Ekki

Ekki

When nothing else will survive the job, ekki will. Ekki (Lophira alata) is durability class 1 and one of the densest timbers in commercial use, which is why it is specified for lock gates, jetties, bridge decks, sea defences and heavy industrial flooring rather than anything ornamental. You are buying it because it lasts in permanent ground and water contact, untreated, for decades. Imported from West Africa and stocked in our yard for delivery across Ireland in sections from 50 to 200 mm, air dried, with FSC and PEFC certified supply available on request. Sold by the cubic foot and priced on enquiry.

Why Ekki?

At roughly 1050 kg per cubic metre it is around fifty percent heavier than oak, and that density is doing all the work. It resists marine borers, fungal decay and abrasion in a way treated softwood simply cannot match, and it holds up under repeated wetting and drying without checking apart. On civil and marine work the whole calculation is service life against replacement cost, and ekki wins that comfortably.

The honest trade is that everything about working it is harder. It is heavy enough that handling needs planning, it blunts tooling fast, and its interlocked grain will split if you drive a fixing without drilling first. This is not a timber for a weekend project, and if the application is decorative rather than structural you will be better served and better priced by iroko or oak.

Installation guidance

Plan the lift before the delivery. A 200 mm ekki section is a two person or machine handling job over any distance, and yard collection is worth arranging around that.

Pre drill and counterbore every single fixing, without exception, and use carbide tipped tooling because high speed steel will not last. Bolt rather than screw wherever the connection carries load. Use A4 grade 316 stainless steel throughout: ekki is high in tannin and will bleed black staining around any ferrous fixing, and in marine work galvanised is not enough. Cut ends and drilled holes expose untreated fibre, so seal them with an end grain sealer before the timber goes into service.

Finishing & maintenance

Two routes, and on ekki the first is what most jobs use. Left bare, it weathers from deep red brown to grey and keeps performing regardless, because its durability is in the timber rather than in any coating. Or oil it annually where it is on public view, such as a jetty walkway or an exposed deck, to hold the darker colour. Most of our customers leave civil and marine work to weather and only finish ekki where it is being looked at.

Avoid paints, varnishes and any film forming coating entirely. On a timber this dense and this oily they will not key properly, and they peel within a season. If you are oiling, a penetrating exterior oil suited to dense tropical hardwood is what you want, and we stock the right ones, so ask us which to pair with yours. Both routes need nothing more than an occasional wash with warm soapy water and a stiff brush to clear algae from walking surfaces.