When embarking on a wood deck project for your home, you’ve likely encountered the overwhelming variety of real wood decking materials, each vying to be the best choice. So, what truly constitutes the ideal wood decking material for your specific project? Making that selection can be a daunting task, but we’ve simplified it for you, providing a quick and reliable reference to help you make your choice with confidence.
What Type of Wood Decking Should You Consider?
Here’s a comprehensive breakdown of popular wood decking materials and their respective advantages and disadvantages. For more in-depth comparisons and helpful downloads, refer to our resources to aid you in making the right decision for your lifestyle and deck project.
Ipe Hardwood:
Pros: Ipe is renowned for its stunning, exotic appearance and natural reddish-brown color, akin to cedar or redwood, but with considerably lower maintenance requirements. It boasts the highest fiber density among hardwood decking options, making it the standard to which others are compared. Ipe wood is highly resistant to moisture, rot, mold, splintering, and insect damage. It ages gracefully to a silver-gray patina, requiring minimal maintenance, primarily regular cleaning.
Cons: Due to its exceptional strength, Ipe requires specialized saw blades for cutting. As it is non-porous, it cannot be painted or stained.
Suitable for all types of decks, including rooftop installations.
Price Range: Varies, starting at an affordable point comparable to high-quality cedar and redwood options.
Expected Lifespan: Approximately 30-40 years with regular maintenance.
Cumaru Hardwood:
Pros: Cumaru wood exhibits a color range from medium to dark brown tones, with unique grain patterns. It offers exceptional durability, making it a top choice for builders and homeowners. Maintenance needs are minimal, and periodic resealing with a high-quality UV protectant sealant keeps the wood looking fresh. Cumaru, like other hardwoods, is highly resistant to moisture, rot, mold, splintering, and insect damage. It gracefully weathers to a satiny silver-gray patina, requiring little upkeep.
Cons: Similar to Ipe, Cumaru’s strength demands special saw blades for cutting. As a non-porous material, it cannot be painted or stained.
Suitable for all types of decks, including rooftop installations.
Price Range: Varies, starting at an affordable point, making it comparable to high-quality cedar and redwood choices.
Expected Lifespan: Approximately 30-40 years with regular maintenance.
Garapa Hardwood:
Pros: Garapa wood showcases a golden blonde to light brown color range with exotic grain patterns. It is the most budget-friendly hardwood option, offering qualities comparable to higher quality cedar and redwood decking but with substantially lower maintenance requirements.
Cons: Like other hardwoods, Garapa necessitates special saw blades for cutting due to its strength. Being non-porous, it cannot be painted or stained.
Suitable for all types of decks, including rooftop installations.
Price Range: Varies, starting at an affordable point, making it comparable to high-quality cedar and redwood choices.
Expected Lifespan: Approximately 30-40 years with regular maintenance.
Jatoba Hardwood:
Pros: Jatoba wood boasts captivating cherry-red and dark brown tones, making it a visually striking choice for decking. It is also renowned for its durability and resistance to various forms of damage.
Cons: Just like other hardwoods, Jatoba requires specialized saw blades for cutting and cannot be painted or stained due to its non-porous nature.
Suitable for all types of decks, including rooftop installations.
Price Range: Varies, starting at an affordable point, making it comparable to high-quality cedar and redwood choices.
Expected Lifespan: Approximately 30-40 years with regular maintenance.
FSC Machiche Hardwood:
Pros: FSC Machiche wood features stunning chocolate-y brown tones, providing a visually appealing option for your deck. It also possesses excellent resistance to moisture, rot, mold, splintering, and insect damage, in line with other hardwood choices.
Cons: As with other hardwoods, FSC Machiche wood requires specialized saw blades for cutting. It cannot be painted or stained due to its non-porous nature.
Suitable for all types of decks, including rooftop installations.
Price Range: Varies, starting at an affordable point, making it comparable to high-quality cedar and redwood choices.
Expected Lifespan: Approximately 30-40 years with regular maintenance.
Thermally Modified Wood:
Two intelligent wood decking choices are ThermaWood, a modified Hemlock softwood, and ThermoWood, a thermally modified Ash domestic hardwood. These woods are crafted using a special process involving heat and steam, resulting in a harder and more stable version of the original wood. They are sustainable wood decking materials.
Pros: Thermally modified wood is lauded for its durability and stunning heat-darkened grain pattern. It gracefully ages to a weathered gray, and both ThermaWood Hemlock and ThermoWood Ash wood decking options are readily available.
Cons: The fiber strength of thermally modified woods is typically slightly lower than the original wood species, which may render them somewhat more brittle.
Suitable for rooftop decks and other types of deck installations.
Price Range: Varies, starting at an affordable point, making it comparable to high-quality cedar and redwood choices.
Expected Lifespan: Approximately 25+ years with regular maintenance.
Western Red Cedar:
Pros: Western Red Cedar is celebrated for its knotty, rustic appearance and well-defined grain pattern. It ages gracefully to a weathered gray and is available in both low- and high-quality options. Cedar can be painted, stained, or left sealed.
Cons: Higher grades of Western Red Cedar can be challenging to find, and when available, they tend to be costly. Cedar, being a low fiber density softwood, exhibits very low resistance to moisture, rot, mold, and insect damage unless properly maintained.
Not suitable for rooftop decks but can be used for other deck types.
Price Range: Varies, starting at an affordable point, making it comparable to high-quality cedar and redwood choices.
Expected Lifespan: Approximately 10-15 years or longer with regular maintenance.
Redwood:
Pros: Redwood is renowned for its knotty, rustic appearance and reddish tones. It naturally ages to a weathered gray and is available in low- to high-quality grades. Redwood can be painted, stained, or simply sealed.
Cons: Redwood decking tends to be expensive, particularly the higher grades, which can be challenging to locate. Refinishing is necessary as needed with paint or stain. Allowing Redwood to gray lowers its resistance to damage, requiring more frequent maintenance.
Expected Lifespan: Up to 20 years with regular maintenance.
In summary, when choosing the ideal wood decking for your project, consider the unique attributes and maintenance requirements of each type of wood. Each option offers distinct benefits and is suitable for various applications, from residential to commercial decks.
Before making your final decision, grab a copy of “The Ultimate Guide to Selecting the Right Decking.”
