Ipe Hardwood Floors – Impressive or Not?
If you know anything about Ipe hardwood, it really is an amazing wood. It has a Janka rating of over 3600, making it one of the densest woods currently available on the hardwood flooring market. Ipe has many very positive characteristics, but it also has its problems!
It is so dense that even with a marginal finish applied to the surface, most spills will accumulate on top rather than penetrate below. And it survives abuse from a sheepdog up to 100 pounds with limited scuff marks.
Ipe hardwood floors are known by many names depending on the country of origin and who makes the floor. Brand names like Ironwood (TM) and Pau Lope (TM) are common as are “consumer names” like Brazilian Walnut. For whatever reason, North American retailers believe that referring to it as a walnut will make it more understandable to today’s consumers.
Ipe is actually a group of many trees in the family Bignoniaceae (Tabebuia, spp) that share a common appearance and physical characteristics. All are dense and fairly straight grained. Some pieces look quite like teak. It is very resistant to decay, termites and dry insect attack, although this is not significant (I hope) when it comes to choosing ipe as an interior flooring. It is also VERY fire resistant.
The range of colors ranges from medium straw with olive green undertones to reddish brown with darker black streaks, common in some ipe hardwood boxes. Soil samples can have a wide range of colors. Make sure you understand this and do not buy, expecting color uniformity. It is always best, if possible, to visit a customer who has had this type of flooring in use for several years. You can then judge not only the attractiveness of the color, but also the durability of the finish.
For installation, a very good quality carbide blade will be required on your miter saw to even attempt any trimming to the desired length. If you have to cover a large area of ipe flooring, a second blade will be necessary. All holes, such as the ones you need to install for the first rows of flooring, will need to be drilled close to the size of the finish nail you want to use; otherwise it will split the wood. Experiment first to save a few pieces of ipe flooring.