BRAZILIAN IPE (EE-PAY) HARDWOOD DECKING

I, Dick Lantier, was on vacation with my wife and I was admiring the wood ceiling in our four-star-rated Caribbean bungalow. My body’s alarm clock had gone off long ago, but there was no television, newspaper, telephone or clock, the radio only played reggae and the ocean was calling me from 30 steps away. I was forbidden to bring anything that might be construed as work: no laptop, paperwork, trade publications, not even a book!

When we went to breakfast, I was fascinated with the huge timber framework in the main building. The staff must have thought I was nuts, thumping and rubbing the wood, which I later found out was called greenheart, purpleheart and several names I could not pronounce; they were all in a family of tropical hardwoods generically called ironwoods. They had stood up to wind, sea and storm for decades. They were so hard they would not absorb water, nor swell, nor split and splinter like softwoods; they were dense and didn’t require harsh chemical treatment to deter tropical insects. And, they were gorgeous!

After thoroughly researching these products, we introduced the top-of-the-line of this species- known as Ipe- to the residential dock business. In less than a year, all local upscale home builders and dock builders as far away as Alabama were using it. Thanks, Little Dix Resort, for the best decking product in the world!

 

 

 

AREN’T YOU GLAD WE INTRODUCED THE IPE PRODUCT?