Understanding Natural Mouldings

NATURAL WOOD MOULDING are machined from raw kiln dried planks imported from different countries around the world. Inherent to the natural nature of any wood there are always some degree of natural blue stain, pin holes, knots, colour variation and small flaws present.

Any moulding ordered as a NATURAL MOULDING has NOT been sanded, stained or manipulated in any way whatsoever by Serame Mouldings.

When a framer orders a NATURAL MOULDING it is assumed that they will sand, stain or paint the frame afterwards or else a finished moulding would have been ordered.

When our factory finishes mouldings we have different ways of hiding small flaws or holes to prepare a moulding for stain or paint. There is almost never a moulding that is perfect and ready for finishing, and there is always some degree of sanding and prepping that takes place.

I will discuss some individual species of NATURAL MOULDING that we supply, and lift out some typical characteristics of each timber.

WAWA. (Triplochiton Scleroxylon)

Wawa is our most commonly used timber species and 90% of our mouldings are manufactured from Wawa. Serame Mouldings import Wawa from countries in tropical West Africa like Ghana and Cameroon.

Wawa has a light wheat coloured wood with a tendency to have fungal or ‘’blue stain’’ marks in the timber. Wawa is rarely ever completely fungal stain free.

All mouldings manufactured by Serame Mouldings are available in NATURAL WAWA.

Should you however require Wawa mouldings  which is perfect and stain free we will be happy to select it for you .The price will be at 3.5 times the price list price as it is then a Super AAA grade NATURAL MOULDING.

Serame Mouldings have invested in a Heat Treatment Facility in 2015 to heat treat all our Wawa timber against woodborer insects. This kills ALL stages of the life cycle of the woodborer insect and is 99% successful.

Serame Mouldings Pty Ltd is a registered ISPM 15 HT (heat treatment) Fumigator.

(ZA-S80 HT) Please see our website at www.serame.co.za under ‘’ABOUT US’’ ISPM 15 HT Certified Fumigator.

Before our raw wood enters our factory, we heat treat every single plank according to ISPM 15 Standards.

Each fumigation batch has detailed reports and fumigation Certificates. Should you require an ISPM15 HT fumigation Certificate, please get in touch with us. In the unfortunate event that insects are found in our mouldings, we limit our liability to replacing only the damaged moulding, purchased within 6 months of claim.

KIAAT (Pterocarpus Angoensis)

Kiaat is a dark brown to pastel brown timber that has blonde streaks in the wood. The colour of Kiaat can vary from a dark brown to almost orange with the characteristic blonde streaks. Small pin holes are sometimes present that should not be mistaken for insect holes.

Serame Mouldings import Kiaat from Angola and Zambia and Namibia.

Serame Mouldings have Kiaat available in only selected profiles. Please consult your HARDWOOD PRICELIST for our selection

Serame Mouldings, after studying the market and identifying a need for a robust and versatile Hardwood Range launched our very successful Kiaat Range of Hardwoods back in 2017 and 2018.

As with our other Natural ranges, Wawa, American Ash and Maple and Oak the idea was to market it as a ‘’Raw Natural Product’’ to be sanded, touched up and knots cut out by the Framer.

This was mostly misunderstood and framers are expecting a perfect consistently colored moulding that can be cut and joined straight out of the packet.

This has been causing a great deal of headaches for both Serame Mouldings as well as our loyal Kiaat customers.

To overcome these problems we have decided to reevaluate our Kiaat Range and change the way we supply it into the market.

The solution is to no longer supply Kiaat as a ‘Raw Natural Product’ but rather as a value added Hardwood Product that has been sanded ,stained (blonde streaks) ,colour corrected and re graded into TWO GRADES namely REGULAR and PRIME.

PRIME KIAAT

Will be selected from the top 15% of a run, it will be All Brown and sanded with a very few knot marks. PRIME will be supplied at a premium price, and will only be available until sold out.

REGULAR KIAAT

Will be supplied with all its various colours, knots and flaws inherent to Kiaat. The Blonde streaks will be stained, knots filled and sanded.

Please communicate to your customers the intricacy of Kiaat and the variance in colour to avoid later disappointment.

ASH. (Fraxinus American)

Ash is a light wheat coloured timber with an extremely district grain pattern. It is graded as an American Hardwood and it is indeed a hard and heavy timber.

Serame Mouldings import Ash from The United States of America and Canada.

Serame Mouldings have Ash available in only selected profiles. Please consult your HARDWOOD PRICELIST for our selection

OAK (Various Species)

Oak is a light Brown, yellow timber with a very district grain pattern.

Serame Mouldings have Oak available in only selected profiles. Please consult your HARDWOOD PRICELIST for our selection

HARD MAPLE. (Acer Saccharum)

Maple is a light wheat coloured timber with very fine texture that sands to a velvety finish. It is graded as an American Hardwood and it is indeed a hard and heavy timber.

Serame Mouldings import Maple from The United States of America and Canada.

Serame Mouldings have Maple available in only selected profiles. Please consult your HARDWOOD PRICELIST for our selection

Framers should allow for 20%to 25% loss when costing their frames to accommodate loss due to warping.