Yellow Balau Decking

Yellow Balau Decking for Sale in Ireland

Yellow Balau, often sold as Bangkirai, is one of the densest tropical hardwoods used for decking. If you want a hardwood deck you’ll still be enjoying in twenty years, it’s hard to beat. Every board is 145×21 mm, stocked in our warehouse and delivered across Ireland.

Why Choose Yellow Balau Hardwood Decking

• Durability Class 1: the top rating, with a service life of 20 to 25 years and natural resistance to rot, insects and fungal decay.
• Hard wearing: at around 930 kg/m³ it is more than twice as dense as cedar, so it stands up to foot traffic and resists dents.
• Fine, even grain: a smooth, splinter resistant surface for bare feet.
• Colour: a warm golden yellow brown that matures to an even silver grey.

Balau Decking Profiles and Lengths

Both profiles are 145×21 mm, so they can be used on the same deck. The smooth/grooved board comes in a wide choice of lengths, so choose on the product page by the size of your deck: shorter boards for small decks and steps, where they are easier to handle and cut with less waste, mid-length boards for most garden decks, and longer boards for long runs with fewer joints. A length that matches your deck, or divides into it, cuts waste. Enter your area in the calculator on the product page and it works out how many you need; the cart adds the fixings and extras.

Smooth / Grooved (Reversible)

One face is smooth for a clean, contemporary deck, and the other is grooved for extra grip. You choose which face goes up, so it suits most garden decks.

Non-Slip

Boards with an anti slip finish, the one to choose for decks that stay damp, pool surrounds, ramps and steps with heavy foot traffic.

Installing Yellow Balau Decking

• Lay boards on joists at no more than 400 mm centres, closer on a diagonal deck.
• Pre-drill every fixing. At this density, forcing a screw splits the board.
• Use A2 or A4 stainless steel screws, never galvanised or mild steel. See our outdoor timber hardware.
• Leave a 5 to 6 mm gap between boards for drainage and movement.
• Natural pigments can bleed from new boards in the first few weeks. Rinse any run off from nearby paving; it stops once the timber has weathered.

For matching fascias and trims, see our Yellow Balau battens.

Oiling Balau Decking

Yellow Balau doesn’t need treating to last, but left bare it weathers to silver grey within the first year. Most people oil it to keep the golden brown and help the surface shed water. Use a hardwood oil made for dense tropical timbers. Apply it in the first few months, then once a year for the first couple of years, and every two or three years after that. See our wood oils and stains.

To compare Balau with other species, browse all our timber decking.