Mike,

Pretty much any Hardwood is going to last you a good 20-30 years if not more. Ipe has been proven over and over a again though to last.. What you want to look for is hardness and density ratings, this is where Ipe excels. The hardness, or should I say the density (they fall hand in hand) is what helps prevent moisture from getting in which causes the wood to soften / rot.

I've never heard of Tiger Wood turning reddish, although I don't have much experience with the species. My guess is it isn't true and that it greys just like every other wood out there.

If you were hoping the wood would turn a reddish color might I suggest Massaranduba which is naturally reddish / brown but will also grey over time.. It's also a very dense strong wood that most retailers like East Teak and efloor.com offer.

Hope I helped

We went with Tigerwood for our decking, it was finished in November. I was not able to treat it yet due to winter. It is a beautiful deep red/brown when we, but as soon as it dries now it is a pale tan. I believe it will silver with time, but I plan to finish it shortly. In our location the cost of Ipe was significantly higher than Tigerwood.

midwestmama Would you mind taking a few photos after it has been 5 years now. We would love to see how it ended up. We would also like to see how the tigerwood weathered. If you need our contact info you can use this page also. If you don't mind us asking also where did you purchase from?

I moved out house. :(

The deck was always something I regretted about the house. It cost far too much for what it was. It weathered to a patina quickly and never looked like our interior tigerwood. I had it ordered through our local lumberyard.