Welcome

Ironwood's Rozelle showroom

We have just had a fantastic few days at the Sydney Home Show during May. Our stand measured 6 metres by 3 metres. Most of the time throughout the weekend we were unable to speak to customers on the stand because it was jammed full of people - so we stood in the walkways getting run-over by prams. Sure it helped that we walked away with a couple of awards. We went through over 3,500 of our newsletters, which proves that our wideboard flooring and feature timbers do spark the public's interest.

Message for architects, designers and renovators

Wide-board flooring makes a powerful initial impact.

Wide-board flooring makes a powerful initial impact. We mention in our brochure that like a good wine, timber gets better with age. We also say that timber floors are better in wideboard because you can see features in the trees. They are not as 'busy' as narrow-board and also give the impression that a room is larger than it actually is.

From a design and architectural perspective, wide-board flooring differentiates itself, not just because of the size of the boards – it is the tree features and the fact that they cover the largest and most dominant surface area in any room. When you see the finished article you will understand why we talk about feature, why we say it is classy and advocate that it is a wise investment.

It's also a good story to tell in terms of durability and manageability versus carpet.

As an architect said to me the other day, "Wideboard floors are becoming a more popular new feature in architectural design." I hate to tell you so, but we at Ironwood have known that for years…

Keith Mackenzie
Managing Director

June end of financial year SPECIALS!

The fastest selling floor in Sydney

• Blackbutt 175 x 22mm (T&G and End Matched)
  $87.00 per s.m.

Run-out Specials: Never to be repeated - our remaining stock must clear:

• Queensland Red Ironbark 240 x 22mm (T&G and End Matched)
  $130.00 per s.m.
• Queensland Red Ironbark 200 x 22mm (T&G and End Matched)
  $100.00 per s.m.

...and because we have featured structural properties of beams and posts:

• All ground and wire brushed beams 20% off

Feature story - Australian Hardwood properties

Australia has arguably some of the best hardwood timbers in the world that are ideally suited for flooring. They create spectacular beams and posts that are frequently specified in architectural designs not just because of their aesthetic qualities but also because of their structural properties. These are our famous eucalypts.

The range of available colours is outrageous when compared to what is available elsewhere, while the character, features and performance of our native hardwoods are certainly something to crow about.

From a client perspective we appreciate that performance is secondary and 90% of decisions are based on colour! However, from an architectural perspective there are a few other more valued and relevant performance characteristics that do influence choice:

Durability

Durability relates to the resistance of heartwood to fungal and termite attack. Class 1 refers to most exceptional performance while class 4 refers to the least durable of woods. This rating is measured for both 'above ground exposed to the weather and in-ground contact:

Class 1: Timbers with the highest natural durability which can be expected to resist both decay and termite attack for at least 25 years in-ground and 50 years above ground.

Class 2: Timbers of high natural durability which may be expected to have a life of about 15-25 years in-ground.

Class 3: Timbers of only moderate durability which may be expected to have a life of about 8-15 years in-ground.

Class 4: Timbers of low durability which may last 1-8 years in-ground.

Hardness - Janka ratings

This refers to a timbers ability to withstand wear or abrasion and its resistance to indentation (particularly relevant to flooring selections) and is in part a function of a timber density. Simply speaking, the higher the number the more dent resistant the timber - though it must be said that nothing is hard enough to resist stiletto heels which can impart over 100 tonnes pressure per square centimetre and can also dent concrete!

Strength Group

Rather than provide tables on the mechanical properties of timbers it is customary to provide a general strength rating on a scale of 1-8 - 1 being the strongest. The strength ratings provided below are for seasoned timber only and are measured at 12% humidity.

We have set out in the following table key properties and descriptions of mainstream timbers:

Product	Colour	Hardness Rating	Durability Rating	Strength Group
Alpine Ash #	Light straw	4.9	4	SD4
Mountain Ash #	Light straw	4.9	4	SD3
Blackbutt	Pale yellowish brown	9.1	2	SD2
Box - Grey	Dark browns & reds	15.0	1	SD1
Brush Box	Pinkish grey / reds / browns	9.5	3	SD3
Ironbark - Grey	Dark browns & reds	14.0	1	SD1
Ironbark - Red	Dark reds	14.0	1	SD3
Kauri - N.Z.	Pale pink / reddish brown	2.3	4	SD8
Karri -W.A.	Pink / dark reddish brown	9.0	3	SD2
Mahogany - Red	Dark red	12.0	1	SD3
Messmate	Yellowish to greyish brown	7.1	3	SD3
Pines - Baltic	White / pale yellow	2.5 - 3.5	4	SD8
Pines - Cypress	Pale/dark yellow	6.6	4	SD6
Spotted Gum	Pale to dark browns	11.0	2	SD2
Sydney Blue Gum	Dark pink to red brown	9.0	3	SD3
Tallowwood	Yellowish brown / olive tinge	8.6	1	SD2
Turpentine	Dark pink to reddish brown	12.0	1	SD3

Our warehouse and display rooms are conveniently located in Rozelle (near the ANZAC Bridge). Come in and visit us, we are open Mon-Fri 7:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. and Saturday 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m