life span of wood

minark

hi
I am in the process of selecting windows , a mix of sliding sash and casement . Can anyone offer me advice on the following hardwoods teak, iroko, mahogany and sapele . Maybe rate them 1 to 4 in terms of durability
Also can anyone offer their opinion on which opening mechanism is best for a sliding sash window
thanks

S.L.F

minark wrote: »

hi
I am in the process of selecting windows , a mix of sliding sash and casement . Can anyone offer me advice on the following hardwoods teak, iroko, mahogany and sapele . Maybe rate them 1 to 4 in terms of durability
Also can anyone offer their opinion on which opening mechanism is best for a sliding sash window
thanks

The best system for opening and closing sliding sash windows is weights and pulleys, been used for hundreds of years without problems.

You will have great difficulty getting teak but no trouble getting Iroko.

Personally speaking I would not use mahogany for exterior joinery because it costs the same (roughly) as Iroko and Iroko is far superior to it.

Sapele is not supposed to be used out doors, I have been called out to jobs where it has been used to find rotted sashes and doors that could not be saved.

Stick with Iroko it's your only man.

You could if you could find a source of it use Pitch pine for your windows or could use a quality oak.

But my biggest suggestion besides Iroko is to have them painted with oil based paints

Mellor

I'd agree with the above, but I'll also add, the reason that you find iroko easier than teak is that teak is very rare these days and protect in some places.
Generall speaking, iroko is a cheaper alternative to teak. "Some" of the teak sold today is actually iroko.
Also, iroko was a bit of a buzz word a few years ago, has one of these names that sounds fancy. And due to this was prefered over teak by some.