Category Archives: Decking

Hurricane Proof Boat Dock

Looking for a Hurricane Proof Boat Dock? You Need to Read This…

If you live in a Hurricane prone area and have a boat dock then you are probably no stranger to your boat dock getting damaged when a strong hurricane comes through. We receive calls every year during hurricane season from people who have had their boat docks badly damaged. Many of them had composite decking on their dock. Unfortunately the issue with composite dock materials is that they are very soft and flexible and break very easily.

When the waves start surging during a hurricane your boat dock will get rocked around and slammed with strong waves for what seems like countless hours. Most of the time the composite materials will break off as the waves slam your dock from every angle especially as the waves slam the decking materials from the underside creating a massive uplift force. The composite materials stand no chance and rip right off, break and get swept into the ocean.

Softwoods such as pressure treated, cedar and redwood are very soft and although more rigid and stronger than composite dock materials they too can eventually break off from the constant waves slamming into your dock.

South American hardwoods are some of the strongest woods on earth and have proven time and time to be a critical component of building a hurricane proof deck. Our customers send us pictures every year after the storm passes and they step out onto their new hardwood dock anticipating what they expect to be a dock that is badly damaged again. They are amazed to see little to no damage.

Here are some pictures from a customer after a bad hurricane came through. He had just installed our Ipe wood on his newly built boat dock. His dock was destroyed from last years hurricane season so after the hurricane season was over he wanted to build a hurricane proof dock. He did a little research and found our hardwood decking was some of the hardest most durable decking materials he could use on his dock.

There were only a few boards that came lose after the hurricane passed and he was amazed to even find all the boards were still on his dock and just needed to be re-fastened which did not take him long.

hurricane proof boat dock

hurricane proof ipe boat dock

What’s The Best Wood for an Exterior Barn Door?

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You’ve probably searched endlessly online for exterior barn door advise and are probably tired of reading about people building interior sliding barn doors out of pallets or grandmas old bookshelf.

I’ve got good news for you…

Believe it or not some people actually build barn doors and put them outside on a barn. In this post we’ll discuss the most durable wood that will last outdoors without rotting and lots of maintenance and show you some exterior barn doors our customers have built.

The most durable woods you can build an exterior barn door out of are Ipe, Cumaru, Tigerwood, Massaranduba, Garapa, Angelim Pedra and Itauba. These are all South American hardwoods that are proven to be more durable than teak and at a much cheaper price than teak.

Some of these woods such as Ipe wood are known to last outdoors in the harshest climates for 70+ years with little to no maintenance in fact Ipe lasted on the Coney Island boardwalk for 70 years before it was ripped up an reclaimed to build new furniture which you can see here:

http://uhurudesign.com/furniture/216/cyclone-lounger

The 70 year old reclaimed Ipe wood on the Cyclone Lounger looks just as good as the new material we sell and that Ipe wood will probably last another 50 years.

Now imagine if you built your exterior barn doors out of the same wood one of our customer did just that so we interviewed him and made a video you must watch below. He loves how durable the Ipe is on his barn and he has one barn door left that is still pine that he needs to replace yet so you can see the comparison.

Here is another project one of our customers built these custom barn doors out of Ipe wood and a painted steel frame. He used short length boards which we sell significantly cheaper so he was able to save him self a lot of money and his barns doors will last many years.

Below is a man door and a matching hayloft door that were built for a barn out of our Tigerwood lumber. The pictures were taken without any oil applied to the wood, once oiled the grain will be enhanced and the Tigerwood will really look beautiful and will last for many years without rotting.

Deck Designs That Save You Money

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Many homeowners are unaware that some simple changes to your deck design can save you upwards of 30 to 40 percent on your decking materials cost. When building a hardwood deck with Ipe wood or other exotic hardwoods many homeowners want to specify long length decking that will run the full length of their deck. We offer decking in lengths up to 22 feet long and those cost a premium mainly due to supply and demand.

As a sustainable lumber company we utilize every piece of a tree that we can and we can only get so many 22 foot boards out of a tree that are free from defect so when cutting slight defects out of these boards we are often left with shorter length boards that we sell for a discount.

Here is an Ipe wood deck that utilizes a design with shorter deck boards that will save you money. Using shorter length boards will also generally be easier to install since many long length boards have a tendency to bow leaving you or your contractor to try and force them into place using special tools like the Hardwood Wrench which is specifically designed to help straighten long hardwood deck boards that are bowed. Shorter length boards are more stable and less likely to contain any bow to them.

Ipe Wood

Another deck design that can save you money is using narrower deck boards opposed to the most sought after 6 inch wide deck boards. Using 4 inch wide deck boards are generally sold cheaper again mainly due to supply and demand and also yield from milling logs. You can obviously only get so many 6 inch wide deck boards out of a log and since we utilize every part of a log we often have a great amount of 4 inch decking that we sell at a discount. Of course you will need more fasteners with narrower decking however our discounts on narrow deck boards will make up for that added cost.

The other major benefit to using 4 inch deck boards is that narrower boards are more stable and less likely to cup or see movement. We recommend the use of 4 inch deck boards for applications that will see a lot of moisture, decreased air flow underneath the deck and harsh environments. In the project below our customer used our 4 inch Ipe wood decking and we pre-grooved it for them so they could fasten the decking with hidden deck fasteners. If you look closely this deck is close to the ground and does not allow for our minimum air flow recommendation so we advised them they would be better off using the 4 inch decking and their deck has had no movement,

4 inch ipe wood decking

Ipe Wood Shower and Jetted Bathtub

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This is an interesting project from another one of our happy customers. They are so thrilled with the way the Ipe wood compliments their bathroom. Take note of the long Ipe wood boards that trim out the tile edges instead of using standard bull nose like most people do. If they had used bull nose tile to finish off their shower it certainly would not have such a beautiful contrast that the Ipe wood gives. Look closely and you’ll see they extended the tile past the glass door which seals off the shower elements from the wood, this should help their finish they applied remain intact for years to come.

The shower floor is simply a standard shower basin to match the jetted tub. They built a custom Ipe wood shower floor platform that sits inside of the shower basin which really gives it a designer look. Ipe is a great choice for this application since the wood has proven to last outside in extremely harsh climates for 75+ years. Ipe wood will not give off any slivers in your feet and is naturally slip resistant as well as rot resistant making this wood shower a project that can last a very long time.

This design also allows for the wood shower floor to be easily removed for cleaning or in case if something is dropped like jewelry or razor heads to love to pop off when you drop them. One other feature that many people like with an Ipe wood shower floor is you can build the wood surface so that its completely flat since the shower basin underneath is slopped for proper water drainage.

Ipe Wood Shower

They also wrapped their jetted bathtub with Ipe wood as well as a few wood accents like the trim around their window and vanity mirror. They have received so many compliments from friends and family and they are very pleased with how the Ipe wood accents their jetted tub. The durability of the wood has exceeded their expectations considering it is such a wet environment.

Ipe Wood Jetted Tub

12 Ways to Save Money on Hardwood Decking

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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 Boards3. 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.html4. 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)

Portable Deck Built With Deck Tiles

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portable deck

One of our customers is working and living on a remote job site in Texas. He setup his camper as a home away from home, however when we wanted to grill after work and relax after a hard days work he found the desert like ground less than appealing. He wanted an outdoor living area that was comfortable enough to walk on barefoot but portable like his camper. After searching online he found our deck tiles and thought they would be the perfect solution for his portable camper deck. He used 36 of our 24″ x 24″ Tigerwood deck tiles and used 6 x 6 stone pavers he purchased locally for a sturdy base.

He simply shimmed and scraped the ground as needed to make everything level then placed the deck tiles on top and snapped them together with about 36 DeckWise tile connectors. He said it was very simple to install and he wanted to share this picture with us because he was so thrilled with how it turned out. The tiles and connectors needed for the job were just over $900.

No project is to big or small we have four stocking factories in the US and two in Brazil to meet your shipping needs no matter how remote your location or the size of your job we can get it there.

Secrets Wild Orchid resort in Jamaica

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Secrets Jamaica Ipe Decking
Secrets Wild Orchid resort in Jamaica demand and rely on the most durable and beautiful materials. We have supplied our Ipe Decking and other Brazilian hardwood decking to countless resorts and backyards around the world.

Secrets Resort Jamaica Decking

Designers and project managers continue to turn to us as it is costly to shut down a hotel or resort in order to replace an inferior material choice. Our material may initially have a slightly higher cost, but the beauty and longevity of our hardwoods overwhelmingly warrant the choice. A board, a bundle, or full containers shipped direct to your home or job site worldwide.

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Looking for a Hurricane Proof Boat Dock? You Need to Read This…