Category Archives: Wood Decking

Best Wood for Raised Garden Beds

The best wood for raised garden beds should last a long time without the need for chemical treatment.

Many homeowners looking to build raised garden beds want to grow fresh high quality vegetables they know are free from pesticides and chemicals.

In order to grow your vegetables without chemicals many experts recommend using natural materials that can not leach potentially harmful chemicals into your soil that then end up in your vegetables.

As a results most organic gardeners do not recommend the use of pressure treated wood.

Pressure treated wood is treated with chemicals to prevent the wood from rotting.

Older pressure treated wood contained CCA (chromated copper arsenate).

The EPA banned CCA in 2003 due to arsenic leaching from the pressure-treated wood and into the soil which can contaminate plants and people.

While the new pressure treated wood uses safer synthetic materials. The USDA Organic guidelines still doesn’t recommend them for organic growing:

“A number of synthetic materials are now commonly used in place of CCA. These include alkaline copper quaternary, copper azole, and micronized copper azole. These materials are not currently allowed in organic production, as they are not included on the National List.” – USDA Organic Guidelines

Many of our customers come to us looking for a durable natural wood for raised garden beds. They have concerns about growing their food in a complete natural environment without the use of chemicals, pesticides, insecticides and fungicides.

Pressure treated wood typically contains some sort of fungicides and insecticides to protect the wood.

Here’s a write up from the USDA Forest Products Laboratory describing the two common pressure treated woods on the market:

Alkaline Copper Quat (ACQ)

The fungicides and insecticides in ACQ are expressed as copper oxide (67%) and a quaternary ammonium compound (quat, 33%). Multiple variations of ACQ have been standardized or are in the process of standardization. There are three types of ACQ: ACQ-B, ACQ-D, and ACQ-C. ACQ-B is an ammoniacal copper quat formulation; ACQ-D is an amine copper quat formulation; and ACQ-C is formulated with either ammonia or amine and a slightly different quat compound. Minimum retentions of 0.25 lb/ft3 or 0.4 lb/ft3 are specified for wood used above ground or in ground contact, respectively. A retention of 0.6 lb/ft3 is specified for critical structural members in ground contact.

Copper Azole (CBA-A and CA-B)

The first copper azole formulation developed was type A (CBA-A), which contains 49% copper, 49% boric acid, and 2% tebuconazole. Type B (CA-B) was more recently standardized. CA-B does not contain boric acid and contains 96% copper and 4% tebuconazole. Minimum retentions of CBA-A are 0.20 lb/ft3 and 0.41 lb/ft3 for wood used above ground or in ground contact, respectively. A retention of 9.8 kg/m3 (0.61 lb/ft3) is specified for critical structural members placed in ground contact. Minimum retentions of CA-B are 0.10 lb/ft3 or 0.21 lb/ft3 for wood used above ground or in ground contact, respectively. A retention of 0.31 lb/ft3 is specified for critical structural members placed in ground contact.

While most of the pressure treated wood manufacturers state they are safe for building raised garden beds, we get many customers that still would rather not use them.

Additionally most of the manufacturers care instructions state that you need to apply water repellant periodically to protect against moisture damage.

This would be difficult with damp or wet soil sitting against the inside of the boards constantly which will ultimately lead to fast rot and decay of the wood.

What about other softwoods such as Redwood or Cedar?

While Cedar and Redwood both have some natural rot resistance they are both softwoods that also require water repellant sealers to prevent water from penetrating the grain and rotting the wood.

Best Wood for Raised Vegetable Garden Beds

Our number one recommendation for raised vegetable garden beds is our Angelim Pedra Trailer Decking.

**Angelim Pedra Raised Vegetable Garden Beds**

This product is commonly used for large flat bed semi-trailers that haul huge excavators and bulldozers which can weigh upwards of 90,000 pounds.

Angelim Pedra is an all natural hardwood from South America that is readily available and responsibly harvested.

This natural hardwood has a janka hardness of 3,160. The janka hardness rating is simply an industry rating of various wood species hardness.

Western Red Cedar only has a Janka hardness of 350 and Redwood has a Janka hardness of 450. That makes Angelim Pedra almost 10 times harder than Western Red Cedar.

Our Angelim Pedra wood is exceptionally resistant to rot, decay and wood boring insects naturally without any chemical treatment applied to the wood.

There is no need to worry about applying water sealers to Angelim Pedra since it is naturally very rot resistant. You can put the soil right up against the wood and water your plants daily without concern.

The Angelim Pedra trailer decking comes in a shiplap profile so the boards overlap forming a nice tight seal.

Angelim Pedra is exceptionally beautiful once a simple UV oil finish is applied to the exterior.

Most of our customers apply Ipe Oil to the exterior only. If you are concerned with the oil finish there are food grade finishes that can be applied instead.

Angelim Pedra is one of the hardest and most durable woods available for exterior use and building.

Building raised garden beds with Angelim Pedra will give you beautiful long lasting garden beds so you can grow your own vegetables for many years to come without worrying about rotting wood or chemicals in your wood.

4 Cost Effective Ipe Wood Alternatives

Ipe Wood Alternatives

Due to supply and demand Ipe wood has become the most expensive hardwood decking option.

Many homeowners now find it’s out of their price range.

Some homeowners are still willing to shell out the money because they know it’s going to be a great investment that they’ll only have to make once.

Don’t be discouraged there are 4 other wood species that are much more cost effective and nearly identical to Ipe.

Some of these species once they are oiled and exposed to UV rays become almost indistinguishable compared to Ipe.

The first specie people substitute for Ipe wood is:

Cumaru

Also known as Brazilian Teak, Cumaru is nearly identical in terms of hardness. The janka hardness of Ipe is 3,680 while Cumaru is 3,540. For comparison Red Oak’s janka hardness is 1,290 so Ipe and Cumaru are nearly 3 times harder than Red Oak.

Cumaru has a little more color variation with colors ranging from a lighter yellowish brown to reddish brown.

Choosing Cumaru for your project will give you a very similar look to Ipe as well as all the same durability benefits at a significantly cheaper price.

Massaranduba (Brazilian Redwood)

Massaranduba (pronounced Ma-Sa-Ran-Doo-bah) is a hardwood native to South America. It is one of the most beautiful and hardest woods in the world.

One surprising fact about this natural hardwood is how well it performs under heavy load (bending strength) tests.

These tests revealed that, as a decking material, Massaranduba is over three times stronger than California Redwood and is even stronger than Ipe wood.

Massaranduba is also nearly 8 times harder than California Redwood.

This is also another great cost effective alternative for Ipe wood. It starts out looking more red but once it’s oiled and exposed to UV rays it becomes more brown and closely resembles the look of Ipe wood.

Garapa

Also known as Brazilian Ash, Garapa is one of the finest quality hardwoods available that features a fine-grained timber that is light yellow to a warm golden hue.

Garapa is an exotic hardwood that is naturally resistant to rot, decay and insect attack.

It’s also naturally scratch resistant which allows the surface to remain smooth for many years, making Garapa an perfect wood for exterior decking.

Compared to the dark brown color of Ipe, Garapa starts off a golden yellow but once oiled and exposed to UV rays it becomes a beautiful light golden brown.

Garapa is also significantly cheaper than Ipe making it another great alternative for Ipe.

Tigerwood

Tigerwood is one of the finest quality hardwoods available that features a unique light golden-brown to reddish-brown coloring with exotic black and brown streaks.

This beautiful hardwood is naturally resistant to rot and decay, is the third hardest decking we sell, and offers a 30+ year lifespan without preservatives!

Our Tigerwood Decking is responsibly harvested from managed forest to provide a truly renewable resource. Tigerwood offers similar benefits compared to Ipe and is available at a fraction of the cost.

Most hardwoods are photosensitive which means they can lighten or darken when exposed to natural or artificial light.

All of the alternative species listed here are photosensitive, they all start out lighter and will become a little darker and will more closely resemble Ipe as they age.

All of these hardwood species are excellent alternatives to Ipe wood, most of our employees choose Tigerwood because as true wood workers they all love the beautiful grain and Tigerwood is the best value.

Top 5 Best Decking Materials

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If you are looking to build a new deck on your house, there are 5 different decking material options you need to consider.

These top five decking options are all natural hardwoods from South America that are more durable than Teak and much more affordable as well.

Our number one recommended decking material is:

Ipe Wood Decking

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. It also does not splinter and will not get incredibly hot on your feet like plastic decking.

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. As you can see from the picture above Ipe wood is incredibly beautiful as well.

Ipe wood is our number one recommended decking material. It’s competitively priced against most composite decking materials if not cheaper. Ipe Wood Prices

Watch this short video to learn more about our Ipe wood decking:

Our second recommended decking material is:

Cumaru Wood Decking

Similar to Ipe Cumaru decking 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 decking 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 Decking Prices

Watch this short video to learn about our Cumaru wood decking:

Our third recommended decking material is:

Tigerwood decking

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 deck material.

Watch this video to learn more about our Tigerwood decking:

Tigerwood Decking California

Tigerwood Decking Prices

The fourth decking material we recommend is:

Garapa Decking

Garapa is harder than teak and is made for the outdoors.

Also known as Brazilian Ash this incredible hardwood decking material is one of the finest quality hardwoods available 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.

Watch this video on Garapa decking:

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

Last but not least our fifth decking we recommend to our customers is:

Massaranduba decking

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 hardwood decking that we recommended, Massaranduba naturally resists rot, decay and wood boring insects.

In addition Massaranduba is also a very low maintenance deck material and offers a 30+ year lifespan.

Watch this short video on Massaranduba decking:

Current Massaranduba decking prices

How to Make Your Framing Last as Long as Your Ipe Decking

Build the Frame with Ipe

The most obvious fix is to build your frame from the same material as your decking. This will certainly work, but it will be very expensive. And because ipe is so tough, it will be a lot harder to build the frame and secure the deck boards to it. For these reasons, we don’t typically recommend going this route.

Build the Frame with Metal

Metal deck framing comes with many of the same advantages and drawback as ipe framing: it’s expensive and difficult to work with. Additionally, metal products tend to react with ipe and stain the decking. Because of this, you’ll have to use joist and ledger tape as a protective barrier between the framing and the deck boards.

Metal framing can be a great solution if you don’t mind the extra cost and effort, but we don’t usually recommend it. However, now that we’ve brought up joist and ledger tape…

Build the Frame with Pressure Treated Lumber and Protect It with Joist and Ledger Tape

The third option—and the one we recommend—is to use pressure treated pine, then cover your joists, posts, and ledgers with a protective, waterproof tape.

Most wood deterioration is caused by exposure to the elements, especially moisture. The areas of your frame that are most susceptible to rot are places where the wood touches up against something else, creating tight spaces that trap water. Common culprits are the bases of posts in contact with the ground and the tops of joists in contact with the decking.

Joist tape creates a protective barrier between the decking and the joists and keeps the wood dry. Ledger tape does the same thing, but it’s wider so it can cover a broader area. Ledger tape is good for protecting ledgers, beams, and posts.

You should apply joist and ledger tape to all your horizontal framing surfaces. The tape should be wide enough to fold over the sides for maximum protection. You may have to cut the tape in order to wrap corners without creating wrinkles, which can allow water to seep in.

Using joist and ledger tape on your deck framing will drastically improve the lifespan of your deck without costing you tons of money or effort.

Ipe Decking Cost

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If you are searching for the cost of Ipe decking you have come to the right place. For nearly 30 years we have been transparent about publishing all prices and all costs associated with ordering Ipe decking directly on our website.

You can find the most up to date pricing here: Ipe decking prices

Looking for the Cheapest Price on Ipe Decking – Read This First!

Ipe decking is one of the most well known decking materials. It’s one of the only proven decking materials to last up to 75 years in some of the harshest commercial applications such as The Coney Island Boardwalk.

As a result of its durability and beauty, Ipe wood prices have steadily increased over many years due to the increase in demand as well as many other factors such as fuel costs, increased government regulations to ensure sustainable logging as well as increased importing costs to get the Ipe wood into the USA.

As the leading importer of Ipe decking we are the only American company that owns our own lumber mills in Brazil.

We opened our own mills in Brazil for many reasons including being able to ensure the highest quality Ipe decking is being shipped to our customers.

We are also able to ensure all logging is being done legally and sustainably as our staff in Brazil are working everyday to ensure all aspects are legal and sustainable.

Being the largest importer also allows us to offer the best pricing on quality Ipe decking. We have seen others offer Ipe for a cheaper price to entice a customer on buying “cheaper Ipe”. Be warned that not all Ipe decking is equal.

Some will offer cheaper prices on the decking while everything else is more money. We are also one of the only Ipe decking sellers that consistently offers free shipping on many items.

We also do not have any minimum purchase quantities on Ipe wood. Some sellers impose expensive minimums so they can focus on making more profit and not be bothered with a smaller order.

We are glad to package and ship $100 worth of Ipe so you can build planter boxes or an Adirondack chair.

Yes it costs us more money to package these smaller orders but we are happy to do it so we can prove and show our commitment to customer care and satisfaction no matter how much you spend.

We have even seen some sellers that are drop shipping Ipe selling other cheaper species as Ipe and charging a premium for it. They have no control over what they are selling since they are a middle man with a website and don’t own any inventory.

These sellers simply have other brokers ship you what they have left over and could not sell to their own customers.

The people that fall for that found they got what they pay for… “Cheaper Ipe Decking” or sometimes not Ipe at all but some other cheaper specie.

We welcome all of our customers to stop into one of our 4 US factories to view what you are going to purchase ahead of time. We also welcome wholesale buyers looking to purchase large quantities to tour one of our Brazil mills.

Make sure you are going to buy from someone that is very transparent and willing to show you their operation and what you are purchasing.

Ipe Decking Grading Standards

For nearly 30 years our customers have come to rely on the quality of Ipe decking that we have consistently delivered.

We pioneered the grading standards of Ipe and are the only ones to offer (SMR®) Select Mill Run® Ipe decking.

SMR® Grading is Ipe decking that we sort because it does not meet our standards for our premium Ipe but it is not B grade either. So we created SMR® which is a grade between the premium and B Grade.

We offer this grade as a cost savings for those customers that don’t mind a little more character but want to save some money on their Ipe decking purchase.

Below is a picture of our SMR® Ipe deck tiles. They are very beautiful and just as durable as our premium Ipe wood decking.

If the cost of Ipe decking has really got you sweating we took it one step further. We also offer B Grade Ipe decking which offers you a significant cost savings on your Ipe.

Our B grade Ipe exceeds most of our customers expectations since our grading standards are the highest in the industry.

Watch this short video below to see what a customer built with our B grade Ipe and see what he has to say.

Ipe Wood Discounts

Having 4 factories in the US and 2 in Brazil gives us a large quantity of Ipe wood that we offer at huge discounts.

We have a lot of short length materials and odd lots of Ipe wood that are perfect for many projects but do not meet our most common requested sizes.

We sell these Ipe wood boards and many other species for prices up to 50% Off. Check out our Ipe decking discount prices

Best Wood for Outdoor Use

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Do you have an outdoor project you want to build and want the best wood for outdoor use?

When most people think about exterior grade wood they think of pressure treated pine and cedar. Both of these woods require annual maintenance with a water sealer that will peel off.

How about a wood that…

Won’t rot, won’t leave you scraping, sanding and sealing every year and can last 75+ years outdoors.

There are several Exotic lumber species that hold up outdoors better than Teak, are more attractive looking than Teak and are significantly cheaper as well.

These species are Ipe, Cumaru, Tigerwood, Garapa and Massaranduba

These wood species have proven to last up to 75+ years outdoors with very little maintenance on commercial applications such as the Coney Island Boardwalk.

In addition these wood species are:

One of the strongest woods in the world
Environmentally friendly
Low maintenance
Up to a Class A fire rating for flame spread
Termite, Mold & Fungi resistant
Safe to walk on barefoot
High scratch & slip resistance
Can outlast composite material
Twice as strong as Oak
Time proven on many commercial projects
More durable than teak
Great for decks, docks, gazebos, benches, tables, siding, fencing
Comparably priced with composite decking choices
Not hot to walk on like composite material

Check out these projects built with these durable species of outdoor wood

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

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