Ipe Decking or Garapa Decking, what is the right choice?
It often comes up when designing and building a high end deck – what is the best type of wood to use? Ipe Decking vs Garapa Decking, which is the best wood choice? Since we carry both woods we can provide all of the facts on the positives and negatives of each type of wood to use. It really depends on what you are looking for in the life of your deck and the final appearance. Below are the specs for each wood and the benefits of each.
| Wood | Garapa | Ipe |
| Janka hardness | 1,631 | 3,680 |
| Average weight | 54 lbs/ft3 | 69 lbs/ft3 |
| Bending strength | 12,900 lbf/in2 | 25,660 lbf/in2 |
| stiffness | 2,257,000 lbf/in2 | 3,200,000 lbf/in2 |
| Crushing Strength | 9,030 lbf/in2 | 13,600 lbf/in2 |
| Cost $-$$$$$ | $$ | $$$$ |
Ipe:
- Silvers with Age
- Extremely hard
- Heavy wood
- Requires staining to keep from turning the natural gray
- Class A fire rating (same as steel and concrete)
- Twice as dense and 5 times as hard as pressure treated wood
- Available in long lengths
- Virtually defect free
- Little to no warping
- Requires pre-drilling and or hidden fasteners
- Has a 40+ year life span as a deck wood
Garapa:
- Originally a golden yellow color. When it oxidizes it turns to a beautiful amber tint.
- Silvers with age
- softer than Ipe but harder than cedar, composite, or pressure treated woods. It is as stable as Ipe.
- A little lighter than Ipe but not significantly
- Requires staining to keep from turning the natural gray ?
- Class A Fire rating same as steel
- Medium to High rot resistance but less than Ipe.
- Insect and Rot resistance similar to Ipe
- Less expensive than Ipe
- Has a 25+ year life span as a deck wood
We like to say is that garapa decking is really your best budget option when it comes to hardwood decking, but Ipe Decking is still the standard for toughness, beauty, and life span. But that said the golden color of Garapa Decking is really beautiful and very popular in modern architecture. We also like to offer our Cumaru or Massaranduba as less expensive options compared to Ipe. These still have extremely long life spans as decking products. There is no comparison to the natural durability of tropic hardwoods.
I’m interested in pricing a cosom latice teak flooring for out door shower 44-38in
Thank u thomasa seymour
Thomasa,
We should have someone emailing you about your inquiry.
Thanks
Paul
I live in Monterey, and I am considering Ipe wood for the (12′ x 22′) deck I am building. What wood size(s) do you recommend? Do you have Ipe wood on site that I can look at?
Tony,
I have forwarded your email to one of our employees so they can contact. The size of decking depends on you budget, and the type of visuals you are looking to have. If you have any more questions you can contact us here: .
Thanks
Paul
Planning a deck in the Pacific NW and have been reading about garapa compared to composites. Problems here are moss/algae growth making for very slick decks 6 months out of the year. Besides annual power washings, any thoughts on garapa for resistance to this problem? Does sealing/staining garapa improve resistance to algae/moss?
Thanks for your help
Mark
Mark,
Sorry for the delay on this. We will have a sales person reach out to you asap. Garapa’s resistance to moss/algae will be similar to other tropical woods and it really depends on the amount of moisture and sun exposure your installation will be receiving. We recommend Woodrich products for sealing and they do have an anti fungal component that should be helpful. Once you speak with a sales person and they understand you final installation location I think we can provide you with a more accurate estimate of the amount of moss/algae growth.
Thanks
Paul
Hello. I am wondering how these woods do in the desert sun? I am living in a scorching Arizona with lots of sun (but we also get snowy winters). Will these woods crack, shrink, or cup more than the western cedar that is popular here?
Thank you.
Mark,
They will be fine in the sun as long as they are KD wood (because of how dry your environment is). The main effect of sun exposure will be that they will be quicker to gray with long intense sun exposure. So this either means you need to be okay with your wood becoming a silver tone over time or you will need to apply oil / cleaner & brightener more often. Now that being said the grays does not reflect any issues with the wood longevity it is merely an esthetic effect of sun exposure.
Thanks
Paul
Hi Paul,
I appreciated the comparison you provided of the pros and cons of the Brazilian hardwood options you have for decks. Could you do the same for siding.
Thanks, Jack
Jack,
Great Idea. I will work on putting something together this week.
Thanks
Paul
Thanks Paul. We also want to install the siding vertically rather than horizontally. I’ve seen a few photos of vertically installed Brazilian siding, but have not found any information on a rain screen that could be used for a vertical installation. Can you tell me how you’d go about doing that? Thanks again, Jack
Jack,
It would be very similar to horizontal Rainscreen. The main challenge is holding the bottom of the vertical board in place while installing. The solution is that you need to Cut a biscuit hole in the bottom of each vertical siding starter board and use a DeckWise® Starter Clips to secure the bottom of each siding board. Let me know if that makes sense and if you have anymore questions.
Thanks
Paul
Thanks for the response Paul. In the installation you describe, would you still use furring? It seems like horizontally attached furring would be a barrier to water escaping along the rain plane.
Jack,
Yes you would still use furring. There are two options for it usage One is to have the furring horizontal (perpendicular to the siding) but it needs to mount on a vertical furring board. See an image of that type of install here: Horizontal Furring Two is to have the Furring at a 45 degree angle to allow drainage here is a photos of that type of installation: 45 degree furring. Let me know if you have any further questions.
Thanks
Paul
Hi Paul,
The use of a vertical furring board behind the horizontal furring is a neat idea. In that scenario, what should the thickness of each be?
Thanks, Jack
Jack,
I think you would still do 1×3 Furring but you could have to compensate for the extra inch thickness when framing windows and around any corners.
Thanks
Paul
Thanks Paul. It seems like so long as the vertical furring is 3/4-1″ to maintain the water plain, the horizontal furring could be thinner; do you agree? Also, we are planning to use Cumaru. I’ve heard that in contrast to Ipe the furring should be every 12″ rather than 16″. Do you agree? Thanks!
Jack,
That makes sense about the furring thickness. As for the spacing of the furring 16″ is what we recommend for all species.
Thanks
Paul
Paul, I’d appreciate hearing your opinion of The Climate-Shield Rain Screen System. Based on your comments above, your preference seems to be the use of furring strips for vertical installation. The Climate-Shield system claims to eliminate all furring strips. Plus, their starter rails apparently allow for simple alignment of a group of vertical board at one time. What issues do you have with Climate-Shield?
Thanks,
Bruce
Bruce,
I misspoke about this earlier. We actually do carry Climate Shield products and can supply those. We carry DeckWise and have been very happy with those. The main differences you outlined are:
Climate Shield:
– no furring
– starter strip
DeckWise
-furring needed
-starter clip
That said each clip system does require unique profiles so you need to make sure you order your ipe siding milled to match the clip system you are planning on using. After talking to George in sales I think you are right that Climate Shield may be easier to work with for a Vertical Rainscreen design because of the starter strip and not needing Furrings.
Let me know if you have any further questions and hopefully I didn’t cause too much confusion.
Thanks
Paul
We are planning a new deck in the Chicago area and were considering Garapa because cheaper than Ipe. The deck guy says it doesn’t hold up as well to the weather extremes we get in chicago and may cup. Your chart doesn’t make that sound like the case, however?
Beth,
The main concern with Garapa is allowing it enough space to expand. It is Kiln Dried (KD) which means it is dryer than Ipe (which is Air Dried) when delivered so letting the lumber/decking acclimate is a good idea and you want to make sure to space the boards far apart enough to allow the board to swell when they acclimate. See the visual on this page that shows the spacing suggested for “KD” decking. Ipe Clip Page That will give you an idea of the difference. Now once the Kiln Dried Garapa acclimated the gaps will shrink and it will last just as long as Ipe. The cupping your deck guy is referring to is from when you install the Garapa too close together and it swells which cases the wood to cup.
Thanks
Paul
Considering a 30×16 Deck with a 2 board boarder around the edges and down the middle using Garapa. I am used to using Trex hidden fasteners for most of my clients, can you use the Trex hidden fasteners with Garapa? They do not penetrate the wood and are much easier to install.
Thank you for your help!
Mike Rogers
Mike,
I think it should based on looking at their their UNIVERSAL FASTENER. If for some reason it does not you could order some Ipe Clips for the Garapa section. Sounds like a interesting project best of luck!
Thanks
Paul
Could you do a similar comparison of Azek vs.Garapa? This is for a deck on the coast of Maine.
Bill,
Sorry for the delay on this. The best idea is to look at the specification of Ipe and compare them with the specific type of composite decking you are looking at. Also, I would try to get samples of both just to see what you think of the look and feel. We like to think Ipe is the better option obviously but you need to compare specs and feel yourself to decide.
Thanks
Paul
I’m considering the use of Garapa for building working board and Batten style window shutters. Do you think I will have any problems with boards twisting or racking? How well does Garapa take paint?
David,
Garapa would be great for Board and Batten style shutters. The main ways to avoid twisting or cracking is to follow this guide when it comes to acclimating the wood and putting end sealer on all cut pieces.
As for painting, we do not usually recommend it on the tropical hardwoods because they do not accept paint well. You will want to either let it weather to a natural silver color or finish with a transparent penetrating oil-based finish with UV inhibitors such as Wood Rich UV Plus. Those are the two best options.
Let me know if you have anymore questions!
Thanks
Paul