Saw millers since 1989 Madhavaram, Chennai

The timber is the part you should never think about again.

Benin, Burma, Colombian and Nigerian teak. Gabon padauk. Sawn in our own mill to your cutting list, and made into doors and frames under the same roof.

Set and forget.

The cut end of a Burma teak log, growth rings circling out from the pith
The House

Three men, one rule about quality, and no version of it that bends.

IN TIMBER SINCE 1967 · FOUNDER

Pachan Dhanji Patel

First generation

He started in timber in 1967, more than twenty years before the family opened its own mill. Give him a girth, a length and a number of logs, and he had the answer before anyone else could reach for a calculator. And he was never wrong.

He kept the whole trade in his head. Thousands of people across the country, their faces, the last thing they talked about, all remembered years later as if it were yesterday. A customer who had bought from him for forty years and someone walking in for the very first time got exactly the same attention.

He never bent the truth, and he was not afraid of anyone he had to say it to. The one thing he would change was his own thinking, whenever the world moved on. He bought only the best wood he could find, and he did not call it a rule. It was simply how he worked.

1992 · PARTNER

Bhadresh Patel

Second generation

In the early years the work started at 6:30 in the morning and went on until 5 the next morning, with only a couple of hours in between to eat and rest a little. Nothing here came by luck. It came from that same long day, done again and again until it grew into a business.

He has his father's memory for numbers. Quantities, rates, the week a lot came in, what is on the saw today, all of it ready without opening a book. Ask him a price he gave you two years ago, and he will give you the very same price.

He treats every customer like family, not just a sale. That is a big part of why customers stay for thirty years and then send their sons to us too.

TODAY · PARTNER

Kashyap Patel

Third generation

He learned everything the two before him knew, and added something they never had to: today the city buys through architects, designers and project offices as much as it buys by walking into the mill.

A good part of the architect and builder trade in Chennai came to us through him. He can talk to anyone, the way his grandfather could, and he finishes whatever he starts.

Member, BNI Brios, Chennai.

Pachan Dhanji Patel standing beside stacked teak logs at the depot
Pachan Dhanji Patel
Bhadresh Patel standing among stacked teak logs in the early morning
Bhadresh Patel
Kashyap Patel mid conversation inside the sawmill
Kashyap Patel
Premium timber

Four of these are the same species. Where it grew is the whole difference.

Benin, Burma, Colombian and Nigerian teak are all Tectona grandis. Soil, rainfall and age decide the oil content, the grain and the colour, which is why the price is not one number and why the log has to be read rather than looked up.

The end grain of Burma teak, tight slow-grown rings in deep honey brown

Burma teak

Tectona grandis · Myanmar

The benchmark the others are measured against. Slow grown, high oil, tight rings.

The end grain of Benin teak, wider even rings in light golden brown

Benin teak

Tectona grandis · Benin

West African. Straight, generous lengths and consistent girth through the lot.

The end grain of Nigerian teak, broad rings in a warm reddish brown

Nigerian teak

Tectona grandis · Nigeria

Warmer tone, faster grown. Works well where the run of material matters most.

The end grain of Colombian plantation teak, regular pale straw-gold rings

Colombian teak

Tectona grandis · Colombia

South American plantation stock. Even, predictable, clean to machine.

The end grain of Gabon padauk, vivid orange red with open pores

Padauk

Pterocarpus soyauxii · Gabon

Gabon padauk is the finest in the world, and this is it. Vivid orange red off the saw, deepening with light. Hard, stable, exceptionally durable.

The end grain of commercial grade teak, showing natural variation

Commercial teak

First, medium and second quality

Graded honestly and priced accordingly. We will tell you which grade your job needs, including when it is the cheaper one.

Anything not on this list, we source. Any variety, any origin. That has been true since the first year.

Made here

Doors

Panels and surfaces

Doors are made to any size and design you bring us.

Not sure what a lot should cost? We have written up what actually decides the price of teak in Chennai, so you can judge any quote you are given, including ours.

Free · no sign up · works offline once loaded

The timber calculator.

Pachan Dhanji Patel could take a girth, a length and a count and give you the answer before you had finished writing it down. Calculators failed against him.

He never needed one of these. We built it for the rest of us, and for every carpenter, contractor and dealer on this road who does this arithmetic a dozen times a day on the back of a bill book. Use it, free, whether or not you ever buy a foot of timber from us.

Cubic feet0
Tons (50 cft)0
Cubic metres0
True round volume0
Open on its own page
Where it has gone

A short list of where the timber has ended up.

Institutions, hotels, a cinema, and private homes across the city and beyond. We do not chase these names. They come to us on references, the way good timber has always been bought. Trust cannot be bought. It is only ever earned, one lot at a time.

  • IIT MadrasInstitution
  • Taj, MaldivesHospitality
  • Le Royal MeridienHospitality
  • Sathyam CinemasMovie theatre
  • Kalanithi Maran, Sun TVResidence
  • MRF Tyres, OwnerResidence
  • K. V. Anand, film directorResidence
  • Kochar familyReal estate developer
Rows of stacked timber logs receding into morning light at the depot
The stacks at first light
A bandsaw cutting through a teak log, sawdust caught in a shaft of daylight
The mill
A finished solid teak door frame standing in the workshop
A finished teak door frame
Five crosscut timber blocks in a row showing each species end grain, from golden teak to red padauk
Five species, end grain
Questions

What buyers ask us before they order.

What types of teak do you sell in Chennai?

We stock Burma teak, Benin teak, Nigerian teak and Colombian teak, along with Gabon padauk. The four teaks are all the same species, Tectona grandis. Where the tree grew decides the oil content, the grain and the colour, so each one suits a different job and a different budget.

What is the difference between Burma teak and African teak?

Burma teak grows slowly, so the rings sit close together and the wood carries more natural oil. That is why it is the benchmark everything else is measured against. Benin and Nigerian teak grow faster and come in longer, straighter lengths at a lower price. For most interior work the African teaks do the job very well.

How is timber measured and priced?

Round logs are measured in Hoppus cubic feet. Take the girth in inches, divide it by four to get the quarter girth, square that, multiply by the length in feet and divide by 144. One ton is 50 cubic feet by trade custom. Our free timber calculator does all of it for you.

How many cubic feet are there in one ton of timber?

Fifty. It is a trade convention rather than a weight, and it is the same across the market.

Do you cut timber to size?

Yes. We have our own saw mill on the premises, so you can hand us a cutting list and collect the timber already sawn to your sizes.

Do you make doors and frames?

Yes, in house. Main door frames, commercial door frames, window frames and shutters, restroom ventilators and solid teak doors. Doors are made to any size and design you bring us.

What do you supply apart from teak?

Plywood, laminates, veneers, louvers, NFC boards and HPL sheets. Also membrane doors, laminated doors, designer veneer doors, and WPC doors and frames.

Can you get a variety you do not stock?

Yes. Anything not on our list, we source. Any variety, any origin. That has been true since the first year.

Where are you in Chennai, and when are you open?

No 16, 200 Feet Inner Ring Road, Ponniammanmedu Post, Madhavaram, Chennai 600 110, beside Hotel Vijay Park. Monday to Saturday, 9:00 to 18:30. Sunday opening is not every week, so please call before you set out.

Find us

Madhavaram, since 1989.

Where we are

No 16, 200 Feet Inner Ring Road
Ponniammanmedu Post, Madhavaram
Chennai 600 110

Beside Hotel Vijay Park, Madhavaram.

Call us

95660 46664
99529 60007

Write to us

geetha.gwi@gmail.com
pdpnco@gmail.com

Open

Mon to Sat, 9:00 to 18:30
Sun, 9:00 to 12:00

Sunday is not every week. Call before you set out.

No 16, 200 Feet Inner Ring Road, Ponniammanmedu Post, Madhavaram, Chennai 600 110
Beside Hotel Vijay Park
Get directions