Purchasing exotic hardwood decking such as Ipe Wood, Cumaru, Tigerwood, Massaranduba, Garapa, and other Brazilian hardwoods doesn’t have to break the bank. The market knows that these woods will outlast the majority of buyers out there and the popularity has soared in recent years. As demand for these amazing lumber species have grown, prices have increased as well. Here are some quick and easy ways to save that are often overlooked by buyers trying to educate themselves. Also, call our hardwood decking hotline for free quotes and our latest and greatest deals!!! 1-877-232-3915
- Short Length Boards: As long lengths up to 20 foot typically demand a premium, using 3 foot to 6 foot decking not only saves money but can also make the design much more interesting. This balcony deck design was constructed utilizing five foot long Cumaru (Brazilian Teak) decking shorts. Pricing is listed at the bottom of our Cumaru page: Discount Decking
2. NARROWS: Wide boards in any hardwood demand a premium, so using narrow boards such as 1×4 (finished at 3 1/2″ wide), can save money and again give a more interesting look. An added benefit is stability as a wide board will have more tendency to cup than a narrow board. Using narrow boards saves money and yields a more stable deck. These are some Cumaru narrow deck boards coming off the production line at our mill in Brazil. Look through our decking price list to find these sleek and narrow deck boards Narrow Deck Boards
3. Non-Standard Widths: Using the size that your carpenter friends all use can cause you to loose out on an overlooked bargain. The US uses some 3.5″ and a lot of 5.5″ wide deck boards, but in Australia, for example, the standard deck board size is often 120 mm wide.That is equal to 4.72″ and also equals a bargain for you. Occasionally we bring in sizes that are standard in other countries but not yet known locally. If the logs we are cutting yield less waste for these foreign standards then we cut to that size and pass the savings to you. Lumber distributors often frown on stocking or promoting these sizes as it messes up their inventory systems and makes more paperwork. Luckily for you we like challenging the status quo, as long as it means saving our customers money. These different sizes can also give your deck a more unique look than standard US sizes. In this case our 120 mm (4.72″) is also more stable than the wider 5.5″ standard US board. This is some 120 mm Massaranduba decking shown in the picture, but we often do other sizes and species in cost savings sizes. Note that this Massaranduba (Brazilian Redwood) wood starts out red but turns a deep chocolate brown like Ipe after being exposed outside for a few weeks. See some pricing here: https://www.advantagelumber.com/odd-sizes.html
4. B-Grade: B grade decking may have small blemishes such as pin knots, some sapwood in small spots, swirly grain, or other similar character marks. Many of our customers say that “B” stands for “Beautiful” as these boards look much more interesting to them. We will also add that it leaves money in your “Bank” as there is a nice discount for purchasing this grade. Stock of these bundles are constantly changing so check out our specials page and call us for your best deal. Specials Page
5. Secondary Species: All the high end builders know about the amazing Brazilian Ipe wood, but there are other exceptional performers out there that haven’t been widely promoted yet. These other hardwoods have been time tested in extreme climates around the world. We use the word “Secondary” only because we haven’t spent millions of dollars to market these species yet. These woods are currently less expensive, yet still at the top of their class for durability. One specie that looks very similar to Ipe is called Itauba. This wood is several times stronger than oak and is used in several countries as decking, siding, and deck tiles. It has been used in Brazil for centuries for fence post and other projects where good rot resistance is required. The picture below is without any oil, but after a quick oiling it looks very similar to its famous Ipe cousin. Other secondary hardwood options are Tigerwood, Cumaru, Massaranduba, and Garapa decking. Check out some Itauba pricing here: Itauba Decking Prices
6. Bargain Bundles/Closeouts: Who doesn’t like a bargain? There is a super secret page with hidden deals on our website…..Ok, we didn’t really try to hide it, but our website is thousands of pages long so many customers don’t stumble onto our bargain page. These good deals are there for a variety of reasons including: overstock of a certain length/specie, special buys, over-runs, canceled or delayed orders, returns, freight damage, or sometimes we just plain forgot that we had an extra bundle hidden in the corner. Check out these money saving deals here: Specials Page
7. Free Shipping: Maybe Amazon was onto something, so lets see if anyone likes free shipping. With our four locations strategically located we are one of the only hardwood decking companies that can offer free shipping on selected items. Even though our normal freight rates are Cheap, Free beats Cheap every time! Check our free shipping page to see what items currently are on Free Shipping Special here: Free Shipping Items
8. Deck Tiles: These little modular deck squares can save a ton of labor as they snap down over a ugly concrete patio or covered porch in minutes. Not only saving you labor money, but also saving you from purchasing and constructing a typical deck frame to support deck boards. The connectors lock them together and they can be uninstalled just as easy if you ever want to move. We manufacture these in a variety of sizes and different exterior grade hardwoods. The applications are near endless as we have supplied these for both commercial and residential projects on Patios, garden areas, rooftops, porches, etc. If you have a medium to large size area you can also save more money buying by the pallet. The pallet bundle pricing is at the bottom of our deck tile page: Deck Tiles Pricing
9. Volume Purchase/Wholesale quantities: If you have a huge project you can save even more money by calling our wholesale department. Our wholesale department supplies volume shipments to a variety of resorts, municipal jobs, and housing projects worldwide. We ship full truckloads or containers. Wholesale dept 941-388-9299
10. Metric Sizes: In between the US standards of 3/4″ (19mm) and 1″ (25mm) deck boards is a European standard of 21 mm thickness. We have brought this size into the US for years and our repeat customers love it. It offers nearly the stability of the thicker 1″ board, but closer to the price of the thinner 3/4″ board. Our 21 mm boards measure 0.827″ thick which is too confusing to remember so we brand this as 1×6 Plus®. So save some money over the thicker boards with this Euro bargain. Learn more about this size here: 1×6 Plus Metric size Prices
11. SMR® Select Mill Run Grade: Our SMR Grade is a proprietary Advantage grading. It is not always available in all items, but when it is grab it up because its always a deal. If it doesn’t quite make our first grade but is better than the B grade it often ends up in these bundles. It even beats many competitors premium grade. Check out an example of Advantage SMR deck tiles here: SMR Deck Tile Pricing
12. Coupons: Sign up to our monthly Newsletter and get exclusive discounts and be the first to know about coupons, flash sales, new product announcements, and design ideas. Signup here: Newsletter Signup Page (We respect your email inbox and only send one or two emails a month)