The following article entitled "Old Growth Finds the New World" relates how old-growth teak is "harvested" from buildings in Thailand:
Pierre
$30b/f isn't really expensive? I thought teak was more in the order of $20b/f. Nice that this old wood can be reused though.
FWIW, here's the pricelist from the place I shop:
Teak
4/4 $16.00 5/4 $16.50 8/4 $18.00 12/4 $20.00I'd show you what I pay for hard maple, but then you might be jealous ;-)
That's pretty good; I think it's actually $17.50 for 4/4 at my local place. $30/bf for second hand wood indeed :)
I need a couple hundred bd. ft. 5/4 teak. Prefer quarter sawn. Do you think they might have something like this?
Thanks.
>
Sounds like opportunists posturing as environmentalists. Oh, we are such wonderful people preserving the planet by offering to haul away the debris free of charge from the demolition of poor peasant homes. It costs us no more than shipping (how much for a container from Thailand to West Coast--$600-$700?). We then sell it for $30 a sq. ft. (not bd. ft.). Typical tree-hugger mentality. Hey, guys! Sell it to that fellow who invented the internet.
Are we comparing apples to oranges?
What is the difference between old-growth and new-growth teak?
The salvaged lumber is old growth (perhaps from a logging-restricted species?) and the prices you guys are quoting is for new-growth. ISTR that older growth pines have better annular ring patterns ... might the same be true for teak?
Inquiring minds want to know.
Bill
Bill in Detroit wrote: : snipped-for-privacy@bw.edu wrote: :> The following article entitled "Old Growth Finds the New World" :> relates how old-growth teak is "harvested" from buildings in Thailand: :> :>
: Are we comparing apples to oranges?
: What is the difference between old-growth and new-growth teak?
: The salvaged lumber is old growth (perhaps from a logging-restricted : species?) and the prices you guys are quoting is for new-growth. ISTR : that older growth pines have better annular ring patterns ... might the : same be true for teak?
I'm pretty sure what you get for new growth these days is plantation grown, and is (somewhat at least) less rot resistant, and had broader grain, than old growth.
-- Andy Barss
Is there a point to this rant or did you need some spittle to help you clean your monitor?
They regularly carry quartersawn maple and cherry but if you're willing to wait, they could probably get you some quartersawn teak. They're in Pennsylvania. Still interested?
Actually there is a point--there are all sorts of "recycled" goods available for more than the price of the same or equivalent goods made from new materials. If the "recycled" goods were of superior quality then there might be some purpose to this other than profiting off of the terminally ecoconscious but usually the "recycled" goods are not of superior quality and often are considerably inferior.
In the case of the lumber in question while old growth teak may be superior to new growth teak, generally used lumber has other issues. I can't see it being _twice_ as good in any case unless there is a very specialized application or one is making an art object.
I do wonder how much of the current ecosteria is the product of Big Business trying to create a fad. A lot of solar heating contractors did well during the Carter administration with his tax breaks for solar--didn't save any money and if there were any energy savings they were negligible compared to what could have been achieved by just upgrading insulation and sealing cracks. I suspect that we're poised for a repeat, probably with some "low carbon" fad thrown in for good measure.
Like you, I would wonder exactly what I was getting from both sources.
In 1976 one other person and myself installed about 2000 sq ft of teak as well as covered all the walls in a bathroom shower area (not the shower itself) in teak.
This stuff looked like really high grade cocobolo without the blond streaks right out of the box. It was reddish brown, had no real perceptible end grain, and it was hard to the point of being brittle. It was so oily that the finshers cleaned it with lacquer thinner before apply a long oil finsh.
I was in that house about three years ago and it looks exactly the same after 30 years of wear.
There are many different species of teak, just like the ubiquitous rosewood. I think teak is in the rosewood family, and there are something like 168 different species of teak.
The teak I see for sale today only has the name in common with the old furniture/yacht grade. It is mostly a medium brown, you can see a lot of end grain, and it isn't oily at all. This leads me to agree with Andy, it is almost certainly plantation grown.
Comparing the old teak to the new is like comparing the old heart pines, loblolly pines, etc., to today's 2X4s.
Robert
REcently I have been buying small lots (less than 50 bd. ft) of teak in South Florida. For me it's been a hit or miss thing. I try to avoid the plantation grown (I think most of it comes from tree farms that were established in Costa Rica about 35 to 40 years ago) but sometimes I get burned. It will look good on the face but the color (probably only oxidization but yet it goes about 1/8th into the wood) disappears if I resaw it. It then goes a bit pithy and the color turns to the color of red oak. Occasionally I will pick up a few pieces of good stuff but it is pure luck. I've been staining it to try to recapture the color it should be.
On the other hand, a few years ago I need a couple of thousand feet and ordered it from M. L. Condon (primarily a supplier of boat lumber--been around for at least 50 years). It was true Burmese teak (tectona grandis). It was all quarter sawn and absolutely a joy to behold. Of course, just a few years ago shipping was one hell of a lot less than it is today. As I remember I paid less than $300 to have the 2000 ft. shipped. I'll bet it would be $1000 today.
For a time there was a South American lumber on the market known as Gonzalo Alves (sp). I was buying it from a guy in Michigan for less than $5.00 a bd. ft. It was an incredibly beautiful lumber. The Gonzalo Alves I see today is nowhere near what I was getting then.
Wish someone would direct me to source for real Burmese teak and some of the fine striped Golzalo Alves.
Some guy is making a business of selling teak by the board (not the board foot) on Ebay. He offers no board longer than 6 ft. He is located in Miami. I sent him an email asking if I could come by and pick some up. He emailed me back saying he could only ship. Bizarre, no?
foot) on Ebay. He offers no board >longer than 6 ft. He is located in Miami. I sent him an >email asking if I could come by and pick some up. He >emailed me back saying he could only ship. Bizarre,
Probably not when you think about it. He may be legit, but he probably doesn't know what will "fall off the truck" except on a daily or weekly basis.
I am sure you would be less than impressed to see this dealer of hardwoods have his stock of three boards on display for sale. If that were the case, it would be pretty obvious what was going on with his "supplier".
Robert
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