Living with reclaimed teak: what to expect, and how to look after it

Reclaimed teak has already had a life. The boards come out of boats, barns and old buildings, are cleaned and re-cut, and are made into something else. That history is why the wood looks the way it does, and it is also why buying it needs a different set of expectations than buying new timber.

Everything below applies to the reclaimed and recycled pieces in the range — the 180cm dining table, the coffee tables, the six-drawer sideboard console, the five-drawer chest, the TV stands, the teak shelving and the barrel pieces.

What is character, and what is a fault

Character: filled nail holes, old bolt holes, saw marks, colour that shifts from honey to near-grey across one surface, boards of different widths in the same top, and small splits along the grain at the ends of a board. All of that is the material telling you where it came from, and none of it affects how long the piece lasts.

A fault: a joint that moves, a drawer that binds against its runner, a top that rocks on a flat floor, a split that runs across the grain rather than along it, or a finish that lifts. If any of that arrives, tell us within 48 hours of delivery with photographs and we deal with it — see the returns page for how that works.

The line between them is whether the piece does its job. A table with a 5mm-wide filled crack in the top is a reclaimed table. A table that wobbles is a faulty table.

No two pieces match, including yours

The photograph shows one example of the piece, not the piece you will receive. Shape, dimensions and construction match; the grain, the tone and the pattern of marks are individual. On a large surface like the 180cm dining table the difference between what is photographed and what arrives can be considerable, and it is not a defect.

Dimensions carry a small tolerance for the same reason — usually within a centimetre or two. If a piece has to fit an exact alcove, tell us the measurement before you order and we will check the specific piece rather than the specification.

Why it is stable, and where it still moves

Salvaged teak has been drying and moving for decades before it was re-cut, so it is more dimensionally stable than kiln-dried new stock. That is the practical argument for reclaimed timber rather than a romantic one.

It still responds to its environment. Put a solid teak piece directly against a radiator or in the path of underfloor heating and one side dries faster than the other, which is what makes a top cup or a joint open. Keep it 15cm clear of a heat source, and avoid a spot in full afternoon sun through glass, which bleaches the colour unevenly over a summer.

The care, which is less than you would think

Dust with a dry cloth. Wipe spills straight away with a damp cloth and dry it after — teak is oily and water-tolerant, which is why it was used on boats, but a ring left overnight on a waxed surface can still mark.

Twice a year, a thin coat of clear furniture wax or teak oil on the exposed surfaces feeds the timber and evens out the colour. Apply it sparingly with a lint-free cloth and buff it off; more oil does not mean more protection, it means a sticky top that attracts dust.

Do not use silicone sprays, all-purpose kitchen cleaner or anything containing bleach. They strip the finish, and on reclaimed timber the finish is doing more work than it does on new wood.

Weight, and getting it in

Solid reclaimed pieces are heavy and they do not flex. The 180cm dining table will not bend around a tight stair turn, and neither will the six-drawer sideboard console. Measure the narrowest doorway and any half-landing before ordering, and remove drawers before lifting anything with them — it takes a third off the weight.

Once it is in place, lift rather than drag. Salvaged timber is strong across the grain and the legs are usually jointed rather than bolted, which is the right way to build furniture and the wrong way to build something you can shove across a room.