Solid Merbau battens suit spaces where you want warmth and a strong natural presence. Common uses include entry feature walls, privacy screens between neighbouring properties, pool surrounds, carport and garage screening, outdoor kitchen and BBQ surrounds, and vertical battening across a blank rendered wall to break up flat expanses.

Their deep reddish-brown tone works particularly well against white render, black cladding, natural stone and concrete.

Batten size changes the character of the finished screen more than anything else:

• 42×42mm – a square profile that reads as fine and evenly spaced. Good for delicate screens, balustrade infill and decorative panels.
• 70×32mm and 90×32mm – flatter, wider faces that give a more contemporary horizontal-slat appearance.
• 70×35mm, 70×45mm, 90×35mm and 90×45mm – chunkier sections with more shadow and depth, suited to bold feature walls, pergola detailing and larger outdoor structures.

As a general guide, wider battens with wider gaps feel modern and open, while narrower battens with tighter gaps feel more refined and give more privacy.

Yes. Solid Merbau battens are often used indoors for feature walls behind a bed or sofa, as room dividers between living and dining areas, to wrap a kitchen island or reception counter, and as ceiling battening in hallways and entries. Indoors, the timber is protected from weather and holds its colour longer, so it tends to stay closer to its original tone.

Laminated Merbau battens are made by bonding selected pieces of timber together, which makes them useful where you want long, straight, consistent lines — a full-height feature wall, a continuous ceiling run, or a screen where every batten needs to look the same. They are also how you get profiles and lengths that are difficult to achieve in a single solid section.

• 18×18mm – a fine, slim batten. Ideal for detailed joinery, slatted cabinet fronts, narrow ceiling battening and decorative infill where you want texture without bulk.
• 42×42mm – a versatile square section for feature walls, screens and room dividers.
• 66×42mm non-rebated – a wider face with more visual weight, suited to statement walls and larger screens.
• 90×42mm GL17S structural – a structural laminated section for applications that need to carry load as well as look good.

Both retain the natural appearance of Merbau. Laminated battens tend to look more uniform along their length because the timber has been selected and bonded, while solid battens show more of the natural variation of a single piece. Which you prefer is largely an aesthetic decision — some people want the consistency, others want the character.

Rosewood sits in a lighter, warmer part of the colour range than Merbau — golden-brown through to soft red-brown, with a refined, even grain. It suits interiors aiming for a calm, contemporary or coastal feel, and works beautifully with pale walls, light oak flooring, rattan and linen.

If Merbau feels too dark or too red for the room you have in mind, Rosewood is usually the alternative worth looking at.

Rosewood is available in the widest size range we stock, which makes it flexible:

• 19×19mm and 30×30mm – very fine battens for delicate slatted screens, joinery detail and close-spaced ceiling runs.
• 42×19mm, 65×19mm and 86×19mm – slim flat profiles that give a clean horizontal or vertical line without projecting far from the wall.
• 40×30mm, 40×40mm and 65×40mm – mid-range sections balancing presence and proportion, good for room dividers and feature walls.
• 85×30mm and 85×40mm – broad battens for bold, architectural statements.

Feature walls in living rooms and bedrooms, hallway and stairwell battening, ceiling detail, slatted screens to soften an open-plan space, reception and retail fit-outs, and covered outdoor areas such as alfresco ceilings and verandah linings.

The gap sets the mood. A tight gap — narrower than the batten itself — reads as a solid textured surface and gives the most privacy. An even gap, roughly equal to the batten width, gives the classic evenly-striped slat look. A wide gap feels open and lets more light through, which works well over glass or where you want to hint at a division rather than block it.

It is worth laying a few battens out on the ground at your intended spacing before you commit — the difference between 20mm and 40mm is far more noticeable than it sounds.

Vertical battens draw the eye upward and make a room feel taller — useful in entries, stairwells and rooms with standard ceiling heights. Horizontal battens stretch a space sideways and suit long walls, fences and low-set facades. Neither is more correct; it depends on the proportion you want to emphasise.

All three timbers will grey over time if left unfinished in full sun and weather. If you want to hold the original tone, a suitable timber oil or stain applied on installation and maintained periodically is the usual approach. Indoors, or in covered areas, colour change is much slower. Our oils and stains range covers the common options, and the right choice depends on the timber, the exposure and the look you are after.

Browse the full Decking Wood QLD range of timber battens, screening, decking, hardware and coatings.