Jarrah Timber 

The jarrah tree is an Australian native of Western Australia.  The tree is stately in appearance growing to an impressive 40m.  These large trees can have a trunk size of 3m in diameter.

Jarrah is a hardwood used for both indoor and outdoor applications.  For outdoor use jarrah is very often chosen for decking timber by Australian home owners and also Australian businesses such as restaurants and hotels.

The native Australian jarrah eucalypt is an environmentally responsible timber to use for two main reasons.  Firstly sustainable harvesting of this timber is practised in the Western Australian plantations.  Secondly much of the jarrah timber used for decking material is made up of recycled housing materials.  Thus if you are seeking an eco-friendly timber for your deck jarrah decking timber is an excellent choice.

Characteristics and Advantages of Jarrah Decking Timber

 Hardness

Jarrah has a hardness rating of 8.5.  To get an idea of the relativity of hardness, pine (soft timber) has a rating of 3.3 whilst the hardest of all timbers grey ironbark has a rating of 14.0.  Thus in terms of harness jarrah falls in the middle range this means that jarrah is a dense timber and thus hard wearing but also sufficiently soft to make it a timber product that is amenable as a building timber.

Composition

Jarrah timber decking has a good oil level composition.  This means that jarrah timber is suitable for sanding and varnishing and providing a great transparent finish.

Colour and Grain

The colour of the native Australian jarrah (there are also imported versions of jarrah) is a lovely red with shades of brown.  Jarrah Decking Timber also has an attractive (even beautiful) grain pattern.  Together the lovely colour and grain make jarrah one of the most popular Australian timbers.

In time, the redness of the jarrah decking timber deepens and becomes more of a burgundy colour.  If left to naturally weather (rather than staining or oiling) the timber becomes grey in colour.

Durability

Jarrah decking has an overall Class 2 rating which means that the timber has an expected lifetime of use of 25 years.  This is about half the lifetime of more durable Class 1 timbers such as spotted gum and blackbutt.

Termite Resistance

The native Australian jarrah has a natural termite resistance adding to its popularity as an outdoor decking wood.

Rot Resistance

Jarrah decking timbers are naturally rot and decay resistant.  This makes jarrah decking an excellent choice for pool decking and for wooden spas and hot tubs.

Fire Resistance

West Australian jarrah timber is naturally fire resistant as well due to the density of the wood.

Downfalls of Jarrah Decking Timber

There are a few of disadvantages in using jarrah as your chosen decking timber.

Firstly jarrah decking does require more maintenance than other commonly used hardwood decking materials in Australia.  Many proud owners of jarrah timber decks argue that the additional maintenance is balanced out by the attractive red, brown and burgundy hues of the timber.

Being a Class 2 timber overall a jarrah timber deck has an expected shorter life time than for Class 1 timbers, 25 years compared to a potential 50 years of life.

If you choose to use recycled jarrah decking timber you will find that it is difficult to obtain uniform board lengths as the recycled timber boards are limited to what can be obtained from building sites.

When construction with the new green jarrah timber boards the wood is considered by carpenters and deck builders to be a good ‘working material’.  However should you select to use recycled jarrah, this timber is already hardened and is a harder product to work with and extra care has to be taken to avoid splitting of the timber and overall it is generally more time consuming and harder to work with.

Looking for a Stunning Jarrah Deck?Contact us on 0412 896 744