Iroko

Heartwood is usually a yellow to golden or medium brown, with colour tending to darken over time. Pale yellow sapwood is clearly demarcated from the heartwood.

Iroko has a medium to coarse texture, with open pores and an interlocked grain.

Iroko is very durable, and is resistant to both rot and insect attack. Poplar for joinery work, especially gates as well as commercial applications such as cladding and benches. Stainless steel fixings should be used.

American White Ash

The heartwood is a light to medium brown color. Sapwood can be very wide, and tends to be a beige or light brown; not always clearly or sharply demarcated from heartwood.

Has a medium to coarse texture similar to oak. The grain is almost always straight and regular, though sometimes moderately curly or figured boards can be found.

Heartwood is rated as perishable, or only slightly durable in regard to decay. Ash is also not resistant to insect attack.

Produces good results with hand or machine tools. Responds well to steam bending. Glues, stains, and finishes well.

Chestnut

After WW2 chestnut production was revitalised thanks to the fencing sector. Hop production was the primary sector but as this declined fencing took its place. Many of the process are still done by hand by skilled makers.

Well known for is natural aesthetic appearance and resistance to attach and decay due to high tannin content. It is suitable for many applications but works well in traditional setting. We can offer traditional cleft chestnut fencing, rolls, pales, panels and gates in this wonderful timber. Much of the Uk’s Chestnut come from the Southern region so we price each job on a case by case basis.

Yellow Cedar

Commonly referred to as ‘Alaskan yellow cedar’ but it comes from the British Columbian coast line. So a more accurate name would be BC cedar. Yellow cedar as the species name nootkatensis comes from the [misnamed] Nootka people, now known as the Nuu-chah-nulth Nation

A very sustainable and underrated product. Durable to very durable. Much tougher than its western red cedar cousin. Its faces tend to be cleaner than its cousin but it is not Knot free.

Heartwood is a light yellow. Sapwood is a similar whitish/pale yellow and isn’t distinct from the heartwood. Color tends to darken with age upon exposure to light, (though when left exposed outdoors it weathers to a uniform gray).

Grain is usually straight, though sometimes wavy, with a uniform medium to fine texture.

Ideal as a cladding board

Thermo Redwood

Our most affordable Thermo timber. Milled from 5ths Scandinavian redwood but put thermally treated. The Thermo process uses heat and steam to change the timber at a molecular level. This increases it life expectancy to around 25 years or more with basic care. Extremely popular as cladding or fencing batten. This timber arrives with a warm golden tone but will naturally silver off in a few month time. UV protection products can be applied to slow down this natural process.

European oak

(Shown here Kiln dried joinery grade- planed finish)

Air dried / Kiln dried/ Green /Prime Grade

Sawn or planed

Large and small section

European Oak is darker than American Oak and has naturally tan to light brown colouring. It also has more prominent grain patterns than those of its American counterpart. European oak can be used externally

Colour light tan to biscuit with silver grey figure on quarter-sawn.  Blue/Black ferrous marks can often be found on oak. Usually straight grained but varies with growing conditions.   Moderately durable.

Often misunderstood on its physical appearance. A product full of character and certainly not ‘split free’. European oak will have movement, splits and knots are present. If it is airdried it will be grey and weathered. You should over order on your requirements by 20%

American White Oak

This timber is strong enough to be used for boat building and impermeable for reliable liquid storage, but still beautiful enough for use in premium furniture and high-end interior design. With a low stiffness and high level of strength, it holds up extremely well over time, and can also be machined extremely easily.

Although generally resembling European oak, American white oak is more variable in colour, ranging from pale yellow-brown to pale reddish-brown, often with a pinkish tint. Recommended for internal joinery work.

Thermo Ayous

We have voted this as our product of the year.

Thermo Ayous is a very popular alternative to Western Red Cedar. A west African hardwood it has a durability class rating of 1-2.

A life expectancy outside of 30 plus years and longer with some additional care.

This timber has a lovely warm brown tone that fades to a natural silver tone in around 12 months. It is soft so we recommend this for domestic cladding and fencing battens. It cannot be used in ground as a post. With very clean faces it will appeal to those looking for a virtually knot free timber.

Douglas Fir (Softwood)

Douglas Fir has a dense structure and is known for its strength, impact resistance and rich visual quality. Excellent stiffness and compression strength. Often used for fine craftmanship and finishing. Reddish brown softwood and available from both the UK and America. Natural resistant to insect attack and rot but we would advice preservative for any inground use.

Cladding, decking, joinery, furniture, beams and framing.

Supplier of Douglas Fir ( Green cut and untreated) to BBC’s Gardeners’ World Live Main Show Garden 2025

European Larch

Due to the on going conflict Siberian larch is not currently available but we can offer European larch and Austrian larch. (Austrian being the superior product)

Can be supplied green cut or kiln dried. Treated or untreated.

Knots are common but usually small. Classed as moderately durable. Texture is usually medium or fine with a greasy/oily feel. We would advise against European Larch for profiling as the knots can dry proud and fall out when the board is profiled.

Popular as a construction timber, cladding and more recently fencing and rustic decking.

Yellow Balau

Yellow Balau (pronounced Bal-Ow) - Bangkirai - is a very durable Malaysian hardwood. It is a hard, heavy and strong timber with an even texture that is well suited to deck construction.

Yellow Balau Wood is one of the most popular species in the UK for hardwood decking. With a mixture of warm colours of golden browns, light brown and pale reddish-browns Can have a defined and raised grain.

Western Red Cedar (Softwood)

Western red cedar is a durable option for outdoor building projects because of its natural resistance to rot, decay, and insects. Since this lumber is a unique mixture of reds, dark browns, and light tans, it ages beautifully, often greying into a silver-ish hue after prolonged exposure to sunlight.

Straight grain with a coarse texture and moderate natural lustre. Supplied as imported no2 clear and better. 85% graded no2 and 15% graded no4. Knots will be present. A relatively soft timber that can dent or mark. Homegrown is also available.

Western red cedar comes in at approx. 4 times the price of softwoods. Homegrown is more cost effective but it characteristics are very different and our friendly team can offer advice.

UK Larch

Available untreated

Green fresh cut and full of character. Our UK larch is freshly sawn to order. Movement, splits and knots will be present but it has great rustic charm. Often used for a natural cladding and more recently it has been very popular for use in outdoor classrooms & forest schools. This is not suitable for venetian fencing battens.

Available with waney edges or cut square.

Sapele

Named after the town in West Africa where it grows in high volumes. Reddish brown in colour. Sapele is extremely hard with a high density and has a medium to high natural resistance to decay. Moderately resistant to insect attack. It turns, glues and and finishes well. However it can suffer with tear out due to the interlocking grain and have a blunting effect on tools. It is popular as an alternative to mahogany due to being much more affordable.

Idigbo

Idigbo is it common name but it can be referred to as ‘the poor mans oak’. This is due to its very similar appearance to oak but lower price point.

Heartwood is pale yellowish brown, sometimes with paler stripes due to lack of pores in latewood, and/or irregular dark brown stripes. Pale sapwood isn’t clearly demarcated from heartwood. Quartersawn sections with interlocked grain may display a modest ribbon stripe pattern.

Grain tends to be straight or slightly interlocked. With a coarse, uniform texture with moderate natural luster.

Works well with both hand and machine tools, though surfacing quartersawn pieces with interlocked grain may cause tearout. Yellow water-based heartwood extractives may cause staining, and the wood may become discolored when in contact with iron. Turns, glues, and finishes well, though steam-bending is poor.

Ideal for cladding, joinery and gate building.