TECHNICAL

We introduced Brazilian Ipe hardwood decking to the residential boat dock industry in 1999. Not only did dock builders as far away as Alabama copy our innovation, but most upscale homebuilders now use this product throughout the Southeast. Originally, the only Ipe used in the marine industry was in high end marinas; we had to educate the importers to buy short lengths (4’-10’) at a discount and leave the 12’ and longer lengths for the deck builders at normal pricing.

Ipe has been around for centuries; its durable qualities were discovered when the Army Corps built the Panama Canal. They found crumbling 600-year-old stone churches with Ipe still in the roof. They found dead Ipe trees in swamps that were not touched by tropical insects.

Ipe grows throughout the Tropics with the best stands in Indonesia and Brazil. We buy our Ipe directly from Northern Brazil. The northern part of Brazil grows the densest product (it actually sinks if you drop it in the water). Trees are harvested on family owned and operated plantations according to strict governmentally controlled regulations. We only buy plantation-harvested Ipe from sustainable, ecologically managed farms. Ipe is fast growing with trees reaching maturity at over 100’ and 48” diameter in approximately twenty years. These harvests only touch mature trees in a 1,000-acre stand every 20 years. Trees are located with a GPS system, with carefully planned roads to move them through the forest without damaging the green cover. An aerial picture of the harvested area shows virtually no holes left uncovered by the younger growth trees left for the next harvest. One of the reasons Ipe is in such short supply is the government’s permanent closings of non-conforming loggers. Do not confuse tree harvesting with the clear-cut operations for agriculture and grazing which permanently damage the rainforest. It should be noted that lower cost, lesser quality species of ironwoods now appear in the market, but we rejected these species years ago due to excess checking, splintering and treated-pine type maintenance required. If it is not Ipe, your supplier is cutting corners to give you a cheaper product.