Iroko, mahogany or oak: choosing hardwood for Nigerian humidity

Clients frequently arrive convinced that imported timber is automatically better. Sometimes it is. Often, for furniture that has to live in this climate, it is not.

Iroko

Grown here, and the closest thing West Africa has to teak. Naturally oily, which means it resists moisture movement and insects without heavy chemical treatment. It is the timber we reach for first for dining tables and anything with a large unbroken surface, because it stays flat.

It darkens noticeably in its first year, from a yellow-brown to a deep golden brown. Clients who are not warned about this are alarmed by it; clients who are warned about it look forward to it.

African mahogany

Finer grain, works beautifully, takes a polish that iroko cannot match. We use it for bed bases, drawer fronts and anywhere the finish is doing the talking.

Slightly more prone to seasonal movement than iroko, so we avoid it for very wide unsupported panels.

European oak

Genuinely excellent timber, and genuinely expensive by the time it reaches Osogbo. Its real problem is acclimatisation: oak arriving from a European kiln at 8% moisture content will move as it equilibrates to the 12–15% that is normal here.

We will build in oak, but we insist on acclimatising the boards in the workshop for several weeks first. Any maker who does not do this will hand you a table that cups in its first harmattan.

The honest summary

Wood is not the only thing that determines quality. A badly built iroko table is worse than a well-built oak one. But if two makers quote you the same piece and one is using local hardwood well, you are probably getting more furniture for the money.