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How to distinguish authentic Queensland Spotted Gum from the counterfeit one

It is very hard to get a great quality solid timber floor with an low-price in Sydney. Some customers might have being provided with defected or counterfeit flooring at a absurb price.

The counterfeit floorings mentioned are low-grade and low quality species of timber that are labelled and sold as higher grade and rarer species. This gives the trader a higher profit margin even with what seems to be a great discount to customers.

There is an online post where a customer expressed complaint about a timber floor company. In the post, he mentioned that he has been advised by his friend who has some primary flooring knowledge that he has been sold Lemon eucalyptus as Queensland spotted gum at premium price. With great fury, he shared his experience online. It is the “norm” in the flooring industry in Sydney that some of the timber flooring traders would sell Pacific Spotted Gum as Queensland Spotted Gum.

If this kind of incident continues, customers will concern and question the integrity of the industry. Thus the main objective of this article is to provide tips for customers in distinguishing authentic Queensland Spotted Gum from counterfeit Pacific Spotted Gum or Lemon eucalyptus. Having a counterfeit reflects the popularity of spotted gum.

 

The following are the main reasons that it is popular in Sydney flooring industry.

  • The natural grain, varying pattern of a spotted gum flooring which is composed of green, gray and gold colors grants spotted gum a soft spot among Australian customers.
  • Spotted gum has a grayish color theme which resonate the nature of Australia landscape and meet the aesthetic of the majorities.
  • Spotted gum has an exceptionally great texture and hardness.
  • Spotted gum is more stable and reliable in the long run and it is practically waterproof due to its oily fibers.

Queensland produces the best quality spotted gum, it has a balance color variation and fine texture.

Spotted gum accounts for a great amount of sales in flooring and it comes with a high price tag. Thus, this gives some of the traders motives to sell counterfeit flooring for a higher profit margin. Some anxious traders may sell Lemon eucalyptus, an inferior species of eucalyptus, as Pacific spotted gum, a less superior species of spotted gum. Some daring traders are even selling Lemon eucalyptus as Australian Spotted gum. It is fairly easy for industry insider to tell the differences between the two, Lemon eucalyptus and Australian spotted gum.

 

The following are a few tips in telling them apart.

  •  Wood color variation: Queensland spotted gum has a green-grayish color theme. It has color variation as all natural timber does. However, the authentic Queensland spotted gum does not have as much color variation as the Lemon eucalyptus or Pacific spotted gum.
  •   Wood grain: Queensland spotted is composed of roughly 10% of oil line and it barely has any barks or knots. On the other hand, the counterfeit one has plenty of barks and scars but it barely has any oil line.
  • Post installation: An authentic Queensland spotted gum gives a natural and harmonious grain and patterns with a green-grayish theme after installation. Whereas, the counterfeit one is full of knots, random pattern and messy color variation.
  •  Pricing: The market price for Queensland spotted gum is at $120/sqm for installing upon timber surface and $130/sqm for installing upon concrete surface. The final price varies upon the volume purchased by the buyers and the scale of the traders. The longer and wider planks are more expensive and have a 10% price fluctuation. The pricing is only for pre-finished floor plank. For raw timber, it costs an extra of $30-40/sqm for sanding and polishing after installation.

As one of the largest flooring companies in Australia, spotted gum has always been the flagship product of OZWOOD. All of the spotted gum from OZWOOD are sourced from Queensland.  Being in the industry for over a decade and with years of research and development, OZWOOD is now capable of manufacturing and supplying spotted gum in a vast scale. This leads to a refined supply, processing and manufacturing process for OZWOOD’s Queensland spotted gum. This grants OZWOOD’s spotted gum a high reputation within Sydney flooring industry.

In addition to Queensland spotted gum, OZWOOD also provides wooden dining tables, wooden doors, staircases, shelves and other timber related household products. Various types of products are made using different parts of spotted gum. This way, it maximizes the utilization of spotted gum, at the same time, guarantee the quality and aesthetic of the products.