Beautiful Choose Beauty and Durability in Wood Porch Decking

When it comes to the options available for material to construct wood porch decking, there are a variety of good looking wood choices depending upon your design preference.

Redwood is among the best known and most popular woods available, with a natural beauty and a resistance to decay and insect infestation. If you purchase grades that include sapwood, however, termites can be problematic. Clear Heart Redwood with no knots is the most expensive grade available but has the least amount of drawbacks.

Those who prefer a handsome looking blond deck can consider Cypress wood with smaller knots than most grades of redwood. It accepts colored stains easily, but like redwood, tends to be at the premium price range. Imo cypress is ranked the most resistant to decay.

Western red cedar is an easy lightweight wood to work with, colorful and good looking, but can rot, decay or become insect infested in as little as seven or eight years. If your deck does not ventilate or is subject to the accumulation of leaves drifting in from nearby trees, take a pass on using cedar. Cedar does not hold up well for low to the ground deck projects as ground moisture causes quick deterioration.

Take a pass on using treated yellow pine wood, which is not stable enough to create durable wood porch decking and has a habit of cracking and splintering. Douglas fir is usable for creating wood porch decking, but sap leaking from the boards create problems.

For a hardwood that combines beauty and durability with none of the drawbacks associated with domestic woods, imported Ipe deck wood, also called Brazilian walnut, is an excellent value for decking projects.

Ipe is prized for its extreme hardness, actually five times harder than treated yellow pine. Grown in South America, Ipe is impervious to decay, rot and termite infestation, and is slip resistant even when wet.

Ipe deck wood is fire resistant, an important safety feature especially in fire-prone states, and when left untreated, will last four decades or more. If maintained with deck oil, wood porch decking using Ipe has been known to stand up to the elements for 100 years. Its rich brown color accented with golden hues makes a deck that offers elegant beauty without the hassle of high maintenance.