Mr. Ipe Hardwood, Author at AdvantageLumber Blog

Looking to Build a Deck? Now is the time!

March 8, 2022July 15, 2009 by Mr. Ipe Hardwood

Now more than ever, homeowners are looking at their home and thinking,“With the housing market the way it is, we may be at this home for much longer than we thought. Is now the time to build a deck or do a room addition?” In short, the answer may be “Yes!” After all, if you …

Ipe Decking Costs Less than Composite Decking

March 8, 2022July 14, 2009 by Mr. Ipe Hardwood

GREAT NEWS! Ipe decking is now more affordable than most composite decking. For a while, this was not the case. However, since the price of oil is so volatile, the cost of composite decking materials have risen substantially. Why is this the case? Because composite decking uses polyethylene and polyethylene is made from oil. So, …

A Deck Tool That’s Easy to Use & Built to Last

March 31, 2022July 6, 2009 by Mr. Ipe Hardwood

If you’ve ever tried building a deck one of the most annoying and agonizing things to do is deck board straightening. This is why Advantage Lumber offers the best deck tool on the market, the Hardwood Wrench™ Deck Board Straightening Tool. This deck tool has been designed to straighten bowed decking boards without any extra …

LEED Certification – The Basics of This Green Building Initiative

June 22, 2022July 2, 2009 by Mr. Ipe Hardwood

The LEED Certification (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) was established by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) to provide the construction and building industries with a verifiable system to define exactly what a green building is. Using a point system, an eco-friendly building can achieve LEED certification.

The more points a green building accumulates, the more prestigious the LEED Certification. If you think all it takes to get LEED Certified is screwing in a couple of compact fluorescent light bulbs, think again. The USGBC has put in place a set of strict policies and procedures that must be followed. The good news is that there are various ways that a building project can earn LEED certified.

Here are the various LEED Certification levels:

LEED Certified – 40-49 points
LEED Silver – 50-59 points
LEED Gold – 60-79 points
LEED Platinum – 80 points & over

The Materials Resource Credit 7 (MRc7) is a great LEED credit to plan for.

Ipe Decking vs. Pressure Treated Decking

June 29, 2022June 30, 2009 by Mr. Ipe Hardwood

The choice between using pressure treated decking or ipe decking has led to much speculation. Is pressure treated wood safe? Is ipe more resistant to insects than pressure treated wood? When starting any home improvement project the quality of the building materials should always be taken into account. A deck purchase should be no different. …

What is Ipe?

March 31, 2022June 26, 2009 by Mr. Ipe Hardwood

Ipe (pronounced EE-pay) is an exotic hardwood that is used for decking, flooring, and a host of many other applications. Ipe has many names and is also known as Brazilian Walnut, Amapa, Cortez, Guayacan polvillo, and many others. Ipe also gets misspelled in various different ways such as epi, epay, and eepay. Regardless of the …

Composite Decking Reviews Reveal the Truth

July 3, 2023June 25, 2009 by Mr. Ipe Hardwood

Responsible and savvy homeowners are doing their research when it comes to composite decking problems and drawbacks. Composite decking reviews all over the internet show that there is a clear distinction between composite decking and other hardwood decking materials. Although composite decking materials are heavily marketed and popular due its low cost, the fact of …