Jarrah Flooring

Jarrah

Jarrah is a West Australian hardwood. It ranges in colour from dark brown and red through to pink tones with some white in places. The timber is widely used and well known in Australia. In some countries the timber is sold as Swan River Mahogany or Southern Mahogany. The timber is good to work with. Jarrah needs to be on site for at least two weeks to acclimatize to the surroundings. This is important as Jarrah is a dense timber and therefore adjusts slowly to localized conditions.

Sanding; Jarrah is a hardwood. Sanding machines are very effective when used on this timber. It can be sanded to a very fine finish suitable for all finish types. Whereas with some timbers there is a large range of density from piece to piece, Jarrah is more even and therefore it is possible to achieve a very even finish at the sanding stage.

Jarrah accepts most types of coatings. Solvent based finishes in two packs and single packs have been used for a long time with this species. Waterborne finishes also work well with Jarrah though there is a need to work quickly as sometimes shading can occur. A few types of sealer have been shown to overcome these issues such a GF and Prime. It is important to determine the correct sealer with waterborne finishes as shading can be dramatic with the wrong base. Oils have been used extensively with Jarrah with good effect. It should be noted that due to the high density of Jarrah the oil coverage may need to be varied significantly for a good result. Often oils are tested on more open timbers such as Oak and the take up of oil is greater on these species. Applying too much oil on Jarrah can cause problems. Liming is a popular notion however it is difficult to obtain the correct take-up of solution on Jarrah due to the high density.

Generally Comments.

Jarrah is a proven Australian hardwood that is ideal when used in flooring. It wears well, looks excellent and is good to work with.

For an interesting floor consider re-milled boards which introduce a character look to the floor area with natural & man-made defects. Re-milled Jarrah may contain some Karri boards as there was some mixing of timbers at times.