Best to Know your Wood: Choosing the Right Marine Wood Part 2

Why you Should Know your Wood

If you were thinking to replace the wood with same species for your boat either to mix- match grain and color – You don’t always assume that the wood is always teak or oak wood.



There are always other wood good as a substitute: The Iroko wood and Rhodesian teak wood (not really sure if it’s a true teak but harder wood).

Others like spruce wood, pine wood, and fir wood are commonly graded as alike in the Pacific Northwest: That’s why you commonly see the letters ‘SPF’ stamped on lumber - assigned and combined designation for the wood either on sale in lumber yard, lumber shop or wood workshop.

In addition, within each wood species are a wide variety in color and grain to choose from.

If you are also thinking into reinstate/replace your existing marine wood fixture, taking a sample of your old wood to the lumberyard, lumber store or wood shop is a good idea to ensure the match of the wood needed for your projects.

(P.S. don’t hesitate to ask valuable information, ideas or suggestion to the lumberyard representative – they always give great solution to your needs and of course; the experts on these filed.)



Tip: Take off the finish and as well as the first few layers of decayed wood to get a clear picture of the wood’s true character.

You may also need to smell the wood and try to remember the scent; this is sometimes the best guide in matching wood species. (Sorry for the odd suggestion)

If you’re not sure what kind of wood you have, and you want to be definitive in naming it, search for online resources – Wood Database or Wikipedia is the best place to start.

See you in the Next post: Choosing the Right Marine Wood Part 3.