Thread: faded merbau

Same thing as I understand it :confused:

A search on Google for Kwila (one 'L') brings up a lot and yes, it's also known as merbau, although one site says they are closely related (different latin names).

maybe i have a Kwila deck

Have a read of this thread. We went through this a couple of months ago.

merbau deck

Hi All,
I was doing some more work on the deck today and I happened to pull out a couple of pieces that show the colour difference between "freshly milled" timber and slightly aged.

These pieces would have only been exposed to the sun for maybe four or five days worth of sunlight in total.

Also this timber is iron bark, but I have also seen a similar thing in the other three species I am using (tallowood, turpentine and yellow stringy).

Cheers Vernon your a legend, its certainly removed the heart from my throat. jayse

Kwila and merbau are very similar some would argue the same tree/s.
In some of the countries of origin they use tha same name for both... hintsy.. ipil.

both have lots of tannins that leach redily, both can vary in colour fresh cut and can have a yellow tinge...maybe a very yello tinge.... get the stuff wet an it changes colour as the tannins leach to the surface and react with light and whatever else.

I have seen kwila that is dark redish brown on one side where it has been exposed and much paler and yellowish on the other where it is fresh.

grab a bit hose it down and leave it in the sun for a week & see what happens.

Keep bare steel away as it will react with the tannins and stain real bad.



cheers