Macrocarpa (Cuppressus macrocarpa): A superb cypress. The heart timber is naturally durable, very stable, and uniform making it an ideal joinery timber. It is an attractive golden brown colour with a Kauri like fleck and an aromatic smell. It is not a hard timber but is still used for flooring. We mainly source from plantations over 60 years old, making our timber hearty and stable. It’s ideal for weather-boards, exterior decking, interior joinery and large decorative beams.

American White Oak (Quercus alba) We supply timber for flooring, joinery and furniture. Pale yellow brown with a hint of grey. Sourced from the East Coast of North America.. Relatively heavy, hard (but not as hard as NZ grown Hard Oak Q. Robur) and stains well. Normally flat sawn so grain is plain and relatively even. Moderately durable. Two grades are offered; clear is totally clean with no features, theselect has the odd knot.

Native Matai (Prumnopitys taxifolia): Regarded by many as ‘one of the world’s great flooring timbers’ on account of its hardness, its rich orange- brown colour, silken finish and stability in use. It is an  aromatic timber providing a subtle pleasant smell in the building.

Grades

We have two different grade options, which vary in price.

•OB- Ordinary board: includes the trees natural features such as some knots and in some species small pin hole and natural cracks. The timber still performs well and has real character.

•DA Grade: have mostly clear timber for a cleaner less featured appearance. Some species will have the odd small tight knot.

Board size:

Thickness: 2 main options: 19mm and 12-14mm

Width: Normal widths are 83mm and 60mm cover with the narrower boards resulting in less join movement, wider boards are 128mm. Parquet is 42 or 65 mm.

Board lengths: Traditional longer random length planks 600mm up to 4.8m. Except patterned parquet which are laid in set length traditional patterns such as herringbone.

Native Miro (Prumnopitys ferruginea): An attractive native timber related to Matai. The colour is a    medium golden brown with some dark brown figure, making it a good substitute for Rimu. It is harder than Rimu and Matai, relatively stable, aromatic with a good finish. It makes an excellent floor. It is common in the South Island and unknown to the larger North Island market.

Native Rimu (Dacrydium cuppressinum): Rimu has been widely used in NZ for a number of good reasons. The strong red-brown figure of ‘coloured’ and ‘heart’ grade Rimu is very attractive; these grades are of medium hardness and historically have been widely available. We are able to offer both ‘colour grade’ (has at least 50% heart) as well as the normal sap grade. However a shift to sustainable harvesting has limited supply lifting prices.  You may also want to consider either the closely related Native Miro or Native Silver Beech.

Native Southland Beech ( Silver Beech: Nothofagus menziesii) : A native hardwood. The

name derives from its source and the bark colour of the tree. We source mostly from mature

trees which have attractive variations in colour from reddish brown heartwood to pale

brown sap timber with some fiddle back. It is rated as New Zealand’s best cabinet making

timber. Currently it is our best value timber floor. The natural pin hole which crops up in the

character grades results from an insect which only affects live trees. The timber is resistant to common house hold borer.

Native Black Beech (Nothofagus solandri) A native hardwood. The timber is a warm light straw brown colour with some black figured heartwood which polishes up like Walnut. Hard and even wearing it makes a distinctive and attractive floor.

Native Red Beech (Nothofagus fusca) A native hardwood. The timber is reddish brown, with variations

between light brown to medium red brown. It is medium hard, like Southland Beech. The heartwood is

naturally durable. If dried correctly it is a very stable timber.

Native Totara:  A timber with special characteristics, greatly valued by both Maoris and early Europeans. An attractive smooth red-brown timber, fine even texture, very straight grained but not strong, polishes smooth of medium hardness. Its stability and excellent durability make it particularly suitable for door, window and exterior joinery. We supply timber for furniture, joinery and flooring.

NZ Grown Tasmanian Oak & Alpine Ash (Eucalyptus delegatensis and regnans).  Australian eucalypt

hardwoods. What we call gum trees, in the early days the Australians named their timbers after European timbers. So there is Victoran and  Mountain Ash  and Tasmanian Oak, plantation grown here in New Zealand. The timber is pale brown with a hint of red and has figure resembling ash and oak. Grain sometimes has attractive fiddle back and reddish resin lines. It is of medium hardness and wears reasonably well as a floor and also for joinery work.

NZ Hard Oak (Quercus robur) also known as Common Oak. The best of the european hardwoods which  grows even harder and denser here in NZ. The heart timber is a beautiful golden straw colour showing grain and when quarter sawn, attractive reflective lens shaped medullary rays. Has character with some tight knots and the odd crack. It is very hard, strong, stable, durable and stains well. We spend 1 to 2 years drying it. Much of the Oak used in NZ is imported American White Oak which is a different Oak species to the common NZ Hard Oak. American White Oak is plainer, lacking the quarter cut

medullary rays and durability of NZ Oak.  NZ Old Oak. Above Oak stained with a classic darker

colour to produce an old floor with a rich grain.

NZ Sycamore Known in USA as Maple. White to yellow white with a natural luster and cross grain fleck. Makes an attractive, even wearing very light coloured medium hard floor.

Lawson cypress is a lighter coloured cypress, once dressed it looks like Baltic pine with small tight knots peppered through the boards. Stable, durable and attractive it makes an excellent joinery, exterior cladding and building timber but is not hard enough for flooring.

Kwila; A tropical hardwood from South East Asia. Hard, strong and naturally durable. Dark red brown in colour with either a small black or gold fleck. Polishes well and looks very smart as a floor and deck.

NZ Hard Ash (Fraxinus excelsior) This is the original European Ash no relation to Victorian Ash. Along with Oak and Elm it is one of the great European hardwood timbers planted in NZ by colonial settlers. It is straw to pale brown in colour, straight grained, hard, stable with a very attractive figure. It makes an attractive hard floor.

NZ Elm (Ulmus procera) Heartwood is plain brown, sap is straw brown colour. The prominent interlocked grain gives it a most attractive appearance. It is highly sought after in Europe. Makes an even wearing tough brown coloured medium hard floor.

We have a variety of timbers availible and many others that are not always in stock. Please contact us for prices, availibility,  and other information. Also please be aware that although these samples have been picked to best represent the timber, patterns and colours will differ. We are happy to send samples out or you can view our products at the Home Ideas Centre, or at our Victoria Street office.

White Gum and Tasmanian Blue Gum (Eucalyptus maidenii and globules). NZ grown eucalypt hardwoods. Very hard and ideal for flooring and uses where hardness and durability are an advantage. The former with a beautiful creamy yellow colour, the latter pale brown with a hint of red. Both have attractive interlocking grain.

Sydney Blue Gum (Eucalyptus saligna). A dark red brown timber, hard and wears well as a floor. In NZ, it is grown mainly in the North Island.

Jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata): A native of Western Australia. Heavy and hard with dark colour variation from medium to deep red. Because supplies are limited it is now relatively expensive.

Taun: A tropical hardwood native to SE Asia. The colour is red-brown with a small black fleck. The timber is medium hard and it makes a good floor.

Timbers of NZ, P O Box 17 627 Christchurch

Phone+64 3 365 3253 Fax +64 3 365 3252