The Story Of Our Dutch East Indies Teak

Take a journey in design, history and culture with our genuine reclaimed Teak floors.

The story of our Dutch East Indies Teak begins in the early 1800s, when Dutch traders sailed across vast oceans and settled in what is now known as the Republic of Indonesia.

The influence of the Dutch settlement is still very much prevalent in architecture in Indonesia today. Colonial homes were almost always the preserve of the wealthy Dutch, Indonesian and Chinese elite, the architecture being a fusion of Western and Indonesian heritage, the result, naturally beautiful spaces make with premium materials.

Our Dutch East Indies Teak floors have been crafted from flooring extracted from these Colonial Indonesian homes when they were undergoing modern renovations.

Due to these redesigns, we have become proud and lucky custodians of these beautiful floors, restoring the Teak floorboards to reveal the beauty of their heritage and readying them for the next chapter of their story at the spine of modern-day projects.

Having travelled halfway across the world to reclaim these Teak floors, we bought them back to our workshops in Cheshire to begin our painstaking restoration.

The restoration process of this Teak produced two flooring choices; Dutch East Indies Teak, featuring the original patina, and Bleached Dutch East Indies Teak; bleached, hand cut boards with a distinctive texture and a fresh look.

dutch east indies teak

During the restoration process, extra care was forced to be taken to ensure that the original patina was left intact; resulting in a mellow, broad open grain and honeyed tones. These reclaimed Teak floors have a beautiful texture and each board has been carefully hand sawn, which is evident by the beautiful saw cuts that flicker randomly across the surface of each board, bringing a truly unique feel.

Both of these Teak floors come in a variety of widths and different lengths, moving away from the uniformity of fixed width planks to create a more natural and organic look that respects the history behind these ancient floorboards.

To preserve remaining forests, new Teak has become a controlled timber. As a result of it no longer being freely available, it’s become increasingly more difficult to obtain, making it one of the rarest species of wood in the world. Unlike new Teak, this reclaimed Teak in our Rare Finds is entirely sustainable.

The wood used to create these floors is therefore rare to find, especially having survived hundreds of years of history, land, air, weather, and sea before landing at our doorstep.

The warm tones of our antique Teak and feel of the wood is beautiful underfoot making it more than suitable for wall panelling, ceiling cladding, flooring and even furniture creation. Each board holds its own shape, and this will form a gentle movement across your surface.

These hand sawn floorboards will offer a pièce de résistance to surfaces, but given it’s rarity, these Teak wood floors aren’t going to be available forever. So if you’re looking for something extra special for your upcoming projects, be sure not to wait too long.