A Guide to Teak Grades: Grade A, B and C Explained
# A Guide to Teak Grades: Grade A, B and C Explained
You have probably been here: two teak tables, similar size, similar shape, and one seller says Grade A while the other simply says solid teak. The difference in price is real, but nobody tells you what the letter actually buys you. Is Grade A a genuine measure of quality, or just a word added to a listing to make you feel better about spending more? And if you choose Grade B, are you quietly accepting a piece that will crack in a year?
That confusion is the single most common thing that stalls a teak purchase. The good news is that teak grading is not mystical. It describes a small set of physical things you can see and feel once you know where to look. This guide explains what the grades usually mean, where the labels fall short, and how to check a piece yourself before you commit, whether you are buying from a workshop in Jepara or anywhere else.
## Why the Word "Grade" Confuses Almost Every Teak Buyer
The first thing to understand is that there is no single, globally enforced standard for teak furniture grades. Unlike electrical wire or steel, "Grade A teak" is not a certified classification issued by one authority that every seller must follow. Different mills, workshops and sellers use the A, B, C labels with their own definitions.
Some use the letters to describe how much heartwood a board contains. Others use them to describe how many knots and defects appear on the visible face. Others use them almost purely for colour consistency across a set. A few use them loosely as marketing language, where Grade A simply means "our better one."
This is not a reason to panic. It is a reason to ask a sharper question than "is this Grade A?" Instead ask: grade according to what, and on which face of the piece? A seller who can answer that is a seller who knows their material.
## What Teak Grades Actually Describe: Heartwood, Sapwood and Defects
Almost everything in teak grading comes back to one anatomical fact. A teak log has two zones. The outer layer, just under the bark, is sapwood: pale, creamy, and relatively low in the natural oils and silica that give teak its reputation for resisting moisture and insects. The inner core is heartwood: darker golden brown, denser, and rich in those oils.
Because sapwood is the weaker, less durable part of the tree, the proportion of heartwood in a board is the most meaningful thing a grade can tell you. A board that is nearly all heartwood behaves very differently from a board that is half pale sapwood, even if both are genuinely teak.
The second factor is defects. Knots, where a branch once grew, interrupt the grain. Some knots are tight and integrated and are mostly a cosmetic feature. Others are loose or surrounded by resin and can become a weak point. Then there are drying defects: small surface checks, slight twists, and colour variation across boards.
A high grade generally means more heartwood, fewer and tighter knots, more consistent colour, and cleaner grain. A lower grade means more sapwood, more visible knots, more colour variation, and defects that have been filled, hidden or placed out of sight. That is the whole story behind the letters, and once you see it that way, the labels become far less intimidating.
## Grade A, Grade B and Grade C in Plain Terms
Grade A is typically used for pieces where nearly all visible surfaces are heartwood, with even colour, straight or tightly figured grain, and very few knots or filled defects. In practice this is the wood selected for the parts people look at closely and touch constantly: a dining tabletop, a chair back, a bed headboard, the top of a sideboard.
Grade B is a middle category. You may see more colour variation between boards, a few small tight knots, and occasional minor defects that have been properly filled and are not structural. Much of the board is still heartwood, but the selection is less strict and the piece may mix tones more freely.
Grade C contains a higher proportion of sapwood, larger or more frequent knots, and more visible defects or repairs. It is still usable wood, and it has its place, but it is not what you want on a surface that will be judged by eye every day.
Two honest cautions are worth remembering here. First, a piece is rarely one grade throughout. A well-made cabinet may use Grade A on the front panels and lower grades on the internal structure or the back, which is sensible and invisible. Second, grades say nothing about how the wood was dried, how the joints were cut, or how the finish was applied, and those three things matter at least as much as the letter on the label.
## Higher Grade Does Not Automatically Mean Stronger Furniture
This is where buyers most often misunderstand grading. Grade A is primarily an appearance and durability-of-surface classification. It does not mean the furniture will hold more weight, and Grade B does not mean the piece will fall apart.
The strength of teak furniture comes from the joinery, the thickness of the components, the grain direction in each part, and how well the wood was dried before assembly. A Grade B table with properly cut mortise-and-tenon joints and well-dried timber will outlast a Grade A table assembled with thin sections and poorly fitted fixings every time.
So treat the grade as one input among several, not as the headline. If a seller talks only about grade and never about drying, joinery or finish, ask about those things. You will learn more from the answers than from the label.
## How Grade Affects Where the Furniture Can Live
Indoor and outdoor use put very different demands on teak, and this is where grade choice becomes practical rather than cosmetic.
For a piece that stays indoors, protected from rain and direct sun, sapwood is far less of a liability. It is still softer and paler, but it is not being repeatedly soaked and dried. This is why Grade B is often a perfectly rational choice for a bedroom piece, a study desk, or shelving where the surface is not scrutinised.
For anything that will sit on a terrace, in a garden, or near an open window where rain can reach it, heartwood content becomes serious. Sapwood exposed to weather is the part that discolours unevenly, absorbs moisture more readily, and can become the entry point for fungal growth. If a piece is going outdoors, insist on heartwood on all exposed faces, and be sceptical of any outdoor piece that looks uniformly pale.
## How to Check Grade Yourself Before You Pay
The most useful skill you can develop is a quick visual and tactile check. None of these steps require expertise, and each one takes seconds.
Look at the end grain. On the end of a leg, the edge of a tabletop, or the underside of a seat, heartwood and sapwood are usually distinguishable: the heartwood core is darker and the sapwood ring is pale and clearly lighter. A wide pale ring means a lot of sapwood.
Check colour consistency across a set. Compare the boards of a tabletop against each other and against the legs. Some variation is natural and attractive. Extreme contrast, from deep gold to near-white, usually signals mixed grades.
Run your hand across the surface and look along the grain at a low angle. Filler used to disguise knots and small checks often shows as a slightly different colour or texture, or as a spot where the grain stops abruptly. Filler is not automatically a fault, but you should know what you are buying.
Ask what the piece looks like underneath and at the back. A common trick is Grade A on the face and something else on the reverse. A reputable maker will show you both sides without hesitation.
Ask what the timber's moisture content was dried to, and whether that target was chosen for the climate where the furniture will live. Wood that is dried to suit one climate and shipped to a very different one can move, and movement is what opens cracks. Many workshops aim for a moisture level appropriate to the destination, and a maker who can discuss this is thinking about the years after delivery, not just the sale.
Ask which definition of grade the seller is using, and on which surfaces it applies. If the answer is vague, treat the grade as marketing and rely on your own inspection instead.
## Matching Grade to Your Room: Practical Measurements
Grade choice and size choice are connected, because a big surface shows every inconsistency while a small one hides them. Before you decide on grade, decide on dimensions, and use the familiar numbers as a starting point.
A dining table is commonly around 75 cm high, with a seat height near 45 cm for the chairs that go with it. Allow roughly 60 cm of table width per person, and leave about 90 cm of clear space around the table so chairs can be pulled out without hitting a wall. A sofa seat depth of around 55 to 60 cm suits most people, and a coffee table usually sits at about 40 to 45 cm high, low enough to reach from the sofa.
Now measure your actual room, and measure your access route. Check the doorway width, the turn at the top of the stairs, and the lift dimensions if there is one. A large dining table with a thick top and a generous overhang looks superb in a showroom and may not pass a narrow stairwell. If you are ordering custom furniture, these numbers are exactly what a workshop needs from you, and giving them early prevents expensive surprises.
On a large surface, such as a long dining table or a wide bench, Grade A does more visible work because there is nowhere to hide a mismatched board. On a narrow console or a small side table, Grade B can look identical once finished, because there is simply less surface to compare.
## Common Mistakes Buyers Make When Comparing Teak
The first mistake is buying the label rather than the piece. A Grade A tag on a badly jointed table is still a badly jointed table.
The second is assuming Grade A means old-growth or premium origin. The letter describes the wood in front of you, not the age of the tree or the country it grew in.
The third is judging from photographs alone. Lighting, contrast editing and angle can make pale sapwood look golden and can hide filler entirely. Ask for photographs taken in daylight at several angles, including the underside and the end grain.
The fourth is ignoring where the furniture will sit. Buyers agonise over grade for an indoor bedside table and then order an outdoor bench without asking a single question about heartwood.
The fifth is choosing a finish before understanding the wood. An oil finish lets you feel the timber and can be refreshed over time, while a lacquer or film finish seals the surface but can show wear in high-touch areas. Ask what is being applied and how it is maintained, and remember that end grain should be sealed properly, because that is where moisture enters.
## Caring for Teak Furniture So the Grade Holds Up
Good wood still needs sensible handling. Indoors, keep teak away from prolonged direct sun if you want to slow the colour shift, and wipe spills promptly rather than letting liquid sit. Teak contains natural oils, but that does not make it waterproof.
Outdoors, teak will gradually weather to a soft silver-grey if left untreated. That is normal and does not indicate failure. If you prefer the golden tone, a suitable teak treatment applied according to its instructions will help, but avoid over-oiling, which can leave a sticky surface that collects dust.
Keep outdoor pieces out of standing water. Check that feet are not sitting in a puddle or on constantly damp ground, and lift pots or planters rather than dragging them across a surface. In dry, heated indoor air, a humidifier or simply keeping the piece away from a radiator reduces the seasonal movement that opens small checks.
## Buying Custom Teak Furniture from a Jepara Workshop
Jepara has a long tradition of teak working, and one advantage of ordering custom from a workshop there is that you can specify the details that grades alone cannot tell you: the exact dimensions, the wood selection on the visible faces, the joint construction, and the finish.
At METIS Interior, we produce custom teak furniture in Jepara, with sizes and models adjusted to your space and your needs. That means you can ask for heartwood-dominant surfaces on the pieces people see and touch, sensible use of timber where it is hidden, and dimensions that actually fit your doorway and your room. We are happy to discuss your measurements, your intended use, and any concerns about wood selection over WhatsApp before you decide anything.
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If you are still unsure whether Grade A, B or C is right for a particular piece, send us the dimensions of the space, a photo of where it will sit, and a note on whether it will be indoors or exposed to weather. A short conversation about wood selection and construction will usually settle the question faster than any label can.