Hardwood Decking

SLS sells a variety of tropical hardwoods such as Ipe, Cumaru, Massaranduba, Garapa, Tigerwood, and much more.  You can buy your railing products and accessories at the same time you place your decking order.

The Brazilian hardwoods we sell are naturally resistant to rot, decay, and insect damage.  These natural products require no harsh chemical treatments.  For an environmentally friendly deck, Brazilian hardwoods outperform the composites and chemically treated lumbers every time.

Hardwood Decking Pricing

Hardwood vs. Composite

Composite decking manufacturers make many claims about the longevity, environmental friendliness, and beauty of their decking products. If these claims are true, then why are there new composite products on the market every year?

Since these products are man-made and are a marketing phenomenon we have seen only recently, there is no way to be sure how they weather over 10, 20 or 30 years.  How could you be sure that these products are maintenance free?  If you can find one intact and structurally sound, inspect a composite deck installed fifteen years ago.  Enjoy!  But don’t trip on the swells…

It is also a stretch of the imagination to believe that these products are environmentally friendly.  No matter what claims are made, in the end the composite decking is made of sawdust and plastic with an array of chemicals and polymers that require enormous amounts of energy to create.

Natural hardwood decking’s beauty is unequaled by any composite.  Ultimately composite decking products will all appear as superficial as their composition--plastic. Is it time to give your deck a natural facelift?

Hardwood Decking and the Environment

Over 94% of rain forest degradation is due to the agricultural practice of clear cutting giant swaths of land and burning material to make way for cattle pastures or crop growing.

When a lumber company has logging rights to a tract of land, not every tree is harvested and the trees that are harvested will be replaced by saplings. The value inherent to the lumber provides all the incentive needed to maintain the forest in a responsible manner.

Furthermore, a tropical hardwood deck will have at least four times the life of a treated pine or cedar deck. Therefore, more natural resources are saved by investing in material that will have the lifetime of four or more traditional wood decks. This also means that the material has a recyclable life that gives any reclaimed lumber countless uses for decades to come should the deck be eventually scrapped and salvaged.