Everyone loves the look of oak but the price of a solid oak door or window isn’t always within the budget.
An opportunity in the market to exploit? This is just what timber coating specialist Teknos and hardwood distributor Timbmet thought.
All you need is a solid wood with a similar grain to oak but which was more cost-effective and which could take a stain to match.
When Teknos (UK) Ltd sales manager Steve Ashton saw Timbmet’s Red Grandis – an FSCcertified plantation-grown timber – he knew it could fit the bill.
"The first time I saw Red Grandis I realised it had a grain and a base colour that would lend itself to an oak stain, more so than any of the other durable hardwoods on the market," said Mr Ashton.
After a series of stain tests on Red Grandis confirmed his instinct, a partnership was formed with Timbmet to bring a specific coating to market for the species.
He said a specialised pigment was the key to replicating the look of oak.
The stain developed, Grandis Oak, is a high build microporous water-borne coating system which is fast-drying and designed to minimise micro-foaming in the final paint film to extend coating durability.
Red Grandis’ natural colour is a beige pink, which can be nullified by a base stain and then two top coats to achieve the oak colour.
Timbmet marketing manager Sascha Way said many people wanted to use oak joinery but there were drawbacks to using the species.
"With Red Grandis they can use a timber that is durable and FSC-certified and the coating allows them to get the appearance of oak along with the performance," she said. "Red Grandis really takes stain very well."
In the six months since Grandis Oak’s launch, in excess of 30 small to medium-sized joinery manufacturers have started using it. Teknos can supply hand-sized samples to show joinery manufacturers interested in using it how the finish is built up.
Mr Ashton said the product was particularly well-suited to bespoke joinery manufacturers looking to fulfil client needs.
"It opens up the potential for increasing sales of hardwood because it delivers something the customer wants at an affordable cost," added Mr Ashton.
As well as doors and windows, Red Grandis interior products stained with Grandis Oak could provide an alternative to oak door frames, window boards and architraves.
Cana Joinery and Brookeswood are two companies using Grandis Oak.
One client which completed a self-build project in Hertfordshire originally intended to install solid oak windows and doors in a natural oak finish but were thwarted by a conservation officer who said the exterior frame had to be painted in a dark opaque finish.
Brookeswood presented Red Grandis as a cost-effective solution, with the darker stain on the exterior-facing frame and the Grandis Oak natural finish facing the interior.
