What is Iron Wood Decking?

What is iron wood? This is one common question many home owners and commercial property owners will ask. Iron wood represents a category of wood species that are considered for their natural toughness and hardness. Iron wood is oftenly represents the hardest timber species in the world.

Up to date, there is an estimated number of 27 wood species that are classified under the iron wood. In Singapore, Okan and Borneo Ironwood are used mainly for outdoor woodwork construction such as decking, timber roofing, pool deck, staircases and pergolas.

Here we will look into some of the benefits of iron wood decking:

1. Hardness & Durability

Usually wood species are compared for its side hardness measured and recorded into what we call, the Janka Hardness chart. Side hardness of a wood species is pretty important as it measures the resistance of the wood to wear, marring as well as denting. No doubt, iron wood is the one of hardest timber in the world with an average janka hardness of 3600 psi compared to commonly used wood materials such as Burmese teak, with an average janka hardness of 1000 psi only. Hence, iron wood is very much suitable to be installed in heavy traffic walkways in commercial properties such as shopping malls and office lobby as it can withstand the heaviest weight possible. Because of its hardness, iron wood has also high natural resistance to insect attacks and decay.

2. Natural Wood Beauty with Little Maintenance

Iron wood is 100% real wood. Installing iron wood decking instills a touch of beauty to your property and also to your surrounding landscape. On top of that, iron wood decking increases the value of your property. Due to its high durability and stability characteristics, iron wood is able to retain its natural outlook and its shape for a very long time with very little maintenance. Therefore, iron wood is considered as an cost efficient outdoor decking material. It can also be recycled abd renewed into other useful wood products and fixtures, contributing to an sustainable eco-living lifestyle.

3. However,

due to its hard texture and heaviness, iron wood isdifficult to absorb wood coating and stains; on top of that, under excessive sunlight and heat, iron wood surfaces will tend to crack naturally. Home owners therefore need to understand and accept these natural occurences for ironwood. Hence, rather than to say to find good and cheap iron wood decking products, home owners should focus on finding a responsible and credible decking contractor to do the job instead.