Comparison
Teak or acacia for outdoor furniture.
Teak carries natural oils and silica that let it stand outdoors untreated for decades, and it is priced accordingly. Acacia is a fast-growing plantation hardwood that looks similar when new, costs far less, and needs finishing and shelter to last. The choice is about maintenance and about how long the piece has to survive.
Side by side.
| Criterion | Teak | Acacia |
|---|---|---|
| Weathering untreated | Stands outdoors without finish. It greys on the surface and the structure is unaffected. | Will not stand unfinished exposure. Left outside untreated it checks, greys unevenly and eventually rots. |
| Why | Natural oils and silica in the wood resist water, insects and fungal attack from the inside. | No comparable oil content. Its durability comes from whatever finish is applied and maintained. |
| Maintenance | None required. Oiling is cosmetic, to hold the honey colour rather than to protect anything. | Real and ongoing. Re-oiling or re-coating on a schedule, and it moves indoors or under cover in winter. |
| Growing time | Decades on long rotations, which is most of what the price reflects. | Years. It is a plantation crop, and that is why the volume and the price work. |
| Legality documents1 | SVLK applies, and so does the European deforestation regulation from December 2026. | Identical position. Both are Indonesian timber and neither escapes the paperwork. |
| Where it goes wrong | Grade. Plantation teak from young trees has more sapwood, and sapwood has none of the durability the price is paying for. | Moisture content. Built wet in a tropical workshop and shipped to a heated interior, it moves and the joints open. |
| Best use | Permanent outdoor furniture that nobody will maintain. Marine and garden work. | Covered terraces, hospitality with a refresh cycle, and indoor furniture where the price difference is the point. |
Which to choose.
- It lives outdoors permanently and nobody will maintain it
- Teak, and specify heartwood only.
- It sits under cover, or the venue refits every few years
- Acacia, with the finish specified and a moisture target in the contract.
- You are buying on appearance for a photograph
- They look alike when new. Decide on the second year, not the first.
- The quotation says teak at an acacia price
- Ask which part of the tree. That gap is usually sapwood.
Questions buyers ask.
Is plantation teak as good as old-growth?
It is the teak that legally exists, so the question is academic for a buyer today. What matters is the proportion of heartwood, because young trees carry more sapwood and sapwood has none of the oil that makes teak worth its price. Specify heartwood and inspect for it.
Can acacia be treated to behave like teak?
It can be finished to look similar and to survive longer, and the protection lives on the surface rather than in the wood. That means it lasts exactly as long as the maintenance does. For a buyer who will maintain it, that is a reasonable trade. For one who will not, it is a piece that fails in a few seasons.
Which is easier to buy from Indonesia?
Acacia, on volume and lead time, because it is a fast plantation crop with a lot of workshops working it. Teak is available and it is priced and graded much more carefully, and the difference between grades is larger than most first-time buyers expect.
Do both need the same documents?
Yes. Both are Indonesian timber, so the legality system covers them equally, and both fall inside the European deforestation regulation from December 2026. There is no cheaper paperwork path for the cheaper wood.
Worth reading.
Still deciding?
Tell us the application and the market. We will say which one your specification actually needs, and quote both if it is genuinely close.
Sources
- 1SVLK, Indonesia's timber legality assurance system. FLEGT licence information service. Checked 3 August 2026.