Ipe or Ironwood
Ipe is the most common tropical hardwood in use. It has a rich chocolate brown to red color. Is very strong and has an “A” fire rating. Because of it’d extreme density Ipe is impervious to insect damage. It ages gracefully to a nice silver color but, can be stained to preserve the original appearance. Ipe is a mid-priced decking solution however, installation costs are typically significantly higher than softwood or composite decking.
Mahogany species
There are 278 species of mahogany world-wide. numerous of these have been brought to market for decking although true mahogany is seldom seen. Some popular varieties include Batu (Red Balau), Dark Red Meranti Bukit, and Yellow Balau. Batu is very hard and dense with a class “A” flame spread rating and has a deep red tone. Meranti varies in color from a blonde to deep red and the variation adds interest. Meranti is a softer and more workable lumber, installation costs are similar to cedar. All mahogany species have beautiful knot-free straight grain and age gracefully free from decay. specialized installation techniques are important to follow.
Cumuru Decking
Initial importations of Cumuru decking were air dried and had a propensity to be unstable. This gave a bad reputation to what is actually good hardwood. Kiln dried lumber is now the norm and Cumuru is often present in lumber allocations referred to as Ironwood. If it is necessary to distinguish Cumuru from Ipe or other similar species it can be accomplished by observing it under a blacklight. Cumuru will fluoresce in UV light.
Tigerwood
description coming soon