Ipe and Brazilian Hardwood Decks
At Cobra Deck and Concrete, we have brought back to life hundreds of exotic wood decks, which include Ipe, Tigerwood, Mahogany, Oak, and other Brazilian hardwoods. They are such beautiful decks if maintained properly! This is a good news/bad news story though. The good news is that if you are lucky to have inherited an Ipe deck or had an Ipe deck built, these boards are tough as nails. (In fact, you cannot drive a nail into it because it is so dense!) These boards will not warp, twist, cup, or do other weird things that pine wood will do unprotected and when water gets to the wood. The bad news is that to maintain the stunning beauty of the wood, you will need to have it stained every year to 2 years religiously. No stain will penetrate well into this wood and the sun breaks it down quickly. If you have Ipe, it will last years and years, but to maintain the protection and beauty, you will need to stain it fairly.
With that being said, if you NEVER stain it, the boards will eventually turn gray and will develop miniature cracks. These microcracks are just the wood spreading out along the grain and it becomes less dense. When this happens, staining the wood will still look dull an the wood will lose its attractive luster. My best advice on Ipe and other exotic woods is to stain them as much as your budget will allow. If you want to have the amazing beauty of the wood all the time, be prepared to stain the wood annually. If you are just wanting to protect the wood fairly consistently, make sure you stain wood that is in direct sunlight every 2 years and wood that is inside screened porches or verticals as needed.
