Ipe Vs Mahogany Decking Part 1
As we reach the halfway point of this cold winter season, let’s start by looking ahead at the options available to you for your summer deck project. There are a lot of great woods to choose from when you are considering building a deck, but today let’s look at ipe vs mahogany decking wood. Both are two of the most popular hardwood choices people turn to when building decks as they are both very reliable, natural wood decking options.
So What’s the Difference?
Since both these woods are great choices for outdoor decking use, it may be hard to determine which one is the right one for your hardwood decking needs. In Part I of this comparison, we will look at Lifespan, Hardness, and Colour & Staining.
Lifespan
Both ipe and mahogany have very long lifespans. They can range from 20-40+ years if deck owners take the proper care to maximize the deck’s life. However, this is all dependent on your substructure. To maximize the lifespan of your mahogany or ipe deck, it is important to build your deck to avoid as much moisture as possible. This includes not only the right materials but giving your deck enough space between each board and from the ground up to ventilate underneath in order to allow the air flow to move moisture out.
Ipe, under proper installation and care, should mean that it will last you 40+ years. Genuine mahogany’s lifespan is a little different, with an average life of 20+ years. That being said, the lifespan of your wood depends on a lot of factors. The climate and amount of precipitation in your area can shorten or extend a product’s lifespan. It is not unheard of for mahogany to last longer than 30 years. GWL offers a limited 20 year warranty on it’s genuine mahogany because it believes in the high quality of its product.
However, with a deck’s substructure lifespan lasting only about 25-30 years, both woods are comparable with regards to how long they will last your deck. If you are looking for a deck to last the average mortgage, you cannot go wrong with either.
Hardness
Genuine mahogany and ipe are both strong woods for creating your outdoor paradise. As mentioned earlier, they both have long lifespans and this is in part due to them both being durable woods.
Without a doubt, Ipe is the harder wood. Ipe wood has been nicknamed “ironwood” due to it’s superior hardness and density. That being said, this fantastic property is also a detriment. Ipe is renowned for being hard to work with. It’s properties give it a high cutting resistance, making it hard to use with many tools and some machines. This working difficulty can make it a hassle for DIY deck building projects and some landscapers may charge extra, or downright refuse service if you select ipe wood for your deck.
Mahogany is a solid wood, not as strong as ipe, but it also has some flexibility to it. This allows it to be easy to work with an assortment of tools and machines. Genuine mahogany works with you during your projects.
The hardness of ipe does not mean that it does not move over time. With various temperatures and moisture from the seasons, ipe is not immune to shifting. If ipe wood shifts, you can almost expect any screws to lift right out as the wood will not shift them with it. Compare that to genuine mahogany, where any wood shifting is flexible enough to retain screws and not damage your deck.
While there is a difference in hardness, it will be almost unnoticeable for majority of decks. Unless there is a severe weight pouding or being dragged along the wood, mahogany will hold its own against dents and scratches.
Colour & Staining
Both genuine mahogany and ipe wood have classic and recognizable wood colours. The colour of genuine mahogany is usually a pink to reddish-brown or reddish-orange colour. In contrast, ipe varies from a dark, blaskish-brown, to a reddish-brown, and even sometimes a yellowish- olive brown colour.
Like all organic products, the colours in both these woods change over time. Both of these woods age gracefully to a grey. This change may actually suit the colour, contrast, and theme of your backyard, which is great! People often love the look and the minimal amount of maintenance they have to put in since the colour won’t change again. Proper oiling can help with the longevity of your natural, vibrant colours.
However, if you want to change the colour then you will have to turn to staining.
Ipe unfortunately, does not stain well. This means you may have to settle with its faded colour or invest more time, energy, and money into staining your ipe hardwood.
Mahogany on the other hand, is one of the best at taking on stains. It holds it well and this enables you to be really creative and give your deck a personal touch to how it looks. So whether you like the natural colour or want to change it, you are free to do so!
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Check back in February for Part II of this comparison series on Ipe vs Mahogany decking wood! Don’t miss it!
