IPE Hardwood Floors
Ipe hardwood is an
awesome wood for hardwood flooring... or is it?
Certainly the fact that it has a Janka
rating of over 3600 making it one of the densest woods
that is typically seen in the hardwood flooring market, suggests
that it would be the perfect high traffic floor. In fact it
has a long history of use in the industrial world as the ideal
product for railway ties and heavy truck bedding for just
this reason.
So the wear a ipe floor would get in your home is relatively
insignificant. Most daily traffic would have a hard time leaving
a scratch. It is ideal for homes with large dogs or rough
kids.
So what is the "or is it?"
Finish:
Ipe hardwood is a somewhat difficult wood to finish. Its chemical
makeup interferes with the drying, adhesion and absorption
of wood stains and top coats. Thus I'd never suggest buying
it unfinished and attempting to finish it in your home. Ipe's
extreme density prevents most finishes from penetrating below
the surface, thus it takes a bit of experience to gain the
knowledge for effective coating.
Toxicity:
Aside from all this, in order to "house finish",
you would first have to sand the ipe. Hardwood floors are
then coated with some version of a polyurathane, but the sanding
is the issue. IPE and its related family of Lapacho and the
trade group of Brazilian Walnut hardwood flooring has been
known to cause respiratory and contact dermatitis allergic
reactions. Care should be taken when exposed to its dust.
Best bet is to buy ipe hardwood flooring PRE-finished!
Dryness:
Ipe wood is also not so happy in dry climates. It is difficult
to dry at the best of times and if it is installed in environments
with seasonal low humidity (ie. under 35% relative humidity)
it does have a tendency to crack. It is very difficult for
Brazilian manufacturers to adequately kiln ipe wood to a relative
humidity that works in areas like Northern Ontario, when tropical
rainfall is as high as it is! AND it is near to impossible
to acclimatize such a dense wood effectively while in your
home, to respond favourably to low hunidity levels.
Recommedations:
- Don't buy this product if dryness is a feature of your
home environment
- Buy Prefinished floor only
- research the "brand" to see if they have mastered
the challenge of finished Ipe Hardwood flooring
Good Luck
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Products, specifications, and techniques shown
are meant as a guide to better understanding for the designer, builder,
and/or homeowner.
Owners of this site assume no liability for and
makes no claim to the suitability of any products or information
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from others.
It is the sole responsibility of the owner or installer
to adequately test for product suitability and application method
for a particular installation.
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