Ipe Decking | Ipe Hardwood Decks | Best Ipe Decking Supplier

Ipe Hardwood Decking Is The Best Hardwood Available

Ipe decking has a rich dark brown color with beautiful grain characteristics. Also known as Brazilian Walnut, an Ipe hardwood deck will gradually age to a lustrous silver-grey if left untreated. Ipe Decking can be oiled or stained to retain its rich brown color. Nova's Ipe decking is available in sizes 1x4 through 2x12, 2x2 balusters, and 4x4 posts.

View NOVA IPE Decking Products
Contact Us Call Us

Ipe Decking - Strong, Naturally Durable, Stable

Ipe Decking is the strongest and most resilient natural untreated hardwood material available on the market today. Ipe decking is an increasingly popular choice for both commercial and residential use. Used both as decking and siding, Ipe truly is the best hardwood product available in terms of strength, stability, and durability. Our Ipe hardwood decking contains no harmful chemicals and can be used near water with no worry of contamination. Also, Ipe decking is naturally resistant to decay, wet conditions, and infestation of termites along with all other wood boring insects, making it the perfect hardwood choice for building in a variety of climates.

Ipe Hardwood - Class A Fire Rating, 25 Year Warranty

Ipe hardwood decking has a class A fire rating, the same rating given to concrete and steel. If you need more information about our fire-rated Ipe decking, email us and we will respond quickly with the testing information we have available. We offer a 25 Year Decking Warranty with all of our naturally durable, exotic hardwood decking products, so long as all Installation Guidelines are followed. Nova Ipe Decking is an economical natural alternative to other hardwood decking options when the entire lifecycle of the deck or outdoor project is considered. The rich color and natural grain of Ipe hardwood decking is breathtaking, elegant, and certain to provide a lifetime of beauty.

Ipe Decking Installation

When installing your Ipe deck, be sure to follow our Installation Guidelines to receive a 25 year warranty on our Ipe decking. You must keep the raw material in a protected area away from direct sunlight and other weather conditions. It is equally important to give the material some time to acclimate to the building site in order to prevent warping, cracking, and general movement of the boards once installed.

Ipe Decking Installation

Keep Your Ipe Decking Looking Great
Rich Brown Color Requires Reapplication of Oil Finish

Ipe hardwood decks will maintain their structural integrity as they age. In order to retain the rich brown color of your Ipe deck, we recommend a high quality penetrating oil finish with ultraviolet inhibitors, such as our own ExoShield Tung Oil finish. Regular cleaning and reapplication of an oil finish will ensure that your Ipe hardwood decking retains its beauty for many years.

Ipe Product List for Ipe Decking & Ipe Flooring

Ipe Mentions in Our Blog Articles

Ipe Decking - Environmentally Sustainable, Lacey Act Certified

Nova Ipe Decking is the finest hardwood decking material available. Our Ipe hardwood products are Chain-of-Custody certified as legally harvested and legally sourced under the US Lacey Act and under the corresponding governmental agency in South America, using the most stringent green environmental guidelines for sustainability. For low-maintenance, durability, and incredible beauty, choose a high quality natural material, and avoid the shortcomings of composite and softwood materials. We also carry a full line of unfinished and prefinished flooring in Ipe, Brazilian Walnut hardwood.

Selective logging is the only legal way to cut timber in the rain forest. Timber management plans allow approximately 50 trees per 1000 acres to be harvested. Within just a few years, it is nearly impossible to see the negative affects of logging. A typical management plan in tropical Brazil allows logging once every 30 to 40 years, allowing plenty of time for natural regeneration of the forest resource.

Brazilian Rain Forest After Selective Logging

Ipe Decking - Comparison to Other Hardwood Options

Ipe decking has long been considered the ultimate hardwood decking due to its incredible durability, excellent stability and outstanding strength. There are other hardwoods typically used in decking applications that are available with similar durability such as Cumaru, Batu / Red Balau, Massaranduba, Garapa, Bankirai, Purpleheart, Merbau and others. Next to Merbau, Ipe is the most stable; Merbau, unfortunately, is rarely used in decking because it is subject to tannin bleed - just imagine the horror of looking under your deck and seeing a red stain over everything! Ipe decking does not have this tannin bleed problem, thankfully.

Cumaru decking is probably the closest in terms of performance to Ipe Decking: similar durability, consistent color, gorgeous grain, but not quite as stable and more likely to develop surface checking and a bit of a rough grain; sometimes we call it cat's tongue.

Massaranduba decking, also knows as Brazilian Redwood decking, is another excellent option but again not as stable as Ipe decking. In fact, Massaranduba has one of the highest movements with respect to changes in moisture content. We are talking about 7-8% movement, compared to 4-5% for Ipe decking, so boards must be spaced a full 1/4" apart and never installed too close to the ground. We strongly recommend 1x4 or 5/4x4 when it comes to Massaranduba decking. Massaranduba is probably the most color consistent of all the tropical hardwood options with a deep ruby red color - the key is to keep it sealed with a penetrating oil and to be sure you have plenty of ventilation so the deck boards can breathe.

Garapa decking has also become very popular recently. Also known as Garapa Gold or Ipe Gold, this hardwood starts out lighter in color without a distinctive grain pattern. We've found it doesn't take a deck stain very well but it is naturally durable and quite stable as well. Although not as pretty as Ipe decking or Cumaru decking, Garapa decking is generally less expensive.

Both Bankirai and Purpleheart were once fairly popular options for hardwood decking but are now rarely distributed in the U.S. Bankirai has experienced strong demand in Europe and the price has mostly kept it out of the U.S. market. Bankirai, also known as Yellow Balua, has a bad reputation for high movement. Similar to our recommendations for Massaranduba decking, Bankirai decking must be installed with adequate spacing between boards (1/4") and plenty of ventilation. Purpleheart is rarely sold these days for decking but it is both stable and distinctly beautiful - and yes, the purple color does fade away over time becoming more a of a deep red.

Finally, there is Batu, Red Balau. Batu decking has increased dramatically in popularity over the past ten years due to its consistent color, outstanding durability, lower price point and superior fire rating when compared to Ipe decking. Batu has the best flame spread ratings of any hardwood decking we have ever tested. Both Ipe decking and Batu decking have similar durability ratings. Ipe decking, however, has a higher hardness and strength rating - on the plus side, Batu is easier to cut and drill when compared to Ipe wood.