How Long Does a Wood Deck Last

Pressure Treated Wood Decking

Softwoods like Pressure Treated Pine can be susceptible to rot, decay, mold, mildew and insect attack.

These woods require an application of a water sealer every year or sometimes every other year. This helps keep the water out of the wood grain which can accelerate rot.

A good water sealer should keep the water pooled on the surface and prevent it from penetrating the wood. Once the water stops pooling on the surface you should reapply more water sealer.

Treated pine can also give you splinters and slivers in your feet. This can be reduced by keeping up on the maintenance.

You can sand and pressure wash a pressure treated wood deck which can help you restore your deck surface.

Below is a picture of a 10 year old pressure treated deck that was sanded and is getting a new stain and water sealer applied.

This is a lot of work but if the homeowner keeps up this maintenance he should be able to get another 10 years or more out of their deck.

The average life expectancy for a pressure treated wood deck is 15 – 20 years. Many will see something more like 10 – 15 years.

It really depends on how good you keep up with the maintenance each year as well as if your deck is constantly exposed to water and doesn’t get a lot of sun exposure to dry the deck out.

If you’re a busy homeowner and think you might not be able to keep up with the maintenance then a deck built with pressure treated will most likely have a shorter lifespan.

Cedar Wood Decking

The next most common wood decking option is Cedar. Cedar is another softwood but cedar does offer some natural resistance to rot and decay.

Cedar will eventually rot and decay as time goes on and just like pressure treated it requires a water sealer to prolong the life of the wood.

If maintained yearly you could expect a life expectancy of 20 – 25 years. Again this all depends on the wear and tear the deck sees as well as the annual maintenance.

Redwood Decking

Decks built with Redwood will require the same maintenance as Cedar and Pressure Treated Pine to help extend the lifespan of the wood.

Redwood is a softwood that offers some natural resistance to rot and decay. One very important thing to consider though is old growth Redwood was considered very durable to rot and decay.

Nowadays the majority of what you see for sale is younger secondary growth Redwood which is still considered moderately durable to rot and decay but not as much as the old growth material.

Hardwood Decking

Most people are not aware there are hardwood species proven to last up to 75 years or more with very little maintenance. Some of the species are over 3 times harder than Oak.

The decking species we recommend for most outdoor applications are:

These South American hardwoods are sustainably harvested and have proven to last up to 75 years with very low maintenance.

These species are naturally resistant to rot, decay, mold, mildew, splinter, class A rating against flame spread, resistant to wood boring insects, naturally slip resistant and not hot to walk on bare foot.

All of these qualities make them excellent for decks, fences, siding, benches and many other outdoor projects.

The only maintenance that’s required is cleaning the dirt and debris off the surface which is required by all decking manufacturers (especially composites).

Pollen, dirt, leaves, rain and other debris will land on all decks so a light power washing is a good idea when needed.

The only other maintenance that many homeowners choose to do is oiling the wood usually once a year. UV rays from the sun will bleach the color out of the wood and turn it grey.

Some homeowners like they grey look so they don’t have to do anything other than an occasional cleaning.

Oiling the wood will keep the beautiful color of the woods and enhance the beautiful grain. Once you see the beauty of these woods most homeowners want to maintain that look.

Do not be confused oiling hardwoods is incredibly easy and it’s not a top coat like water sealers for soft woods that will eventually peel off and leave you with a lot of maintenance.

Additionally with softwoods you really need to get a brush and apply water sealer in all the spacing between your deck boards to try and protect the edges of the boards from rot.

This is not the case with these hardwood species since some of these species are proven to last up to 75 years without any sealer or chemical treatments.

The oil is simply rolled on with a paint roller after that you wipe up any that did not soak into the wood. These woods are so dense they will only absorb so much oil. It will eventually fade away (usually spring time the following year). Then you just apply more oil.

Ipe Wood Suppliers – 11 Things You Should Know Before Ordering

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The following tips we’ve had to compile and share with our readers and potential customers because we unfortunately receive phone calls from people saying I placed my order with “X” and this is what happened…

Think Twice Before Ordering From a Drop-shipper! Here’s Why:

A drop-shipper is someone who sets up a home office that does not have the money to invest in inventory. They launch a website, market it and take orders. The customers money pays for the inventory upfront that a 3rd party broker ships for the drop-shipper. The drop-shipper then gets to keep the remaining percentage after paying the broker. A drop-shipper never sees, stores or pays for any inventory.

1. Cheapest Price = Cheaper Grade Wood

Drop-shippers sometimes offer slightly lower prices per linear foot for Ipe wood to suck customers in and get their money.

As with anything you purchase in life, the cheapest is never the best. Don’t expect your Ipe wood order to be the one thing that defies this rule.

Drop-shippers do not move the volume so they often get lower quality materials while their broker pushes better grades to their top customers.

The most recent trick we have seen is to offer the cheapest price Ipe wood as their standard grade when in reality they are shipping you B grade or worse.

2. Deceiving Shipping Information

Some drop-shippers have published pages on their website deceiving buyers with the grand illusion they have hundreds of locations you can pickup your order.

Tricking potential customers by sugar coating the wording on your website is deceptive.

The truth is they have your order dropped off at the closest freight terminal for you to pick up. This is the cheapest option they can offer since they don’t ship enough volume.

With Freight shipments the more volume a shipper moves the more of a discount they receive. Therefor they can not offer you an 87% discount on freight or free shipping on some orders like we do.

Shipping direct to your job site or home would cost more for a drop shipper as its one more trip the freight company has to make. Shipping direct also creates more headaches scheduling deliveries and tracking orders for drop-shippers so they avoid this.

This leaves you trying to pickup an order that weighs thousands of pounds and upwards of 20ft long from a freight terminal with loading docks made for semi-trucks.

If time, additional labor and equipment needed to pickup your order are not important to you this may not be an issue for you. Figure out how much it will cost you to pickup your order if you plan on going this route.

We ship all orders direct to your home or job site.

Additionally we have seen drop shippers offer shipping insurance as an “up sell” to ensure you receive your order.

Trying to pass fees like this off to your customers is very shady. All of our orders are insured. When a customer gives you money for goods a business is obligated to deliver what the customer paid for.

3. Packaging Up Charges

We’ve seen some suppliers try to pass packaging charges on to their customers for upgraded better packaging to help ensure the order gets to them undamaged.

We custom build shipping skids that run the entire length of your decking order, we double steel band the wood to the custom made skid and wrap the entire skid in cardboard and shrink wrap the entire package at no additional cost to our customers.

4. Verify Your Suppliers Locations

Google search your suppliers business address. Middle men drop shippers are often operating out of small rented offices. Use Google maps and street view for this. It’s easy to spot someone operating from a shared office with other businesses and no warehouse.

Some even operate from a postal mail box with a suite number to make it look like they have an office when they are really running out of their home.

Why is this a bad thing? We’ve been in business for nearly 30 years in that time frame we have seen many of these internet drop-shippers close up shop leaving some customers shafted in the process.

It’s very easy to close up a rented mailbox or small office lease when you run into financial trouble, lawsuits and etc…

Make sure your supplier is transparent and allows you to visit their factory and inspect the wood. Drop-shippers pretend they have warehouses full of inventory when they don’t.

We’ve even seen videos and pictures they take from their broker and publish them to their website pretending it’s their warehouse.

Please visit our contact page on our site. We are very transparent about our warehouses and welcome customers to stop in during business hours.

5. Place a Small Test Order

Place a small test order first. We routinely sell people a couple boards to build a bench or an Adirondack chair first.

Many people have never used a wood like Ipe before so this allows them to get familiar with the wood.

It is also a great way to test out a supplier, you can buy ipe wood online directly from us. Order one board if you prefer or a whole truck load.

6. Minimum Orders

If an Ipe supplier has a minimum order quantity this is usually a strong indicator they are drop-shipping. Their broker that fulfills their orders does not want the headaches of packaging and shipping a $2,000 order.

Now imagine getting a few replacement boards that you need if you are short. Often customers change their plan in the middle of your job or you will end up with more cuts and waste then planned for.

Additionally if you’ve ever shipped thousands of pounds of lumber through LTL freight you’ll know sometimes a few boards will get damaged. We go through extensive efforts into packaging an order but occasionally damage still happens.

Having 4 stocking warehouses in the US and 2 in Brazil allows us to get your replacement boards out the same day.

A drop-shipper is left trying to beg his broker to send out a few boards if they still have them. This is usually an issue since they have minimums.

We’ve heard of some sellers just trying to give partial refunds for the damaged boards. This still does not get the customer the new replacement wood they need to complete their job.

7. Inventory

Drop-shipping Ipe suppliers don’t have inventory, they don’t know what they can supply you with so they take your money to lock in your order.

After they have your order they frantically call brokers trying to fulfill your order. However most drop-shippers don’t have access to real time inventory from their brokers.

The broker is constantly selling off their stock so the inventory list the drop-shipper had in the beginning of the week quickly becomes outdated.

These inventory issues have caused major setbacks for homeowners and especially large commercial projects.

As a result it can be common for these brokers to sneak in B grade boards or boards with defects to try and fulfill an order.

8. Security

We have seen some drop-shippers publicly admit to using their personal home computers that contain their personal information and personal pictures to run their drop-shipping operation.

Data breaches occur with some of the largest brands online. Using your personal computer that your children and family are using to run your business with your customers sensitive information should never occur.

Unfortunately some drop-shippers lack the business resources to ensure your data is properly secure.

9. Sustainability

We have 4 warehouses in the US and two in Brazil – We own the mills and sell direct to ensure the highest quality and that all legal paperwork is documented properly to meet Lacey act standards as well as IBAMA standards in Brazil.

Each one of our factories is FSC certified by the Rainforest Alliance. This is a lengthy and expensive process.

These certifications further ensure you are buying legal and sustainable wood. Verify your Ipe suppliers chain of custody certificate directly on FSC’s website here: https://us.fsc.org/en-us/market/find-products/fsc-certificate-database

Only legitimate companies will have this opposed to using counterfeit documents.

10. Verify Online Reviews

Search “Company Name reviews” on Google and Facebook. A lack of reviews or very low number indicates a very low trust score.

Some drop-shippers get a few friends or family members to post a few positive reviews about their business.

The margins for a drop-shipper are lower and can be as little as 10% so if something goes wrong with an order they often can not afford to fix the problem.

We have always gone above and beyond to make our customers happy even if it means that we lose money on that order. Our reviews speak for themselves.

11. Experience

Many drop-shippers don’t have experience in the wood industry or with wood products. If you are somewhat new to working with a wood like Ipe you will have some questions.

It’s best to get answers from someone that’s a veteran in the wood industry opposed to someone who has… been outsourcing B2B web-development to India.

We have unfortunately seen some sellers advise their customers very wrong for certain applications. Hardwoods like Ipe are some of the most dense and durable woods.

When they are used properly most applications will outlive the customers that purchased them.

Conclusion

The practice of drop-shipping is not bad, we routinely supply some of the largest building material box stores in the world.

We have done business with the largest box stores for years because they know and trust our company as the most reputable Ipe supplier. They know the quality of the products we deliver and rely on our company to meet their customers expectations.

Many customer insist on using big box store because of the volume of other building materials they purchase and have established line of credits with these stores. We understand this and have happily been apart of their supply chain for years.

You should be very cautious of some online sellers deceptive advertising and marketing practices.

The “fake it until you make it” approach that some drop-shippers use has cost contractors and homeowners major set backs and more money in the long run with their projects.

Best Decking for 2021

Top Decking Options for 2021

Our top decking that we usually recommend is Ipe wood but that is the most expensive due to its proven durability, beauty, longevity and demand.

Ipe wood is a South American hardwood known to last up to 75 years on commercial applications like the Coney Island boardwalk with no chemical treatments.

Our overall top pick for decking in 2021 when durability and price are a concern is Tigerwood decking.

Imported from South America Tigerwood is another exceptionally beautiful hardwood deck option that is known to last 30+ years.

Is Ipe Wood Decking Good for Utility Trailers

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Most utility trailers with a wood deck come with pressure treated pine because its the cheapest option

Trailer deck with pressure treated pine decking showing signs of rot

The problem with pressure treated pine on a trailer deck is after several years the deck will show signs of wear and tear as well as rot and decay.

You can maintain the topside of the trailer deck but most people can not get access underneath the trailer deck.

This leaves the underside of the deck untreated which leads to faster rot and decay since it will not see sunlight and it stays wet longer.

Best Wood for Trailer Decking

The best wood for exterior use including trailers is Ipe wood hand down.

Ipe wood has proven to last up to 75 years on many commercial applications such as the Coney Island boardwalk.

It’s one of the densest and hardest woods available. In fact it’s over 3 times harder than teak.

Ipe wood is a premium though and used very often for beautiful decks, boat docks and other outdoor projects where you want a beautiful wood that’ll last a very long time.

You are going to pay more for Ipe wood though so if cost is a factor we would recommend Apitong trailer decking.

Apitong will give you a significant cost savings opposed to using Ipe wood and has very similar durability against rot as well as the wear and tear.

Apitong Trailer Decking Installed on a Flatbed Trailer

Our Apitong is actually Brazilian Apitong which comes from Brazil and it’s almost 3 times harder than traditional Apitong that comes from Southeast Asia.

Our Apitong trailer decking will hold up to many years of wear and tear without worrying about rot and decay like traditional wood used on trailer decks.

Visit our trailer decking webpage to get our current Apitong trailer decking price.

Check out some of our other popular blog posts:

Top 5 Best Decking Materials

Best Wood for a Horizontal Fence

Best Wood for Boat Docks

How to Seal Ipe Wood

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Ipe wood does not need to be sealed like traditional softwoods such as redwood, pine and cedar.

These softwoods have an open grain structure that allows water to penetrate deep into the wood cells like a sponge.

As a result softwoods need a waterproofing sealer that forms a top coat to keep water from penetrating the wood.

If softwoods are left unsealed for prolonged time periods they can deteriorate and rot much faster.

Homeowner sanding deck stain and sealer off an old cedar deck

These top coats will flake and peel off after only a year or two. Then ideally you would sand the entire deck and apply another sealer on top of the deck.

This is a lot of maintenance and what most people think of when it comes to sealing a wood deck.

What Maintenance Does Ipe Wood Require?

Unlike softwood decking Ipe wood does not require a waterproofing sealer to keep the wood from rotting.

Ipe is over 3 times harder than Teak and if you leave Ipe untreated it will turn a beautiful silver grey.

When Ipe turns grey it still shows the beautiful wood grain and maintains all of its durability and will still last up to 75 years or more.

Ipe is so dense and contains a natural oil that if you tried to seal it like you do a traditional wood deck it would peel right off.

Maintaining The Color of Ipe Wood

The sun will bleach the color out of most materials and wood is no exception. UV rays are what causes wood to turn grey outdoors.

To stop Ipe wood from turning grey we recommend applying a special oil that’s specifically formulated for hardwoods like Ipe wood.

This is what most people mistake when they think I have to seal my Ipe wood.

The oil keeps the sun from bleaching the rich brown color from the Ipe wood. It’s basically like sunscreen for your Ipe.

Ipe Oil will not flake or peel off like a sealer on a traditional wood deck so it’s much lower maintenance.

Ipe Wood Maintenance Instructions

Maintaining your Ipe wood is typically very simple and these steps will help you keep your Ipe wood looking good for many years.

Step 1 – Wash your Ipe wood deck

You want to make sure our deck surface is free from dirt, debris, pollen and etc… before applying the oil on your Ipe wood.

Follow all the instructions on the can of Ipe Oil. You want to make sure you have adequate weather with the right temperatures and no rain in the forecast.

If needed you can pressure wash your deck with a wide angle fan tip nozzle. Do not use a concentrated fine tip as those can even damage concrete.

Step 2 – Apply the Ipe Oil

After allowing your deck to thoroughly dry you can apply the Ipe oil using a brush or roller. Make sure to follow all the instructions on the can of Ipe Oil.

This process goes pretty fast since the oil spreads very easy and saturates the Ipe wood evenly.

This is not like water sealing cedar or pressure treated where you need to brush it back and forth to work the sealer into the grain to make sure everything has a top coat.

Ipe Oil has a viscosity very similar to water and Ipe wood is so dense the roller will easily coat the boards.

Step 3 – Wipe up any excess Ipe Oil

Ipe wood is so dense it will only soak up so much of the Ipe Oil. You need to go back with a clean rag after 10 minutes and wipe up any excess or wet looking spots.

This will keep your Ipe deck from getting tacky. After that you can dispose of the rags properly (follow the instructions on the can) oil based rags balled up often can start on fire.

How to Build a Deck Over a Concrete Porch

First make sure your concrete porch is structurally sound

Some old porches have hairline cracks that contribute to the old dingy look of concrete but they are still structurally sound.

If you live in a climate that has freezing temperatures it’s a good idea to seal any cracks with a good concrete caulk to prevent water from seeping into the cracks.

Water trapped in the cracks can freeze and create structural damage.

Inspect your concrete porch to ensure it is sloped away from your house and water drains properly.

Once you’ve inspected the porch to make sure it’s structurally sound you can usually put a wood deck over the top of your concrete porch but there’s a few things you should know first.

Do not attach decking materials directly to the surface of your concrete porch.

Attaching deck boards directly to your concrete porch would lead to excessive mold, mildew and early deterioration of the deck boards.

It would also create two different moisture levels in the deck boards. The bottom of the boards would be wet while the tops of the boards would be exposed to wind and sun so the top of the deck boards would be dry.

When you have varying conditions like this your deck boards would cup and would not stay flat. This would cause the surface to hold water and make your new deck undesirable to walk on in a short matter of time.

Not all Decking is Created Equal

Most people think composite decking is the best decking material. Many also believe once it’s installed they’ll never have to do any maintenance to their new deck.

This is not the case in fact if your read all the reviews on Google for most major brands you will read thousands of complaints from homeowners.

Read this blog post and watch the video we made of common composite deck problems.

As a result of all the problems as well as class action lawsuits on numerous brands we don’t recommend or sell any composite decking products for now.

Best Decking Material for Concrete Porches

Our hardwood decking has a lifespan up to 75+ years when installed properly. The woods we recommend are Ipe, Cumaru, Tigerwood, Garapa and Massaranduba.

We recommend a minimum of 18 inches of air space underneath our standard decking to allow the material to breath properly on all sides of the deck boards.

Some homeowners will install 2×4 pressure treated sleepers 16 inches on center to the top of their concrete porch with concrete screws.

This only gives you one and a half inches of air space between the concrete porch and the underside of the deck boards.

For most materials this really is not adequate airspace and you could see cupping issues still or early deterioration of your new deck boards.

If you decide to try this method you should try to find narrower deck boards like 4 inch wide decking opposed to the standard 6 inch wide deck boards.

Narrower boards are less likely to cup, you should also consider thicker deck boards since thicker materials are usually more stable as well.

A few other considerations that could help if you choose this method.

You should consider coating your concrete in a sealer or concrete since concrete wicks moisture it can add more moisture to the underside of your deck boards.

This can lead to faster rot and decay as well as cupping. It’s also a good idea to wrap your 2×4 pressure treated sleepers in a joist tape since they will be fastened directly to your concrete.

There is an easier method however to put a new wood deck directly over the top of your old concrete porch.

Hardwood Deck Tiles Can Be Installed Directly Over Concrete

Advantage hardwood deck tiles are made from South American hardwoods proven to last up to 75 years or more. They are one of the few products you can install directly over old concrete patios and porches.

Installing the deck tiles is simple with DeckWise deck tile connectors you simply just click them together.

Most homeowners can cover their old concrete porch in one afternoon. Installation is easy when using Advantage deck tiles and DeckWise deck tile connectors.

They come in a variety of beautiful hardwood species that are up to 3 times harder than teak. In addition they are naturally slip resistant and naturally resistant to rot, decay and wood boring insects.

Before and After Concrete Porch Makeover

This homeowner had an old concrete front porch that had a large crack down the center.

While the front porch was still structurally strong it was not visually appealing. The homeowner purchased our 20 x 20 Cumaru deck tiles to resurface his old concrete front porch.

The results look incredible and the install only took him a few hours on a Saturday afternoon. Deck tiles are the easiest DIY way to build a deck over an old concrete porch.

Concrete Porch Wood Deck — Concrete front porch makeover with Cumaru wood deck tiles

Buy Hardwood Deck Tiles Online

Best Wood For Outdoor Benches

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If you are looking to build a new outdoor wooden bench or resurface and old outdoor bench read on as we’ll cover the best woods you can use for your bench.

Outdoor benches are most commonly made with pressure treated pine or cedar. The problem with these species is they are soft woods that generally require annual maintenance and application of a water sealer.

Softwoods like pressure treated pine and cedar have a open and somewhat porous grain structure which can tend to absorb water almost like a sponge.

While these woods do have some resistance to rot and decay and can last many years if properly maintained.

Many people find the maintenance to be too much work, so their outdoor bench gets neglected as shown in the picture below.

Old Pressure Treated Pine Bench with Peeling Stain

Stripping the old stain off an old bench like this one can be a lot of work getting in between all the bench slats. These benches often get neglected and have paint or stain peeling off the majority of the bench.

Once this occurs the wood is left unprotected and when it rains the wood usually stays saturated for an extended time period making them often undesirable to sit on.

In addition these softwoods can give off splinters and eventually get attacked by wood boring insects which can also make them not pleasant to sit on.

Is Composite Plastic Lumber Good for Outdoor Benches?

In our years of experience selling exterior lumber for decks and other exterior projects we’ve seen too many complaints from homeowners to make us comfortable selling any plastic lumber for now.

Every week we get complaints from homeowners who installed a composite plastic deck a few years ago that need to replace their entire deck because it’s failing and the manufacturer won’t honor their warranty.

If you want to read more about all the issues homeowners have faced with these products just Google search “composite decking problems”, “composite decking complaints” or “brand name decking reviews”.

You’ll be able to read about plenty of issues homeowners have struggled with so as a result of all this feedback we generally stay away and don’t recommend these products.

The 5 Best Woods for Outdoor Benches

Ipe (pronounced EE-pay) is an all natural hardwood that is more than three times harder than teak. It has shown to last up to 75 years or more on many commercial applications such as the Coney Island boardwalk and the Brooklyn bridge.

This hardwood is one of the strongest woods in the world and naturally resists wood boring insects. Ipe wood does not splinter and will not get incredibly hot like plastic lumber.

In addition it’s also naturally slip resistant, has a Class A rating for flame spread, is scratch resistant and naturally mold and fungi resistant. It’s also so dense that it does not absorb water.

All of these excellent natural properties make Ipe wood our number one recommendation for not only decks but many outdoor projects such as outdoor wood benches.

You can view our current Ipe prices here: Ipe Wood Prices

Cumaru Wood

Similar to Ipe Cumaru wood is nearly identical in terms of properties and durability. The main difference is the color color ranges from a golden tan to a reddish brown.

You can still expect all the same excellent properties as Ipe.

This excellent wood is also low maintenance, resistant to wood boring insects and naturally resistant to rot and decay without chemicals.

One other benefit to using Cumaru is the price can be upwards of 40 percent cheaper compared to the price of Ipe wood. You can view the current Cumaru wood prices here: Cumaru Wood Prices

Tigerwood Exterior Lumber

This beautiful wood also comes from South America and is incredibly durable and beautiful. You can expect a 30+ year lifespan with Tigerwood.

Similar to the other woods we listed above Tigerwood is also resistant to wood boring insects, mold and mildew and does not splinter. This is another excellent low maintenance exterior wood material that works great for benches, decks, fences, siding and more.

Garapa Wood

Also known as Brazilian Ash this incredible exterior hardwood is one of the finest quality hardwoods that features a fine-grain that is light yellow to a warm golden hue.

Garapa is naturally resistant to rot, decay and insect attack and offers a 30+ year lifespan. Garapa’s proven exterior durability make it an excellent choice for outdoor benches, decks and more.

You can find more info and pricing here: Garapa wood prices

Massaranduba Wood

Also known as Brazilian Redwood Massaranduba is much more durable than California Redwood, has a longer lifespan and requires much less maintenance.

In fact Massaranduba is over 7x harder than California Redwood. With a janka hardness of 3,190 compared to California Redwood which has a janka hardness of 420.

California Redwood is a softwood and requires annual maintenance of applying a water sealer to keep water out of the grain of the wood to prolong its life and prevent rot and decay.

Just like the first four species of exterior hardwoods that we recommended, Massaranduba naturally resists rot, decay and wood boring insects.

In addition Massaranduba is also a very low maintenance exterior hardwood and offers a 30+ year lifespan. This makes it great for many projects such as exterior wood benches, decks, siding and more.

Checkout these beautiful outdoor wood benches that were built with our beautiful South American hardwoods.