This page is written for the people who sell our furniture, not only for the people who own it. If you are a retailer, an interior designer or a project buyer, the questions your customer will ask in month six are already predictable, and it helps to answer them before the first delivery rather than after it.
What is normal — and what is not
Solid timber moves. A thick teak root top or a suar slab will take on and give up moisture with the seasons, and in doing so it may develop small surface checks, a slight change in tone, or a hairline opening along the grain. This is the material behaving as it should, and in most cases it settles within the first year in its new climate.
What is not normal is movement that appears within days of a piece being placed, water marks that stay after drying, or a joint that opens visibly. In our experience those are almost always caused by placement — a piece pushed against a radiator, a planter sitting in a wet saucer, a table on an unheated terrace in winter — rather than by the wood itself.
Indoors: three habits that prevent most problems
1. Stable humidity beats any polish. A room that swings from very dry in winter to humid in summer will move natural timber more than a room that stays roughly constant. If your customer runs air conditioning or heating heavily, a slightly humidified room is kinder than a very dry one.
2. Keep the piece away from direct heat. Radiators, fireplaces and hot air vents dry one side of a table faster than the other, which is the most common cause of a top that cups or opens along one edge.
3. Wipe, do not soak. A damp cloth wrung out well, then a dry cloth. No silicone sprays, no abrasive cream cleaners, no soaking the surface to “lift” a mark. If a ring appears, lift it slowly with a barely damp cloth and let the wood dry naturally rather than sanding it straight away.
Outdoors: the finish decides, not the species
Clients often ask whether teak root or suar “can go outside”. Both can, and both will weather. The useful question is which finish you specified and how the piece is detailed.
Two things matter more than any product on a shelf. Drainage: no solid-wood piece should sit in standing water — a planter needs to stand clear so water can leave, and a table needs feet that do not trap moisture. Oiling: a piece that lives fully outdoors benefits from periodic oiling, which slows water uptake and keeps the surface from drying unevenly. An untreated surface will silver off; many buyers want exactly that, which is a design decision rather than a fault.
For outdoor hospitality projects we normally suggest a glass or stone top on any surface that will serve food and drink, because the top then takes the wear instead of the timber.
Arrival and the first week
Containers arrive dry and sealed, and a piece that has spent six weeks at sea will be acclimatising to a new climate in its first days. We recommend letting furniture settle in its final room for a day or two before it is dressed or placed, particularly in winter. Any transit mark should be noted at delivery, while the packing is still on the floor and photographs are easy.
For buyers receiving a container, the moment to check is before the goods reach the shop floor: count, photograph, and compare against the packing list while the load is still accessible. The packing and shipping process page shows how each piece is wrapped, labelled and loaded, which is useful when you brief a receiving team.
How we finish pieces before they leave
Teak root and suar are finished to the specification agreed with the buyer — natural, white-wash or dark — and sanded through the grits before finishing. The pre-sanding stage is where most of the final quality is decided, which is why it is filmed rather than described. Every piece is inspected and photographed before packing, and the inspectable faults we reject at that stage are the ones your customer would otherwise find in month two.
Frequently asked questions
How often should solid teak or suar furniture be oiled?
Indoors, once a year is usually enough, and some pieces never need it. Outdoors, two to three times a year keeps the surface protected. The honest test is simple: if water stops beading on the surface, it is time.
A crack has appeared. Is the piece defective?
Usually not. Surface checks along the grain are the material adjusting, and they are expected in thick solid timber. What matters is whether the opening is stable — mark its width, look again in a month, and if it is still growing, talk to us with photographs. That is what the warranty conversation should be built on, not on the first hairline.
Can we use normal household polish?
We would not. Silicone-based polishes build up and make future refinishing difficult. A damp cloth and, when needed, a matching oil are enough.
Do you provide care instructions with the shipment?
We can put together a care sheet in your own branding for your customers — ask when you place the order and we will include it in the document set.
If you are planning a project and want the finish specification, the care sheet or advice on a difficult placement — wet terrace, heated lobby, coastal air — ask. It is the part of the job that costs nothing and prevents most complaints later.
See also
Suar wood — what buyers should know · Sizes and dimension chart · Table bases for glass and stone tops · Furniture for hotels and resorts
Written by
Mr. August Praymunor — Overseas Marketing Director
CV. Nusantara Sourcing Agent · manufacturer and exporter of teak root and suar wood furniture in Jepara, Central Java, Indonesia. We have shipped over 300 containers since 2016, loading 4×40’FCL per month for importers, hotel groups and interior contractors in Europe and North America. Every figure on this page comes from our own production and shipping records.
export@teakrootfurniture.com · WhatsApp +62 852 0600 7878 · LinkedIn · Jl. RA Rukmini KM.02 Pekalongan RT.02/V, Tahunan, Jepara 59428, Central Java, Indonesia
0 comments:
Post a Comment