All Called "Teak", Yet Prices Differ Threefold — Here Is Why

Customers often bring us a competitor's quotation and ask: "It is the same teak door — why is yours more expensive?" We love answering this question, because once the costs are laid out, you will see exactly where cheap gets cheap and where expensive goes.

Three very different things are sold as "teak"

Solid timber: wood that is simply wood

Core, frame and mouldings all cut from full-size Burmese teak stock. It lasts for generations, can be sanded and refinished when scratched, and only grows more beautiful with use. This is what we make — and the only thing we make.

Finger-jointed board: scraps assembled into "solid wood"

Short offcuts interlocked like fingers and pressed together with glue. It may legally be called "solid wood", but it is full of joints and adhesive, and the seams tend to crack and warp with age. Roughly half the price of solid timber.

Veneer: only the skin is teak

An MDF or mixed-wood core wrapped in a teak skin less than a millimetre thick. The grain looks lovely until one knocked corner gives it away; once it swells with moisture, there is no repairing it. It can cost as little as a fifth of solid timber.

Every quotation says "teak", yet the material cost can differ fivefold — that is the whole secret behind a threefold price gap.

How to read a quotation

Three questions cut straight to the truth:

"Is the door core solid or finger-jointed?" — Only a written commitment to "solid Burmese teak" counts.
"What is the moisture content, and how was it dried?" — A proper factory can describe its kiln process and resting time; be wary of anyone who cannot.
"May I see the end grain?" — Solid, jointed and veneered boards reveal themselves instantly at the cross-cut (see our guide to verifying teak).

Why we can offer solid timber at a fair price

Because we stand at the source. Our factory is in Kengtawng, Shan State: logs come in, and we mill, kiln-dry, craft and install everything ourselves — no distributor margins stacked in between. Your money goes into the wood and the workmanship.

Feel free to send us any quotation you have received — we will gladly help you assess it, and prepare a like-for-like solid-timber quote to compare. Free consultation: +95 9698628834 (Telegram) · 09951957382 (Viber).