The 5/4 vs 4/4 Decking Debate

I am frequently asked if 5/4 is better than 4/4 for Brazilian Hardwood Decking

 

There are two thoughts on 5/4 vs. 4/4 decking boards and it seems to depend upon where you live.  It is almost like a cultural influence.  For example, if you live in South Carolina 5/4 seems to be the standard.  In the Georgia - Florida area 4/4 is what people want.   When I started asking for reasons, no one seemed to have any as to why they used 5/4 vs. 4/4 or vice versa.  Everyone had their opinions but no one had anything definitive.

 

To best answer everyone, I can share my personal experience with Cumaru.  I did similar research as you are doing as I built my dock prior to selling Brazilian wood.  (Actually, I loved the product and that is how I got involved with selling decking).    I found very few people sold Cumaru, Jatoba, and Tigerwood.  Most retailers sell Ipé as their only choice in Brazilian decking.   Ipé is a very colorful wood but liked the soft brown hues of Cumaru.   After deciding upon my decking wood, then the choice was 4/4 vs. 5/4.  I found that some people swore by 5/4 and others swore by 4/4.  I finally let the hardness of the wood decide for me.  The Janka scale of hardness tells you how hard wood is.  It is complex for me so I just used the scale to compare woods that I knew to the Cumaru.    http://bwdepot.com/Pages%20Document/janka.htm   That showed me that Cumaru is several times harder than Oak or Hickory.  I know that Oak and Hickory are very hard and decided that with so much 4/4 sold it must be fine for my application.  From there I used 4/4 x6 for my dock with 16" centers for the joists.   The outcome is my dock is solid, just like walking on the ground.    I am very pleased with the result.

 

I know that is a long answer to a short question.   But the real answer seems to be personal preference and cost.  Because of my experience I only sell the 4/4 because I feel the 5/4 is overkill and a waste of money.  It is also not as environmental friendly as you can make more 4/4 boards than 5/4 from a tree.  Now if you decide upon Ipé, it is even harder than the Cumaru.   So the answer of 4/4 over the 5/4 becomes even more valid.  To summarize, 4/4 Brazilian Hardwood Decking is ample for most if not all applications.

Router on Brazilian Hardwoods

The question this week was about using a router on the edge of Ipé.   Specifically, our customer wants to use a router on the top railing to cut a fancy design.  I checked with the millworks guys and they confirmed using a Router is no problem at all.  They told me it is easier than Pine as the Brazilian woods are so dry they do not clog up the router bits.  I told them specifically the customer would be using a hand held router.  Again they said no problem.   While Ipé is hard, it is still easy to work with.  If you want to do some router work on Ipé, Jatoba, or any of the hardwoods we sell you should be pleased with the results.   For information on buying Brazilian Decking go to www.abswood.com

 

Cost of Brazilian Hardwood Decking

I had a customer contact me about Brazilian Hardwood. They really loved the colors, grain, and hardness. They specifically wanted Jatoba as the beautiful red color would compliment their existing home. The problem they were facing was a concern of the cost of Brazilian hardwoods. On the phone we had a discussion of the true cost of any deck or dock. What we concluded was that the decking is not the only consideration when it comes to costs. Actually, a deck has many costs at many levels. To name a few are;

• Time you are shopping for, and pricing decking
• Time to pickup the decking (or cost to have it delivered)
• Removing the original decking - do not forget disposal
• Replacing rotten or damaged joists on a rebuilt deck
• Insuring foundation is level - checking footers
• Installing the beams and hanging the joists on a new deck
• Installing the new decking
• ACQ Screws will cost you about $150 for 300 sq ft of deck
• Installing the railing posts, railings, and balusters
• Wrapping the deck

You can see from this list that the decking boards are actually just one component in the building of a deck. In addition, their is a large amount of time, either the DIY or a contractor involved. However, the most visible part of a deck is the decking. That is what your family and guests will see. Once we came to this conclusion, the customer bought his Jatoba.

Ipé Clip Extreme with pre-grooved Decking Available

I get many inquires about hidden fasteners. In the past we only supported the top drilled and screwed technology using stainless or Headcoat/Smartbit system. However, many people including deckbuilders asked us to supply hidden fasteners. To support our customers we decided to sell and support the Ipé Clip Extreme system. The Ipé Clip Extreme is a wonderful hidden fastener system that you can install from the top of the deck. Many of the older hidden fasteners had to be installed from underneath the deck. This forced you into difficult positions and greatly added to the time needed for installation. The new Ipé Clip Extreme solves these problems by keeping everything up top where you can work on it. The Ipé clip does require grooves in the decking edges as its attachment point. To fully support this new system our woodworking shop can pre-groove any of our 1x6 deck boards. You can install our Jatoba, Cumaru, Tigerwood or Ipé with the Ipé Clip Extreme. For the homeowner this adds a new dimension to look and usability to your deck. The deck builder has a new tool to provide flexibility to satisfying their customers. Check out the Ipé Clip Extreme at " http://www.abswood.com/Pages/fasteners.htm" on the www.ABSwood.com site.

Delivery or Pickup

Many people in Atlanta ask about picking up the decking direct from my supplier to save on shipping.  This is not a problem however you need to be fully aware of what you are attempting.  Brazilian Decking is very heavy.  An easy way to calculate is 2 lbs per linear foot.  If you have a 500 square foot deck, that is 1100 linear feet or about 2200 lbs.  Put another way, that is over a ton of wood.  A family van or yard trailer cannot safely handle that much weight.  But the story does not end there.  You need a way for a forklift to load the wood.   Most trailers have sides so the wood cannot be loaded onto them.  Vans and Pickup trucks load from the rear.  The supplier may be able to slide the decking in from the back as long as the vehicle is rated for the weight.   Remember, if you have long decking, for example 16 feet, most of that decking may be sticking out the rear of your vehicle.

 

This is not to discourage you from picking up your decking.  Rather we want you to have determined the logistics before you show up at the supplier's site. 

 

Another option for the local Atlanta area is local delivery.  We have arranged with the supplier to offer this service to our retail customers.   We can deliver the wood on a mutually agreed to date and time. The pricing is variable depending upon the distance.   Call us and we can discuss the logistics of moving your ton of decking to your job site.

Brazilian Decking Board Length

I recently had a customer note that our decking boards were about 2 inch longer than the stated length. For example, an 8' board is really 8' 2" long. These boards are longer as they are finish boards. Once they are installed the installer simply takes a circular saw and cuts a nice finished edge across all the boards. The saw blade must be carbide tipped as the wood is so hard it would dull a common blade. The customer further asked "my dock is only 8 feet wide. This seems like extra work when I could just install an 8' board." The problem is that many docks or decks that are planned at 8 feet turn out 8 feet and a 1/4 inch or some other slightly longer width. The extra length of decking boards allow the installer to insure a beautiful finish on a deck with variations. Even if the dock/deck was a perfect 8' across the entire length the installer would have to spend extra time insuring every board lines up with the others. Another advantage of the extra few inches on the decking boards occurs during shipping. If the end is dinged or even gouged, the customer still is insured the full length they ordered. In closing, there are many advantages of the extra length of decking boards in shipping, installation and finishing.

Premium Brazilian Decking

Hi Everyone. Today a new rage in medium to upscale homes is Brazilian Decking. The names of Ipé, Jatoba, Cumaru and Tigerwood are new to most homeowners and builders. However these new woods are harder than anything grown in the US. Cumaru and Ipé are both several times harder than Hickory. That hardness means they will last much longer than PT in out in the weather. These woods are also beautiful! The main thing most people use to decide upon which wood is the colors and grain. Low maintenance and beauty are the keys to having a lasting deck or dock that you will enjoy for a long time. Stop by my site at www.abswood.com to see photos and prices of Ipe and other Brazilian hardwoods.