It was a busy fall for you, and you didn’t get the chance to fix up your dock at the end of the season last year. And now boating and swimming season is just around the corner.
What to do?
Have no fear, there is no reason to worry. There is still time to take care of things. And to make things even better, we here at Ipewoods.com have come to the rescue.
A Natural Solution
One of the problems with all natural wood docks is that in many ways, wood and water don’t get along. Slowly, but surely over time, water works its way into the wood and warps and cracks and makes the finish peel. Once that all happens, then you’ve got to replace the boards.
However, there is an all-natural solution. One that will save you a lot of work and money.
You’ve probably been using cedar or redwood for your dock up to now. Those are great woods. Many market them as being resistant to the ravages of water, but the fact is unless you’re using boards made from heartwood, they’re not really that resistant.
Ipe wood, however, is naturally resistant to water, which means that you’re not going to come to the end of each season looking at warped and cracked boards in your dock.
Low Maintenance
The natural water-resistance to water means you don’t have to worry about replacement and repair of your dock at the end of every boating season. While there may be some yearly maintenance–you never know what’s going to happen–generally, it’s much less than you’ll experience with docks made from other woods. Ipe wood didn’t earn its nickname of ironwood for nothing. This beautiful Brazilian hardwood can last up to 40 years. That’s practically two generations.
With woods such as cedar and redwood, you have to restain it regularly. In fact, some say to do it each year. When you toss in replacing and repairing the boards, that’s a lot of work.
Your ipe boards are very dense and don’t take a stain easily. (Yes, it can be stained, if you insist.) As a matter of fact, there are only one or two oils that can really do stain, and even then you need to be very careful because too much and it looks bad.
Aged ipe turns a lovely silver-grey color, similar to teak wood.
These two features help to keep your maintenance time and costs low.
No More Slip-sliding away
One of the other features of the Brazilian walnut is that unlike other woods, it has a more natural grip, so when it’s wet, you’re not sliding into the lake.
However, Ipewoods.com does carry groove ipe dock boards, for draining away water on the surface of the dock, if you prefer that option.
Keeping it Looking Good
For keeping your dock looking and safer over an extended period of time–up to 40 years, remember?–nothing beats using ipe for your boards and joists in your dock. And with the reduced maintenance and overall cost, you just can’t lose using ipe boards for your dock.