Merpauh Hardwood Flooring

The sapwood is light brown with a grey or pink tinge and is not sharply differentiated from the heartwood, which is light grey-brown with a pink tinge. Some trees develop a corewood, which is streaked with orange and red lines.

DENSITY

The timber is a Medium Hardwood with a density of 640-880 kg/m³ air dry.

NATURAL DURABILITY

Untreated specimens of merpauh measuring 50 mm x 50 mm x 600 mm achieved an average service life of 1.5 years at the testing ground at the Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM). This placed the timber under the non durable category. The timber is readily attacked by insects and fungi, especially staining fungi, which discolour both the sapwood and heartwood.

PRESERVATIVE TREATMENT

Based on trials carried out on two species of merpauh, it was found that the treatability of the timber varies considerably, from very easy to average.

TEXTURE

Texture is moderately coarse but even, with interlocked grain.

STRENGTH PROPERTIES

The timber falls into Strength Group B (Engku, 1988b) or SG 4 (MS 544:Part 2:2001).