Comparison

Teak or merbau.

Teak is oily, stable and pales to silver outdoors. Merbau is harder, darker and bleeds a water-soluble extractive that stains everything around it in the first months. Both are excellent and they are not interchangeable.

Side by side.

Criterion	TeakTectona grandis, mostly plantation grown.	MerbauIntsia species, denser and darker.
Hardness	Moderate. Comfortable underfoot and it marks more easily.	Considerably harder, which suits heavy traffic and commercial floors.
Colour	Golden brown, silvering outdoors if left unfinished.	Deep reddish brown, darkening with age. Little colour change outdoors.
The bleeding problem	Not an issue.	Merbau contains a water-soluble extractive that leaches and stains grout, concrete and pale surfaces. Installers must be warned.
Natural durability	High, from the natural oils. The reason it has been used on boats for centuries.	High as well, and it is a genuinely durable exterior timber.
Stability	Very good, which is why it is the reference for exterior joinery.	Good, and it is denser so it moves with more force when it does move.
Legality documents¹	Plantation teak is documented through the Indonesian timber legality system.	More often from natural forest, so legality evidence deserves closer attention.
Price	Higher, and the name carries value with end customers.	Lower for comparable durability, which is why it appears in specifications so often.

Which to choose.

It is a heavy traffic floor: Merbau, with the installer briefed about bleeding.
It is exterior joinery or decking: Teak, for stability and for how it weathers.
The floor meets pale grout or stone: Not merbau, or accept a real risk of staining in the first months.
Legality documentation is critical: Either, and expect to work harder on merbau because more of it comes from natural forest.

Questions buyers ask.

How bad is the merbau bleeding?

Real enough that installers plan for it. The extractive is water soluble and leaches in the first months, staining grout and pale surfaces. It settles down, and by then the damage is done if nobody warned anyone.

Which lasts longer outdoors?

Both are durable exterior timbers. Teak is the more stable and the more forgiving of movement, which is why joinery favours it.

Is merbau a sustainability concern?

More of it comes from natural forest than plantation, so legality evidence matters more. That is a documentation and sourcing question rather than a property of the timber.

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.