Which wood is good wood? All about Westbury timber

Wood may very much be back en vogue, but not all joinery is created equally. Find out more about Westbury's quality timber products and craftsmanship.

There’s no denying that timber windows and doors are regaining popularity over the uPVC alternatives. However, this has paved the way for a fiercely competitive market, lots of mixed messages, and plenty of other challenges along the way.

Wood technologies have evolved significantly with time, however, inaccurate perceptions still widely exist about hardwood being at a durable advantage over softwood. At Westbury Joinery, we only use hardwood where it is truly necessary – such as on door thresholds where the area will need to withstand heavy footfall – and this is still less than 4% of our total timber usage.

As an environmentally-friendly alternative to hardwood, we mostly use premium grade, knot-free timber sections from sustainable sources to craft our windows, doors, and joinery products. These sections are then laminated to provide excellent stability and a superior lasting finish.

Our woods

Our main timber of choice is Accoya®, a revolutionary engineered wood product, researched since the early 20th century. Its wood originates from fast-growing, abundantly available, FSC® certified tree species such as the Radiata pine. The wood is modified through a non-toxic acetylation process, using cutting-edge methods, to create a robust end product that is able to withstand the elements and resist moisture. This also enables the wood to maintain shape, stability, and strength for 50 years above ground and 25 years underground or in freshwater – far longer than a hardwood is able to last.

In addition to Accoya®, we also use European or Siberian larch, a naturally durable timber known for its strength and resistance to moisture. For the interior of our products, we opt for European redwood, which offers a natural light grain and superior moulded finish.

Every Westbury product is made to exceed minimum industry regulation standards ensuring it offers longevity and will continue to perform throughout its life. This is down to a combination of the extremely hardwearing materials that we use along with our application of quality craftsmanship.

Our craftsmanship

Wood may very much be back en vogue, but not all joinery is created equally. What makes us so special is that we combine quality timber materials with the very best technologies and a highly skilled workforce. We do not opt-out of fine detail for ease and speed of manufacture. Sadly, over the years, we have witnessed so many companies do away with traditional design details, or take their manufacturing overseas in a bid to cut costs.

At Westbury, we work hard to preserve and protect British architectural heritage, incorporating flush joints, sharp edges, and traditional mouldings into our craft.