade A teak is a good indication but not the only one you should look for.
It is possible and I have to say becoming more prevalent lately that Grade A teak can be just as bad as Grade C. This is mainly due to 2 main factors:
1. Moisture content
Grade A teak that has not been dried to a maximum level of 12% (8% is much more recommended) is useless and will not stand the test of time.
Moisture content (i.e. water in the wood) effects the way the Teak behaves as it dries.
Moist teak, whether grade A, B or C, will be MUCH more likely to warp or split and eventually become unusable leaving you with expensive furniture that looks terrible and is functionally useless.
This is the number one cost cutting exercise that the numerous suppliers of cheap teak furniture are resorting to.
The vast majority of 'factories' in Indonesia do not have Kiln Dryers. Kiln Dryers are not only very expensive to buy and install, they are also time, space and energy consuming and therefore very costly to run properly.
It is estimated that over 35% of the cost of a piece of teak furniture that has been Kiln dried properly can be directly attributed to the drying process.
There are obviously huge savings to be made by completely circumventing this process. That is why if you ever visit Java you will see what we call 'furniture fields' (see image).
These are areas outside where the manufacturers will place the freshly made furniture using 'green' (freshly cut, wet) timbre to air dry prior to shipping to the UK or other western markets.
Air drying in a country that regularly has humidity running at a minimum of 70% to a maximum of 96% is like trying to dry a towel in a steam room, i.e. impossible.
This is the exact same furniture that you see on some 'cheap' websites and famous auction sites.
Even the small proportions of manufacturers that have Kiln dryers installed often do not dry the Teak properly with the correct schedules and temperatures.
These ovens are very expensive to use and the drying process is a slow one. If the manufacturer tries to dry the wood too quickly, it would warp and become unusable.
It also becomes much more time consuming and expensive to dry Teak from 12% to 8% then it is to dry it from 22% to 16%.
So, to keep competitive, they will, if you are lucky, dry the wood to only 22% and then remove it to begin making the furniture.
It is our advice, that if you are going to buy such furniture, you should consider normal hardwood furniture as all of the redeeming qualities of teak are non existent and unless treated very regularly your Teak furniture would be unusable in as little as one season. AVOID!
If you are still with me, and have not nodded off by this stage then you will be happy
to know that you are now in a much better position to make the right decision then you were a few moments ago.
I have a few more suggestions so please keep on reading.
2. Workmanship
Be wary of the teak furniture website that does not show close up photos of its furniture. Not only does that enable you to get a clearer 'feel'
for the furntiure you are purchasing online but it also enables you to pay close attention
to the workmanship used to make that furniture. A company which is proud of its workmanship and quality control would be happy to highlight such workmanship.
We have tried where possible to include such close up photos for that exact reason. Have a look at some of our Teak Sets as an example.
Questions you should ask before purchasing:
These questions will enable you to gauge what it is you are getting yourself into before handing over your hard earned cash.
Listen carefully to the answers and if you hear any hesitation or excuses then politely make your excuses and move on to the next candidate:
(i) What Grade is the Teak?
If the answer is anything like: "Its grade AB" or "Grade does not matter" or "no-one in the UK sells real grade A anyway" then you know you are being fobbed off.
Grade A teak is MUCH more expensive then other grades due to the fact that a Teak tree only has a small percentage of Heartwood which is used to make
Grade A teak furniture. Anything else will contain sapwood which does not have ANY of the good characteristics of teak making the purchase of it completely
pointless! Oh, and quite a few companies sell good quality Grade A furniture in the UK, us being one of them. Some companies have resorted to bare face lying.
You can see them on the internet picturing what is obviously Grade B/C teak but describing it as Grade A.
If in doubt, send us a picture of the furniture and I promise I will give you an honest assessment.
Generally, you can tell Grade A teak due to the closeness of its grain.
Look at the cross section of this Trinidad arm chair as an example and note the closeness of the grain and the even honey colour throughout:
In the following picture you can again see the grain of the wood used to make the triangular planks of the table from our Hawaiian teak set.
Also note the even, almost glossy colour of the wood. This is a sure sign of oil rich grade A teak.
As a comparison, below is a typical Grade B/C piece of furniture. Notice the lack of grain and the patchy/uneven nature of the colouring.
This piece of furniture is made from the much cheaper sapwood section of the teak log. In fact, in the old days, the sapwood was thrown away as it was considered
worthless.
It has none of the charactaristics of teak heartwood and it is not even recommended for indoor use due to the certinty that
it will split and warp in a short length of time.
Sapwood is the section of the timber used to pull water to the rest of the tree.
Consequently, it has extremely high levels of water and no natrual oil whatsoever. You might aswell buy cheap Pine furniture as it will last just as long if not longer!
(ii) What is the moisture content in your Teak furniture?
Again, anything but a definite answer (even if the nice sales person has to go and ask) is suspicious.
All reputable retailers will know EXACTLY what it is they are getting from their manufacturers and if they don't, you can bet it's full of water.
On some occasions, especially as lately quite a few new e-tailers have popped up where the owners themselves don't really know much about teak,
the e-tailers would have been lied to by their manufacturers who work on the assumption that they will never check.
This does not stop you from letting the e-tailer know that you are intending on measuring the furniture when it arrives and
rejecting the furniture if it is above the stated levels.
(with a cheap £19.99 MC meter from somewhere like Maplins). Again, any dithering or excuses at this point then politely make your excuses.
(iii) Is the furniture 'hand made'?
The teak furniture industry in Indonesia is, in many parts, still very behind the times.
The vast majority of factories, and I am using the word factories in the loosest possible manner here as the majority are just small workshops in the back of homes or storefronts, are still using very old and traditional methods of production.
These are normally described as 'hand made' or 'semi machine made'. As romantic as those terms sound, the finished product from those factories is very limited in lifespan.
A hand made dovetail or tenon and mortise joint is far too irregular and imperfect and therefore inferior to it's fully machine made counterpart. A fully machine made tenon and mortise joint will be a perfect fit every time and will not rely on the dowels or glue for strength.
The proportion of contact of wood on wood will be close to 100%. On the other hand, a semi-machine made or hand made join will most likely be loose with a much smaller proportion of wood on wood contact and therefore inherently weak.
This method will rely on the glue and the dowels to compensate for the loss of strength caused by the lack of a tight fit.
The obvious disadvantage of machine made parts is the initial cost of buying and the maintenance of the machinery to make the perfectly fit joins.
This is the sort of investment that the majority of manufacturers in the Far East are just unable to make.
The massive investment in those machines means that machine made furniture is more expensive but it is one of the most important of factors of well made furniture that will last a lifetime.
(iv) What guarantee do you offer?
This, I have to admit, is one of my pet hates. I often see sites harping on how their furniture will last a lifetime with extensive generic (often copied word for word) writing about how durable teak is.
However, upon a closer inspection, often buried deep in their Terms and Conditions you will find an extremely restrictive 1 year guarantee.
I have even seen a few that do not mention guarantee at all, and in one case, they only provided 1 month. Apart from the obvious lack of legal standing in offering anything less then one year or more, just ask yourself one question.
If they are so confident in the quality of their furniture, why are they offering such a restrictive guarantee on a product that should last for years?
On the other scale, I have seen sites offering 10 year guarantees but again upon closer inspection the restrictions are blatantly clear and in my opinion verge on the ridicules.
In one case, the 10 year guarantee was split into two sections. The first two years are parts and labour and in the next 8 years only parts are covered.
Trust me when I say this that if a part has to be replaced on a table, the labour is going to be the expensive part and most probably more expensive then to actually buy a brand new table therefore effectively making the 10 year guarantee meaningless.
Always check to see what the guarantee small print says and if it's not clear, ask for it in writing.
(v) How do you deliver your furniture?
This is VERY important. Teak furniture is very heavy and in some cases will have to be put together by professionals.
If the company you are buying from only offers to deliver it to your door with one driver then please be wary.
If anything happens while you put this furniture together, they will refuse to refund or replace the furniture!
This is certainly true for the larger extending Teak tables. These tables are extremely heavy and can easily be damaged by not fitting them properly.
Broken Mortise-and-Tenon joints where the table top was fitted on top of the base in an uneven fashion is very common.
As an example, we only deliver furniture sets ourselves with two tradesmen who normally spend a good 30 to 90 minutes on your premises putting the
furniture together and going through a last check, greasing hinges and a quick sand if needed. They also spend some time with you going through all of
the options open to you with regards to care. We insist on allocating at least 1 hour slots so they do not leave until you are 100% happy and they are never
in a hurry. There is nothing like a real professional showing you around your investment in Garden Furniture and you will be very pleasantly surprised when
we deliver your new teak furniture.
Closing Thoughts:
One last thought with regards to care for your furniture.
If you have been looking around, you will be forgiven if you by now believe the hype that teak garden furniture can be left outdoors all year round with no
consequences. Of course, teak is the most durable of woods due to its exceptionally high natural oil content and, if bought using the advice above,
will not rot for tens if not hundreds of years with no care whatsoever. But, although structurally the furniture will be as solid as the day you bought it,
it does not mean it will look as good the day you bought it. Dirt, mildew, moss, everday wear and tear, scratches,
stains and more are all factors that can make even the best quality teak in the world look tired after only a short period of time. Wood, even teak,
is an organic material and the best way to care for it is to cover it using a good quality breathable garden furniture cover.
When the first day of spring arrives and you uncover your hibernating furniture for the first time,
you will thank me for this bit of advice that just saved you hours of cleaning to ready the furniture for the coming summer.
I fear that I have rambled on enough on this subject now so I will leave you with this final thought.
Don't assume everything you read on websites is correct.
These days, any budding 'entrepreneur' can start a website in less time than it took me to write this article.
My main motivation in writing this article is to get you to question the abundant amount of inaccurate information that exists on some teak furniture sites.
I did not wish to use this article to point my finger at other sites, but rather as a method of providing you with the most important tool you can have in
spotting those dubious sites; Knowledge.
"Among timber, teak holds the place which the diamond maintains with precious stones and gold among metals." -Lord Monteray, 1892
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