Great deal on Brazilian Teak (Cumaru)... now what to do with it?

17 years ago

We got an amazing deal on unfinished cumaru flooring (1.40 per foot)at an auction this weekend. We now have 3,000 square feet of this flooring sitting in an unfinished garage as we were not ready to purchase flooring but couldn't pass up the deal. Everything that I have read is about acclimating the flooring to the house prior to installation. I can't find anything about storage prior to the acclimation period. We are building a new home and are about to have the doors and windows installed, but it will be a month or so before HVAC is installed and operating. Is it ok to leave the wood in the garage as long as it is covered by tarps to avoid getting wet or should we bite the bullet and move it to a climate controlled storage facility?

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Comments (6)

vfish
17 years ago
Wow, you did get a great deal on that wood. I currently have about 3500 sf of the same stuff sitting around in a warehouse until I can ship it down to my house. I think that as long as you can control how much moisture the wood receives, you'll be fine. As soon as you possibly can, get it into the house to acclimate and also to keep it dry and safe. You will need to check the moisture content of the wood periodically to ensure it is dry enough and ready to install (this is what we did with our brazilian blond cherry hardwood flooring we installed previously).
My opinion is that if you are keeping it dry, you will be ok, get it indoors asap, but this is not going to ruin it. You may want to call a hardwood floor person and ask the same questions as well.
Roman Rytov
16 years ago
suelynnb, what auction did you buy it at?
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kitchenkelly
16 years ago
I have no idea on how you should store it but wanted to chime in on your purchase.....I had cumaru installed a month ago and I LOVE it. You are going to be so happy with your decision. Enjoy!
polkadots
16 years ago
Kitchenkelly:
Would you mind posting some pictures of your Brazilian Teak and is it prefinished or site finished? If prefinished who is the manufacturer? Thanks.

Sorry to hijack the thread, but it was an old one so I hope it's okay...
kitchenkelly
16 years ago
It was site finished and I still need to have the last finish coat applied. I can't take a pic for a few more weeks. My contractor covered it while the rest of the remodeling is being completed so it doesn't get damaged. He covered it with sheetrock and paper on top of that to protect it (he is quite the perfectionist.) But is drives me crazy. I want to look at it!

I am attaching a link of a thread that has teak/cumaru. Mine has a little more variation in color and thinner boards. Good luck with your decision!

Here is a link that might be useful: wood flooring link
breezy_2
16 years ago
Here's what you need to do. Send me your name and address and I'll send you a check for $600 for just 330 sqft of it...that's all I need for a deck.

Seriously, keep it protected from the weather as you have done. Put it in the house when the time comes but it likely won't be climatized by the time you are laying it. The flooring contractor should test it and the subfloor with a moisture meter before installation. The moisture should be b/t 7% & 16% I believe and the flooring and subfloor s/b within 4% of one another. I just went through this using a different type wood and everything turned out fine. Some of mine had been in storage for several years.

Seriously though, what type of auction did you find this at? I would love to use cumaru on our covered deck but I have only been able to find this in a good grade at $5+/sqft. What grade is yours?