The 2009 decking season is just around the corner and like most homeowners if your thinking of repacing that existing deck or building new there are lots of options to consider. A favorite option has and continues to be Western Red Cedar but there are some new materials that one should consider when making your choices of decking products. We have imported over the last several years tropical hardwood products such as Ipe, Cumaru, Tigerwood, Garapa and Siberian Larch. These species are classified as hardwoods and they offer some distinct advantages over your standard decking products. Mainly imported from South America these species are very dense offering some of the highest Janka ratings available. Not only are they dense but offer a very unigue look compared to Western Red Cedar. The Ipe is most popular amoung these species and unlike WRC it has virtually no visible defects such as numerous knots found in WRC. Ipe as well as Cumaru, Tigerwood and Garapa are free of knots that are common in WRC and thus gives you a more refined look. Many customers of ours have commented once they installed their deck with these products what a distinct appearance it gives vs WRC.
One of the more popular options with tropical decking is to groove the deck boards to accommodate a hidden fastener system and we offer some various choices. The three suppier products we carry are the Ipe Clip, EB-Ty and the TigerClaw. Each has their own distinctions and fastening attributes. Care must be taken when installing these fastener systems to assure they perform as stated. Fasteners range from $100.00 to $150.00 per box and normally cover a 100sqft of deck surface per box.
Costs are a big consideration most clients take into accaount when choosing their choice of deck materials. The tropical species typically run approximately 25% to 35% more than WRC on a per square foot cost. The upsides of spending that more on these type of materials are many. Typically your lifecyle of these wood materials are 25 years + and most of these materials come with some types of guarantees from the suppliers for stating as much. Will replace any deck board that is structurally unsound or develops twists or bows with the exception that the installation was properly done.
Now you have some other wood options to consider before deciding to make that purchase for your outdoor deck living environment.
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