Teak root: how a piece of root becomes a table
Teak is the wood of Tectona grandis, a broadleaf tree from the monsoon forests of South and South-East Asia. Its heartwood contains a high proportion of natural oils and resin-like substances. That is why teak is naturally resistant to moisture, fungi and insects – and why ships' decks were built from it for centuries.
Teak root is something different from teak wood. It is the same tree, but a different part of it, and this difference determines everything about how it is worked.
What makes teak teak
The durability is not found in the whole tree but in the heartwood – the inner, darker zone in which the tree deposits oils, resins and tannin-like substances over the years. The paler sapwood on the outside contains hardly any of these substances and is correspondingly less resistant. Heartwood is therefore used for long-lasting furniture.
These deposits also explain the slightly leathery, oily feel of freshly sanded teak and its characteristic smell. They are the reason why teak lasts for decades without chemical wood preservative, even outdoors – something hardly any other furniture wood can do.
Why root wood cannot be sawn
A trunk grows straight. Its fibres run lengthwise, which is why boards can be cut from it – in a controlled way, in even thicknesses, with predictable grain.
A rootstock does not grow straight. It branches, twists around stones, thickens where support is needed and runs in several directions at once. The fibres run in a tangle. A board made from such wood would crack at every turn of the fibres.
A rootstock is therefore not broken down into straight boards but cut crosswise: a cut goes through the grown block, the resulting surface is sanded flat, and the outline stays as it grew. What ends up on the table is a cross-section through the growth of a tree – irregularities and all.
Before the cutting comes the drying, and with root wood it takes a long time. A solid block releases its moisture only slowly, and because the fibres run in all directions, it shrinks unevenly. Root wood that is dried too quickly cracks.
Openings, cracks and what is normal
A surface of root wood has openings. They lie where the root branched, grew around an obstacle or remained hollow. Such holes are not a defect but what remains of the grown structure if it is not filled. In practice this means: not every spot on the surface will hold a glass. Anyone who expects a completely unbroken table surface should choose a different material.
Then there are cracks. Wood moves for as long as it exists: it absorbs moisture from the air and releases it again. In the heating season, when the indoor air becomes dry, a fine crack can open that narrows again in summer. With wild-grained root wood this is more pronounced than with a straight-grained board. Larger flaws are usually filled with clear or tinted resin; fine cracks stay open.
The weight
Solid root wood is heavy – considerably heavier than it looks. Teak has a density of about 600 to 700 kilograms per cubic metre (37.5 to 43.7 lb per cubic foot), and a rootstock is densely grown and solid throughout. A top made from a solid rootstock can weigh fifty kilograms (110 lb) or more.
In practice this means three things. First, the location should be settled before the furniture is delivered – a piece like this is not moved casually while vacuuming, but by two people. Second, felt pads or a protective mat should go under the contact points, because the weight rests on just a few spots and delicate floors can be left with pressure marks. Third, such a piece rarely stands level on a deep-pile rug; a firm surface is the better choice.
Natural or dark
Root wood is usually finished in one of two ways: left natural and oiled, or stained dark all the way to black. The difference is greater than a choice of colour.
Left natural, it shows the grain and makes the wood the main subject of the room. A dark finish tones down the markings and leaves mainly the silhouette – the natural piece becomes a sculpture. In a room where a lot of wood is already visible, the dark version often looks calmer, because otherwise the grain patterns overlap one another.
It should be borne in mind that a stain changes the surface in colour, not in structure. Openings, cracks and unevenness remain – they are just less noticeable because the contrast between the fibres is missing. Conversely, a dark, matt surface shows dust and water marks more clearly than a pale one.
Every piece is different, and markedly so
With natural stone, colour and markings vary. With root wood, the shape varies as well. Outline, edge profile, thickness of the surface and the position and size of the openings result from the individual rootstock and cannot be specified.
A picture of a root wood piece therefore always shows an example, not a blueprint. Anyone who cannot live with that is better advised to choose a material with an even surface. Anyone looking for a piece of furniture that exists only once will find one in root wood.
Care
In everyday use a soft, slightly damp cloth is enough. Standing water should be avoided, as should harsh or abrasive cleaning agents; they attack the surface and dissolve the oil film. Chemical wood preservative is not necessary with teak, because the substances in the heartwood take on this task themselves for years.
What changes is the colour. Under the influence of light, teak darkens and shifts towards golden brown; so even indoors the tone does not stay unchanged, but it does not turn grey there. Outdoors, UV light breaks down the lignin in the uppermost cell layers, the breakdown products are washed out by rain, and what remains is the exposed cellulose as a silver-grey patina. This change goes only a few tenths of a millimetre deep and is not damage – the strength of the wood remains unaffected.
To keep the warm tone, re-oil: once a year, or twice outdoors in strong sunlight. A suitable choice is an oil for hardwoods, applied thinly to the dry, clean and, if necessary, lightly sanded surface; the excess is removed after a short time so that the surface does not become sticky. Oiling is a question of appearance, not of durability.
Frequently asked questions
What is teak root?
The wood from the rootstock of the teak tree (Tectona grandis). It grows wild-grained and in an irregular shape and therefore cannot be sawn into boards; instead, it is cut crosswise as a whole piece and then worked further.
Why does a teak root table have holes?
Because the natural openings of the grown root are preserved instead of being filled. They lie where the root branched or grew hollow. Part of the surface will therefore not hold a glass.
Does teak need a lot of care?
No. The natural oils in the heartwood make the wood resistant; in everyday use a soft, slightly damp cloth is enough. Re-oiling is only needed to keep the warm colour – then once a year, or twice outdoors in strong sunlight.
How heavy is a teak root table?
Considerably heavier than it looks. A top made from a solid rootstock can weigh fifty kilograms (110 lb) or more. The location should therefore be settled before delivery.
Do two teak root tables look the same?
No. Shape, grain, openings and edge profile differ with every piece, because every root has grown differently.
