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Thermally treating wood to make it harder has been used for centuries. From early Japanese Shou Sugi Ban in the 18th century charring ceder boards, to modern day oxygen free kilns for a deeper penetrating hardening of most any wood.

Nowadays the wood is used mainly in:

  • Durable wooden cladding for buildings.
  • As a building material in construction.
  • Broad-walks and smaller piers and jetties.
  • Flooring

The system itself continues to be fine-tuned and upgraded as time and experience allow. Here at Modesty Carpentry, we are proud to be the lead tester in this development process of the “Marine Maple” thermally treated American hard maple. A thermally treated wood designed specifically for the marine industry.

We have placed this “Marine Maple” on swim platforms, pasarelles and tenders with great success.

We have also run our own tests in the workshop, testing the durability, bendability and weathering characteristics of the wood in use.

In addition, we had the biggest caulking producers in the industry (Bostik and Sikaflex) run tests on thermally treated wood, and have had unconditional backing from them with regards to adhesion and stability. We are very happy to back the product and look forward to installing our first full deck very soon! For more information on this sustainable alternative to teak please follow the link to: marinemaple.com or call us! For further reading on the hard maple (Acer Saccharum) itself, please see: https://www.americanhardwood.org/en/american-hardwood/american-hard-maple?species=29