While you’re researching hardwood decking and porches you may hear people talk about “Mahogany” decking. On a older homes it may actually be genuine mahogany but these days that is very hard to come by in the quantity needed for home decking. So in most cases they are talking about Camabara (Erisma uncinatum) or Marenti (Philippine Mahogany). So lets compare the specs of these woods compared to Ipe and Garapa just to see how they match up. Then we will go through the positives and negatives of each. You can see from the specs that both the Meranti and Cambara are fairly soft woods when compared with the Garapa and Ipe so they are not going to hold up as well. They are also not as stiff or heavy as either Garapa or Ipe. Since hardness and crush resistance are a great predictor of how long a deck will last under the stresses of high traffic and usage you can see how Garapa and Ipe are both better options.
We like to recommend that if you are looking for a Mahogany color then you should look at staining Garapa or possibly Massaranduba as a better option with similar color then what we find are these “Mahogany” options. We only offer decking options that will last you 25+ years on your home and we don’t think think that these “Mahogany” options will do nearly that.
If you have any questions about Different Types of Mahogany decking or porches feel free to contact us.