Ipe Decking – Dense And Water-Resistant Hardwood

By Scott Schneider | September 14, 2020

Your balcony or your pool area will look much better with decking. Having a wood around makes the area more appealing, more luxurious, and provides that timeless feeling. When it comes to decking, the wood type is crucial if you want that wow effect.

To facilitate this, we use beautiful and exotic wood from South America. Did you know that Ipe is one of the top ten hardest kinds of wood in the world? This is just one of the many reasons why Ipe is our favorite.

Ipe Fast Check:

Five times harder than any other wood
Almost twice as dense than any other wood
Overall hard and strong wood
Resistant to mold, decay, and insects

We Can Install Ipe Decking Fast

When it comes to decking installation, we want to ensure that the deck is pulled tight, to avoid wood splintering. We use the Ipe deck clip fastener that actually keeps the water away.

Extremely Low Maintenance

Like with any other wood floor, it's important to spend as little as possible on maintaining it. Therefore, we apply Penofin Blue Label Brazilian Rosewood Oil on the deck to help you spend less time maintaining it.

This oil is a strong, flexible, water-resistant oil that is harvested from the seeds of the Brazilian Rosewood tree. Moreover, it allows the wood to keep its flexibility.

How to Maintain your Ipe Decking

Maintaining is easy and fast. Since no sanding is needed, refinishing isn't needed also. To maintain your Ipe, just apply oil once in a while.

For maximum durability, apply oil seasonally. This simple practice will give your floor longevity. Maintain it right to keep your decking Ipe last forever.

Frequently Asked Questions on Ipe Decking:

How to maintain Ipe deck?

Apply Penofin Blue Label Brazilian Rosewood Oil seasonally. *Are there any specifics that should be listed?

Should Ipe Deck Be Oiled?

Decking Ipe is so rewarding when it comes to maintenance. The only maintenance that Ipe needs is a coat of oil seasonally to maintain its beautiful color. No waterproofing and no sanding is needed.

How Long Can Ipe Deck Last?

Ipe wood decking can last long if you maintain it right. In general, this wood can last up to 40 years or more.

Can Ipe Deck Be Sanded And Refinished?

Ipe is a wood, and as such, it can be sanded and refinished. If you want to rejuvenate Ipe, make sure to contact us first.

Can Ipe Be Used Around Fire?

When it comes to fire-resistant wood, Ipe wood is king. This wood is extremely susceptible to burning other wood. Ipe has a fire rating identical to steel and concrete. Naturally, because IPE is so dense, it can resist termites, fungus, and even rot.

What Color Variations Does Ipe Have?

As mentioned earlier, we use exotic wood from South America, which is rich in appearance, color range, and density. The most common colors of Ipe wood are tan, olive, dark brown, and reddish-brown.

Does Ipe Get Hot?

This may depend on how much you are tenderfeet, but in general, Ipe should be bearable even in the most extreme cases. In the shade, just like any other wood, Ipe will be cooler.

Can Ipe Be Stained?

There is no need to stain Ipe, just like there is no need to seal it. However, you will have to apply a U.V. coating if you want to keep it dark, brown, or red.

Where Is Ipe Grown? What Kind Of Wood It Is?

Ipe is also called Brazilian walnut, and it's typically found in South America and some parts of Central America. Ipe is 100% natural and doesn't contain any chemicals, or plastics, neither it pollutes the environment. On top of that, Ipe is 100% biodegradable. Ipe is also one of the densest hardwoods available.

You can see an ipe decking installation in the following video

Posted in Blog, Flooring Experts and tagged exterior wood, hardwood floors, ipe decking, ipe installation, ipe wood, olde tyme floor, strong wood

Corey Zirlin 6/1/2011

Angi

I have worked on several projects with Olde Tyme Floor, from simple sanding and staining to new home construction. The customers see samples of work prior to installation and are well-informed of the project's status. While there are surprises in every large project, Olde Tyme Floor is always communicating with the client and managing their expectations.

Dominque Defelice 7/26/2011

They did a great job. We mixed a custom dark color it came out beautiful.

Jay Kalish 9/9/2011

Olde Tyme Floor Co. did a wonderful job redoing our hardwood floors. We bought an older house that had existing hardwood floors but the additions didn't have wood. Olde Tyme Floor Co. had to level the area that had sub flooring and feather in the new wood to match the existing floor. It looks fantastic, no one can tell where the old floor ended and where the new floor started. Scott was very professional, explaining the entire process to us, if we had any questions he was always available. The quality of workmanship can't be beat. The crew were professional, courteous, and cleaned up each night after they finished. When it came time to choosing the floor color they found out what colors we liked and then laid out several color swatches on the floor for us to select from; their input was extremely helpful. We are so pleased with the way the floors came out, everyone that comes over comments on how beautiful the floors are first thing. There is a real love for what they do and our floors definitely reflect it. Beautiful floors make the house and now ours looks like a million bucks.

Pam Adams 9/16/2011

Scott came out and gave me an estimate on re-sanding, re-staining and re-sealing my kitchen, breakfast room and two hall floors. He worked around my schedule. Was willing to negotiate a price.... Was professional, courteous, friendly and helpful. The job took 10 days ( a little longer than anticipated) but he included doing my sliding door thresholds.....and was so very accommodating! He even left my oven on rollers, so the repairman who started the oven repair, could move it out and back without harming the new floors. His workers were careful with my belongings and replaced everything back exactly as it was when they originally started. If you need flooring USE SCOTT! He is so good, I am having my bedroom floors done next. Great guy, has terrific employees, reasonable prices and I could not be happier! Most importantly, he stands by his work and will not leave until you are satisfied. Thank you Scott!

Terri Stambaugh 10/15/2011

It took longer than I liked but it was worth it, top quality!

Kathleen Haff 10/22/2011

Although the hardwood floors were in very bad condition it only took a few days before they were transformed into the gorgeous satiny floors they are today. AND ALMOST NO DUST!!!!!!!!!! The process was seamless. One of the easiest and most satisfying transactions I've ever had. The Old Tyme Floor team made a very stressful time in my life a lot easier. I can't recommend them enough.

Susan Gesshel 11/3/2011

I had contacted this contractor through the Big Deal on Angie's List hoping he could do some kind of temporary fix on some splitting boards. When I met Scott, I found that he had absolutely excellent references outside of those on Angie's List. Scott advised me that any fix would be temporary, and that it would be more prudent just to replace the floor now. Because of his references, I chose to replace the floors. His crew was absolutely A+. Since I was using a random grain wood, the layout of the individual boards was very important to avoid color pooling or boards that did not look good together. I watched as one member of his crew laid the boards out. He was meticulous at choosing boards so the floor would look good. The crew worked quickly and cleaned up everything before they left each day. Scott stopped by to check the work daily. The floors are beautiful. So glad I had the work done by this company.

David Glazer 11/25/2011

Scott is very personable, friendly and truly interested in what you are doing. I had several estimates and Olde Tyme Floor wasn't the cheapest, but they also were not the most expensive. One reason I went with Scott's company was his ability to be creative. I had an estimate from Lowe's, and the estimator/installer could not fathom how to deal with a difficult transition from my kitchen tile floor to the new wood floor. Scott's team Cesar and 2nd Cesar were very good craftsmen. Cesar cut away some of the tile and installed a slightly inclined wood threshold which makes up for the one inch height difference in the floor. They also did a very nice job on the other difficult transition from my tile hearth to the new wood floor. Cesar and Cesar were very nice and extremely careful in putting plastic up over my shutters, ceiling fan and doorways to mitigate dust. They installed the leveling in one and half days. I think that was the hardest part of the job. Then Cesar and Cesar laid the flooring. I purchased new primed MDF moulding from Home Depot. I pre-painted it myself and the Cesars installed it. I spackled and touched up the nail holes the day after they were done. They worked for 4 days and every evening cleaned up and put their tools neatly into a corner of the room for the night. They both had a great work ethic and were very professional. A lot of pride was observed in the work they were doing. The finished product has made me love my house again.

Evie Klein 1/16/2012

He was very personable, knowledgeable, and accommodating but unfortunately it was just too expensive for me to move forward with the project at this time.

Kathleen Hale 1/20/2012

The owner was friendly and helpful. The workers did a great job.