The 22 Most Common Hardwood Decking FAQs
In softwoods we carry California redwood, cypress, Douglas fir, spruce, cedar, yellow pine.
We also have a large stock of pressure treated wood and marine grade pressure treated wood.
We have live edge slabs in various dimensions.
During South Florida’s hurricane season we also carry plywood.
We have many board sizes and lengths available. Please visit our shop section or call one of our sales associates at 877-606-3306 for more information.
We stock ipe, cumaru, massaranduba, santos mahogany, garapa, jatoba, and sapele. We can also help with other types of hardwoods that you may be looking for. We can source tigerwood, zebrawood, Burmese teak, and Purple Heart for our customers at excellent prices. Please contact us so we can provide you with the most up to date information.
We are authorized dealers of a special brand of hardwood called Platinum Hardwoods. This is a brand that comes super selected for premium quality.
- Azek / TimberTech
- Trex
- CaliBamboo
- Dekorators
- EnDeck PVC Decking
- Lumber Rock
- MoistureShield
- NewTechWood
- Zuri
Ipe is a type of hardwood that is used mostly for exterior projects as it can withstand harsh weather such as extreme heat and dryness or extreme humidity and rain. This is because it comes from the tropics and has created a natural resistance to extreme climates and conditions. Ipe has high concentrations of tannic acid, which makes it resistant to rot, insects, and fungi.
It has a class “A” fire rating which is the same as concrete and steel. It is also one of the densest hardwoods on Earth! It can resist surface scratches and it’s 3x harder than cedar and ipe has heat repelling properties, which means your deck won’t be hot on bare feet!
Cumaru comes mostly from Brazil. Often referred to as Brazilian Teak or Golden Teak, this exotic timber has been renowned for centuries for its exceptional strength and beauty. What makes it such a sought-after material? Well, the primary benefit lies in its density – it’s extremely close to that of Ipe, one of the most durable tropical hardwoods on the planet.
If you are interested in calculating it yourself, here is an explanation of how to do so:
In order to calculate linear from square footage you will have to know what your board width is and the gap between the boards. Look at the chart below to see what number to multiply your square footage by.
For Decking Projects with a maximum 1/4” gap:
| Board Width | Multiply by |
| 4” decking boards | 3.43 |
| 6” decking boards | 2.2 |
- A) What is your square footage? _______
- B) What is your board length? ________
- C) What multiplying number does your board length correspond to? ______
Multiply A x C to get the linear footage required for your project.
Here is are two example:
Example 1.
You have a 12’ by 10’ area that you want to cover with ipe deck. You have chosen 1×4 ipe deck boards and would like to know how many linear feet of ipe decking to buy.
- 12’x10’ = 120 square feet to cover
- For 4″ decking, multiply your square footage x 3.43
- 120 square feet x 3.43 = 412 linear feet of material.
Example 2.
You have a 6’x12’ deck you will cover with 5/4 X 6 cumaru decking.
- 6’x12’ = 72 square feet
- For 6” decking multiply by 2.2
- 72 x 2.2 = 159 linear feet of cumaru
Again, the calculations above are for projects that have a ¼” gap. If tongue & groove boards are used, then use the following chart:
For Decking Projects with in tongue and groove:
| Board Width | Multiply by |
| 4” decking boards | 3.84 |
| 6” decking boards | 2.34 |
CALCULATE
THE MATERIALS YOU NEED
TO BUILD GREAT PROJECTS
Coverage Calculator
Size Selection:
Square Feet
Please note this does not include any waste for cut offs. We strongly urge ordering 5-10% more material for waste. Again, we would be happy to calculate the amount of material you will need. Just give us a call at 877-606-3306 or send us an email
Our main warehouse is located in Hollywood Florida, which is in Broward County. , Florida Sales Tax Rate for 2019 is 6.00% and there is a county-wide sales tax rate of 1.00%. This means our sales tax is 7%.
If you have a current resale certificate that you can provide us with, you will not be charged sales tax.
For international shipments we do not charge sales tax as long as you can provide proof of shipment for export such as a bill of lading.
One advantage of our shipping service is that our truck comes equipped with a piggyback so that unloading materials is much easier.
For items delivered in a 50-mile radius of our Miami (FL) warehouse, you will receive a phone call to coordinate the delivery. If your shipment is to a further destination or international, the shipping or freight forwarding company will provide you with a tracking number. You are also always welcome to call us to get the status of your shipment.
We accept cash, checks, major credit cards (MasterCard, Visa, American Express, Discover, among others) and wire transfers. We charge a $25 fee for returned checks.
If for any reason you need to cancel an order, please let us know as soon as possible. We are unable to accept orders that were sold more than 15 days ago (invoice date). We charge a 25% restocking fee for orders that have already been processed. Unfortunately, special orders cannot be returned because they were milled to your specifications and thus cannot be resold. No returns are accepted on glue, oils, or any type of adhesive product.
8am – 5pm
Saturday
8am-1:00pm
Sunday
Closed.
Keep in mind that each Brazilian Lumber location may have different hours of operation, so please be sure to check on Google My Business.
If you have additional questions, please contact us at Brazilian Lumber and we would be happy to help you.
California
534 Finney Ct.
Gardena, CA 90248
Florida
777 NW 71st Street
Miami, FL 33150
2800 N. 29th Ave
Hollywood, FL 33020
Directions coming from the South:
- Take I-95 North
- Take exit 22 from I-95 (Sheridan Street) going west
- Turn right onto N 29th Ave in Hollywood
Directions coming from the North:
- Take I-95 South
- Take exit 22 from I-95 (Sheridan Street) going west
- Turn right onto N 29th Ave in Hollywood
To begin with, sanding is a necessary step to remove any existing imperfections and smooth out the surface. It’s also a good idea to prepare ahead of time by wiping down any dust present with a damp cloth as this will help prevent inhaling particles. Once a sander has achieved a uniform finish, staining can be added in order to give the wood its desired look.
Certification:
- Certificate Code:
- SCS COC 007184
- License:
- C125400
hardwoods. How dense a hardwood is gets measured by a janka scale. To give you an example, ipe has a janka hardness of 3,510 lbf versus white oak which is 1,350 lbf. Other factors are color preference and budget. Different tropical hardwoods have different color tones. For example, garapa is a golden yellow whereas cumaru has some reddish tones. If budget is a decision-making factor, customers have a variety of options, not only in the type of tropical hardwood they choose but also as the lengths – short boards are less expensive than longboards, and in the grade of the wood. For example, ipe comes in A-grade and B-grade. The properties of the wood do not change since the grading is only based on aesthetics.
One important factor that people don’t often consider is that the forestry industry is only interested in commercially viable trees. Other industries such as mining and agriculture burn the entire forest down to use the land. They are also very water intensive and produce a lot of polluting by products that milling trees does not.
