Jatoba Siding

Jatoba siding — Brazilian Cherry — delivers a warm, red-toned hardwood facade with genuine tropical hardwood performance behind it. At 2,350 lbf on the Janka scale, Jatoba cladding is roughly seven times harder than western red cedar and nearly twice as hard as white oak, giving exterior walls real resistance to hail, impact, and wind-driven debris.

The appeal of Jatoba on a facade is its color story. Fresh boards come off the mill in salmon-red and orange-brown tones, then deepen over the first several months of light exposure into a saturated reddish-brown that no stain can convincingly imitate. That natural darkening is why Jatoba became the dominant Brazilian Cherry flooring species — and it works the same way on a wall. Left alone, Jatoba siding eventually weathers to silver-gray like every tropical hardwood; annual UV oil holds the red instead.

Jatoba is naturally resistant to rot, decay, and insect attack without chemical treatment, and it carries a Class A fire rating (ASTM E84) for WUI and commercial code compliance. Expect up to 40+ years of exterior service with reasonable detailing and maintenance.

Because Jatoba is more responsive to moisture change than Ipe, detailing matters more: install over a proper rainscreen or drainage plane, keep boards off grade, and let the wall assembly dry in both directions. Done correctly, Jatoba shiplap and rainscreen cladding is a striking, long-lived facade at a price well below Ipe.

Against fiber cement, Jatoba never needs paint and brings real grain and depth to the wall. Against cedar, it is dramatically harder, lasts two to three times longer, and requires no rot treatment.