Importing teak

[DownWest]

I was asked to help with a glued on teak deck for a 23ft strip built boat. Existing was ply. I remembered a bit of nice looking wood under a pile of old stuff at the local woodyard.
Went back and dug down, yes, teak and about 3" x 40" x 20ft. Asked how much and was smacked in the gob as to how cheap. They didn't know what they had. So, snapped it up and it did the whole deck at 6mm thick. Must have been there for years and forgotten about.
My woodworking neighbour cut it up. One pass with the bandsaw, then plane the edge, back to the bandsaw etc, so we ended up with strips that had a smooth and a rough side, ideal. Mixed graphite with the epoxy to give the 'payed seam' look. Lots of sanding, but a brilliant look. Boat was sold a bit later and the deck made all the difference.
Not any help to the OP, but was fun for me......

 

[RunAgroundHard]

You cant just bring it to the UK, regulations have to be complied with: -

Import timber, wood products or bark

 

[Keith 66]

Hard work importing any timber for sure which explains the fast rising costs.
I am curious though about controlled rare woods including teak, granted we are talking relatively low volumes but where does a person stand who acquires a pile like i did? All of it obviously reclaimed timber with no provenance as to where it came from save that it was from a demolition job somewhere in Essex some years ago.
Most of my mahogany stock came this way too!

 

[Zing]

I was asked to help with a glued on teak deck for a 23ft strip built boat. Existing was ply. I remembered a bit of nice looking wood under a pile of old stuff at the local woodyard.
Went back and dug down, yes, teak and about 3" x 40" x 20ft. Asked how much and was smacked in the gob as to how cheap. They didn't know what they had. So, snapped it up and it did the whole deck at 6mm thick. Must have been there for years and forgotten about.
My woodworking neighbour cut it up. One pass with the bandsaw, then plane the edge, back to the bandsaw etc, so we ended up with strips that had a smooth and a rough side, ideal. Mixed graphite with the epoxy to give the 'payed seam' look. Lots of sanding, but a brilliant look. Boat was sold a bit later and the deck made all the difference.
Not any help to the OP, but was fun for me......

What’s a payed seam?

 

[Keith 66]

In traditionally built boats with laid decks the seams were caulked with cotton or oakum then "Payed" with hot pitch to fill up proud of the surface, this was then scraped down when set hard.
Modern effect is black Sikaflex or similar or Graphite & epoxy.

 

[PetiteFleur]

Years ago, my genuine 1930's Burmese Teak was 'rescued' from a skip when the original University laboratory benches were scrapped when the lab was refurbished. Told about by a friend who worked there and I immediately rescued them. Now they are our kitchen worktops and lots of trim on our boat

 

[Tradewinds]

If you want short lengths of old teak or indeed another 'exotic' timber for a project ( not decks!) it's worth looking here in their lumber section. These are short lengths.

Pick your own lumber [15] - Timberline - Exotic Hardwoods and Sundries