Kebony is made from fast growing sustainable wood sources, transformed into a heavy duty building material that will stand the grinding teeth of time. The production process is 100% environmentally friendly – so is the finished product.

Too good to be true? Of course we value sound scepticism. You know what they say: “If it’s too good to be true – it usually isn’t” Kebony is truly the exception to the rule…

What are the benefits of Kebony wood?

• Ultra durable - Long lasting under high traffic and weathering conditions
• Exotic hardwood performance/Domestic softwood sourcing
• The wood is modified to add robustness in an human healthy environmentally friendly manner
• All organic, non toxic, no heavy metal non leaching

How is it possible to make a soft wood perform like a hard wood?

Kebonization is a process where the properties of sustainable wood are being enhanced through bio-based substances being cured inside the wood structure. The wood becomes harder and more stable, and its durability is vastly improved. And as a bonus the process gives the wood a rich, beautiful brown hue. Kebony’s modification methods have been developed through several years of research and development in Norway, Sweden and Canada with extensive cooperation from universities and institutes in Germany, the Netherlands and the USA.

What is Kebonization?

Kebonization is an environmentally friendly modification of wood. The term modification is used intentionally as the lumber accepts an organic monomer with which it cross polymerizes at the molecular level creating a new material. This new material is nontoxic and biologically inert in that it will neither harm nor feed organism such as termites, fungi, mammals or marine borers. As with many unions with nature, you do not need to harm organism or the environment to coexist, you merely do not need to become a food source.

Is Kebonization environmentally friendly?

The liquid as well as the mechanical production of Kebony has been awarded the “Swan seal”, which is the strictest environmental standard in Scandinavia. Kebony is the only modified wood that meets these standards.

We are utilizing a waste stream by product as our active ingredient. We are alleviating the use of rainforest wood in outdoor structures. We have deployed state of the art no emissions facilities.

We are committed to the environment and have won many awards. We are committed to improving out profile as we move forward.

What is Kebony’s human health profile?

We believe Kebony is the healthiest solution for your family

• No toxins
• No Biocides
• No heavy metals
• No leaching of chemicals
• No blind destruction of their environment

What is the Kebonization Process?

The patented Kebonization process has three major steps

Raw Material Preparation
Furan, the building block of plants, is extracted from the fibrous remains of post food production biomass (sugar cane bagasse, corn and grain husks) that would normally be a waste product. The Furan is distilled into Furfural Alcohol, a reactive organic monomer (or pre-plastic).

Impregnation
The Furfural Alcohol is impregnated into the selected lumber species using a vacuum/positive pressure cycle. The presence of the monomer and wood fibers are completely invasive. The fluid thoroughly seeps into the voids of the wood also penetrating into the individual cells of the wood structure.

Polymerization
Using a heat catalyst system, the lumber molecules and the Furfural alcohol molecules are cross linked and polymerized into the new biologically inert material.

What are the performance benefits of Kebonization?

Physical Characteristics

• Harder, denser, and stronger wood.
• Better moisture handling
  • Better dimensional stability by reducing the wood's expansion and contraction due to moisture exposure by up to 50%.
• Softwoods will perform like or better than exotic hardwood species, without the environmental damages.

Ascetically Characteristics

• Wood darkens to create a rich tone that can be preserved with staining.
  • This tone will age take on the elegant silver gray patina characteristic of Teak or Ipe
• The wood grain will become smoother after planning for machining as the polymer fills the void in the wood.
• The wood is going to hold its dimensions and durability longer. It will be not cup or warp as seen in many other boards

Durability performance

• The wood is rendered biologically inert and will greatly resist decay.
  • It is not a food source for termites, fungi, or marine borers.
• The wood endures wet dry cycles significantly better than other wood products.
  • This reduces splitting, warping and cupping.
  • This property also increases the performance of paints and faster systems as there is significantly less movement in the wood.
• The Wood is enhanced for heavier foot traffic and load bearing relative to other species.

What is the main ingredient in Kebonization?

Furfural Alcohol is derived from the by-product from sugar production and is used again and again in a closed cycle in the production.

And it’s practically maintenance free

Normal surface cleaning is recommended; however, no other maintenance is required. No oils, nor stains

What is the price level for Kebonized wood?

The costs are driven by a number of factors, commodity prices, supplier chains and limitations, formulations, dimensions and use category for the end product.

Softwood species are typically

• Priced less than exotic woods such as IPE or Garapa, but with a better environmental profile and more standard performance level
• Priced are competitive than wood fibre polymer composites, but with significantly better performance and longevity

Lifecycle costs are greatly improved due to Kebony's durability and profile

What are the lifecycle costs?

Kebony costs a bit more than toxin treated timber, but Kebony will last approximately three times as long. The lifecycle cost of Kebony will be about half compared to buying and maintaining treated or impregnated timber.

Tropical timber, such as teak, mahogany and other endangered wood species will, normally, cost more than Kebony.