Bangkirai – Laying, Maintenance & Prices

Bangkirai is very hard and is often difficult to work with. When planing, it can tear out due to the interlocked grain. Sawing, drilling, milling and chiseling bring good results, but only with the appropriate equipment. It is important that the wood is well air-conditioned, especially for a good fit and when gluing.

Bangkirai is particularly popular with garden owners because the heartwood is extremely resistant to fungi, insects and various termites. This wood is mainly used to make wooden plank coverings for terraces and balconies and furniture for outdoor use. The extreme resilience of Bangkirai is due to the high density and oil content of the wood and its resistance to fungi and insects.

Under favorable conditions and if the rules of constructive wood protection are observed, the service life of processed wood is around 40 to 50 years, even without impregnation. Normally, Bangkirai laid outdoors has a lifespan of 25 years. Care is hardly required. Only those who want to keep the beautiful color of the wood should treat it regularly with a hardwood oil.

Due to the high demand, good Bangkirai wood is difficult to obtain.

Bangkirai for the patio

If the quality is right, Bangkirai is well suited as a patio floor. It is durable, looks good and is fairly easy to install. However, it has become a commodity. This often affects the quality. In addition, the origin of the wood is sometimes questionable. Anyone who does not want to contribute to the deforestation of the rainforests or to monoculture should therefore look for alternatives. Bangkirai mostly comes from Asia. There are hardly any FSC-certified companies there. Most of the wood comes from overexploitation.

• Very good durability.
• Resistance class 2 for decking boards
• The abbreviation AD on the delivery lists means that it is only air-dried wood – you have to reckon with a loss of quality! The wood twists and warps easily.
• The abbreviation KD means that the wood has been technically dried. This is the much better quality.
• Bangkirai can contain wormholes, color differences and often arrives at the customer already twisted.
• Massaranduba, Garapa or Angelim Amargoso are suitable alternatives.

Bangkirai for the balcony

As for terraces, Bangkirei is also a good alternative to stone coverings for balconies. The wood conveys warmth, at least if it is cared for regularly. Gray wood no longer scores with this.

• Wooden tiles are also suitable for the balcony. That gives an interesting look.
• They have the same properties as decking boards.
• Caution! Bangkirai tends to bleed out. Substances contained in the wood can be washed out when exposed to the weather and soil adjacent or underlying components or balconies. Cleaning is complicated if at all possible.
• Otherwise see text above!

Hardwood care

Bangkirai doesn’t need a lot of maintenance, but thanks for everything. Wood that is exposed to all kinds of weather should receive some care. A treatment once a year is definitely doable. If Bangkirai is not cared for, it loses its beautiful warm colour. It will turn gray over time. One speaks of a silver patina, but actually it just looks unkempt. The gray hue doesn’t really go with the warm colors of a garden.

• There are some special care products for Bangkirai terrace floors on the market.
• Bangkirai oil refreshes the color and protects the wood from environmental influences.
• Most care products form a water-repellent layer. This protects the wood from penetrating moisture.
• Even very gray terraces and balcony floors can be upgraded again.
• The gray patina can be removed. To do this, use a wood finisher.
• The gray terrace is first cleaned normally, preferably with the help of a scrubber.
• Then the terrace must be well moistened, make it really wet!
• Apply wood greyer and distribute well, leave to work for 10 minutes!
• Brush vigorously in the direction of the grain! Rinse with plenty of water!
• After drying, the terrace can be oiled.

Buy Bangkirai

The best way to buy Bangkirai is from a wood dealer. There you can get information about the origin and a good company will also provide information about the type of drying of the wood, or show the documents that provide information about it. Even if there is something to complain about, you have a good contact person there. Bangkirai wood is also available in hardware stores and building materials stores. As planks or panels. Furniture is also available from DIY stores and garden centers and from specialist dealers. Here, too, you should always ask about the origin and the FSC seal. Of course you can also buy Bangkirai on the internet, but you buy it unseen. Complaints often have their pitfalls. When buying online, be sure to pay attention to customer ratings from others!

Prices

Tropical woods are usually more expensive than native woods. However, they have come a long way. The price is justified if the wood has been technically dried. The extra effort is not worth it for inferior wood.

• Terrassendiele – 25 x 145 x3350 mm – 7 € je lfm
• Substructure 42 x 70 x 2440 mm – €5.50 per meter
• Pfosten: 90 x 90 mm – 15 € your lfm
• approx. 50-80€ are to be estimated per m²

installation instructions

Anyone who has neither enthusiasm nor talent for laying Bangkirai should have their terrace laid. Everyone else should be told that it’s not that difficult to move them yourself. However, one should not do it alone, as an individual. Everything is better with two.

• It is important that the wood is pre-drilled!
• When pre-drilling, there is no tearing off of screws.
• The construction is also holding up better.
• Screws must be made of stainless steel (not galvanized)! With normal screws, there will be rust spots on the wood around the screw.
• It is important that the substructure is also made of hardwood!
• The planks should have a gap of 3 mm. So the wood can still work.
• Before processing the wood, you should rinse it thoroughly with water! This is particularly important when laying on balconies. In this way, many contained ingredients are washed out. Otherwise, the rain will wash them out and this will result in unsightly stains and puddles on the terrace or balcony below.
• It is important to always use the same type of wood for the substructure and planking! The wood shows the same expansion behavior, has a comparable weather resistance and fits together well.

Bangkirai shy

1. Build underground!

• Remove stones and weeds!
• equalize holes!
• Level the ground with a slight incline!
• Because of stability, it is often necessary to dig out a bed and bring in a 20 cm thick layer of crushed stone or grit and a layer of sand about 5 cm thick.
• If you already have a solid, load-bearing terrace, you can build on it.

2. Build substructure

• Lay root fleece! Weeds are prevented.
• Lay paving slabs on top!
• Position the supporting timbers on the panels!
• The distances between the supporting beams – 50 to 60 cm
• Use supporting timbers in the edge area flush with the edges of the paving slabs!
• Otherwise place in the middle of the plates!
• If laid on an existing, fixed terrace, no paving slabs are required.
• Lay support timbers directly on the existing surface!
• Lay floorboards
• Distribute floorboards on the subsurface!
• Pre-drill screw holes and countersink!
• Fasten each plank with two screws to each joist it rests on!
• Holes must be at least 2 cm away from the board ends!
• All screw holes must run in a row!
• When all holes are pre-drilled, screw tight!
• Always start at the house wall! Keep a distance of one centimeter!
• Joints between the boards 3 to 5 mm.
• At the end, seal any cut edges with end-grain protection!

Interesting facts about wood

Bangkirau is particularly popular as a terrace covering and for garden furniture. However, this popularity means that you can hardly get good quality goods today. Anyone who is not familiar with the wood cannot tell the difference between branded and mass-produced goods. Too much is often simply paid for inferior quality. After a few years, you get annoyed about a warped terrace, about color differences and feeding passages in the wood.

High quality Bangkirai is well suited for outdoor use. It belongs to resistance class 2, which means that there are even more ideal woods. Disadvantages are the frequent feeding passages of insects, the tendency to bleed and the sometimes inferior quality. The ease of care, the weather resistance and the appearance are positive.

Bangkirai is yellowish brown when fresh and often darkens to olive brown. The heartwood is not always clearly separated from the sapwood. Interlocked grain is common. The wood has no characteristic smell. Bangkirai is heavy and has good strength values. They are around 50 percent higher than with our German oak. Bangkirai dries slowly. If the process is accelerated, this usually leads to cracking. In addition, the wood can warp. Although the density decreases only slightly, there is a small tendency for later cracking, mainly at the edges.

Conclusion
If you want to lay wooden floorboards on your terrace or balcony, you should first ask yourself whether it really has to be tropical wood? If your answer to this question is yes, Bangkirai is a good choice. The wood looks good, is hard and durable, stands up to the elements and doesn’t require much maintenance. When buying, you should make sure that you make sure that the wood has been technically dried, not air dried. An FSC seal also makes sense. Everyone should do something to protect the forests. Certified, sustainable cultivation is a first step. Douglas fir is a very good alternative. The wood comes from local forests, from controlled cultivation and is also durable.