Larch is the most common terrace choice in Kazakhstan, and for good reasons. We make thermowood, so we'll start with where larch genuinely wins.
If you want a cheaper terrace and you're willing to service it every year, buy larch. If you want geometry that won't move and color that sanding restores without exposing a pale interior, buy thermowood. The gap at purchase is roughly two to one; the gap in ten-year cost of ownership is far smaller.
This is the main argument and it is a fair one. Larch costs markedly less than any thermowood, and if budget decides, the discussion is over.
Everyone sells it. No dependence on one producer and no 8–10 week lead time.
Thermal modification cuts impact toughness by 10–30% depending on schedule. Untreated larch is tougher in that sense.
Larch's natural resins give it genuine biological resistance — that part isn't a myth.
The board very nearly stops responding to the season. That's where “it doesn't cup or twist” comes from — not from oil.
On larch the color is a coating. A scratch exposes pale timber. On thermowood the color was made at 180–215 °C and runs the full thickness.
Modification drives off the natural sugars. Wood-destroying fungus has no food, so the resistance doesn't depend on whether a treatment has washed off.
Miss a year on larch and problems start. Miss a year on thermowood and it simply silvers.
| Larch | Thermowood (karagach) | |
|---|---|---|
| Board price, ₸/m² | markedly lower | 55,000 — 67,500 |
| Equilibrium moisture | 12–15% | 4–6% |
| Color | on the surface, from the coating | through the section, from the timber |
| Missing a year of care | a risk to the timber | fading only |
| Repairing a scratch | sanding exposes pale wood | sand and oil — back to day one |
| Bending strength | higher | lower by 10–30% |
| Geometry guarantee | usually none | up to 6 years under Legacy |
Ask yourself one question: will you actually service the terrace every year? If the honest answer is no, larch at three years will look worse than neglected thermowood. If it is yes, on a schedule, larch will earn its money and we won't try to talk you out of it.
The budget is hard-capped, the area is large, and you already keep a maintenance schedule for timber at home. In that case thermowood isn't the best use of your money, and we'll say so at the site visit rather than afterwards.
Thermowood or composite
Karagach or ash
Thermo-pine or karagach
If you want a cheaper terrace and you're willing to service it every year, buy larch. If you want geometry that won't move and color that sanding restores without exposing a pale interior, buy thermowood. The gap at purchase is roughly two to one; the gap in ten-year cost of ownership is far smaller.
Ask yourself one question: will you actually service the terrace every year? If the honest answer is no, larch at three years will look worse than neglected thermowood. If it is yes, on a schedule, larch will earn its money and we won't try to talk you out of it.
The budget is hard-capped, the area is large, and you already keep a maintenance schedule for timber at home. In that case thermowood isn't the best use of your money, and we'll say so at the site visit rather than afterwards.
