Ipe Decking Boston Blog

We are proud to announce our sister site out on the west coast: Deck San Francisco.  Tropical hardwood decking has always been a big seller on the west coast as it is here on the east coast.  However, ipe has really taken off and become the top seller in the San Francisco area,  just like here in the Boston area! They have a few  of the wonderful retail San Francisco deck projects they’ve supplied lumber for out there.

We all know the reasons why people prefer ipe deck boards right?  Okay, here’s a quick reminder:

• Ipe Decking is the strongest common deck board, in hardness and bending strength.
• Ipe deck boards are  the most durable of all the common decking materials, often lasting well over 60 years without treatment of any kind and over 100 years with treatments.
• Ipe deck material is even more resistant to mold, mildew, wood boring insects and rot that the other tropical hardwoods and far more resistant than any mad made decking material could hope to be.
• Ipe pays for itself when it reaches the mark where other, lower quality boards would need replaced.  This is usually before the 10 year mark.
• Ipe boards are less likely to splinter because it’s so dense.
• Ipe Decking looks great!

Ipe Decking Boston now has a sister site way down in Florida!  O how I wish I had a home in Boston AND a home in Florida.  For those of you who do, or are considering such a move, the great news is that at Deck FL, you can view the Florida Ipe Prices page and see the going rate for ipe in Florida.

Florida is an excellent place for Ipe Decking.  Ipe has been going like hotcakes for the last few years in Florida.  They love it down there for docks especially.  The sun just totally destroys all the other deck materials besides metal and the exotic hardwoods.  And metal decking on a dock in the hot Florida sun is a really, really bad idea!

See you in Florida!

The “Donovan House” has just installed a new deck around their pool!  They used some premium grade ipe decking, (just like we sell, check out our ipe decking prices).

Ipe deck boards were a perfect choice for thre the rooftop bar/ pool area.  Not only will these deck boards get wet and need to remain slip-free, it will also be 100% exposed to the weather.  Ipe deck boards will hold to that with absolutley no maintainance for over 40 years1  And that’s important in this case because construction projects on a roof top cost much more than deck building in most other places.  Since it’s an upscale hotel it was also important to them to keep the pool /  bar area open.  By  usine the ipe decking instead of something else, it’ll be a long time before they have to close this area to replace deck boards.

We are starting to see more and more restaurants, clubs and bars using ipe decking for their outdoor decks.  some are saying that more decks are being built at these kind of places to provide a place for customers to smoke.  Ipe is a great choice to use a a decking material for decks tailored to commercial traffic.  It’s tough!  It stands up easily to anything a human (without the special tools of a deck builder) can throw at it.  the deck boards last over 100 years without treatment!  sure it costs a tiny bit more per foot than the cheapest wood, but did I say it lasts 100 years!  How may times would you need to call a deck builder out to replace boards on your deck in that amount of time if you used pressure treated wood? I’ll tell you:  between 20 and 50 times!

The one thing missing from the Peddler’s Village dining experience was an alfresco setting. Not any more. As of this spring, Sweet Lorraine’s Café & Bar, the village’s newest restaurant, offers affordable “world beat cuisine” on its expansive outdoor deck, built from the Brazilian hardwood ipe.

read the full story

Ipe (aka Brazilian walnut, Amapa, Cortez) decking, known also as ironwood, has gained popularity as consumers have become more educated.  Not only is Ipe a natural rich looking product but it is an extremely dense hardwood. It is 3x’s as hard as oak with a Class A fire resistance (same rating as concrete and steel). Ipe wood is resistant to mold and fungus. Don’t worry about pesticides as Ipe is rot and insect resistant as well.

Ipe decks are installed all over the world by the most discriminating consumers not only for its aesthetic value but the maintenance free care. High end homes are specifically looking to install ipe decking because it is the gem of hardwoods in all aspects from the deep rich tones to the tight dense grains to the natural beauty only nature can produce. High end clients are familiar with this knowledge, as it has been tested time and again that we can not reproduce what nature has created nor should we continue to try.

Composite decks have tried to reproduce the look and the quality but it still looks like plastic wood with all the downfalls that come with composite products, molding issues, delamination and staining to name a few. There are other woods that are used for decking but the fact remains that the wood for longevity and strength to use for outdoor applications should be ipe. This conclusion is based on research and time. The fact that ipe decking has been specified in projects such as the South Beach boardwalk in Miami Beach, Las Vegas Resort Hotel and the Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco alone lends creditability to its longevity.

The Brazilian hardwood color can vary from a yellowish brown to reddish brown in medium tones to almost black shade and slowly patinas to a silver-ish grey tone unless maintained with ipe deck sealer. [NOTE:  here's some photos of some weathered ipe decking]  Ipe decking comes in different width ranging from ¾”to 1.5″average with length from 6-20′ average. Special order sizes are available along with accessories such as handrail system, post caps and plugs.

When considering the longevity of your decking and replacement costs not to mention the down time involved, many consumers realize the value of Ipe.  It is the natural choice.

Welcome to first post on the Ipe decking Blog.  In the future this blog will contain articles about:

• Ipe Decking
• Ipe Wood
• Decks (of course)
• Deck Rails
• Ipe Lumber info
• Deck building
• Deck Designs tips

And we’ll even debut a special offer here on occasion…

Please stop back as we add ipe deck photos from the Boston area and others.  We’d also love to see order some ipe decking form us, check our Boston Ipe Decking Prices.