Both faces of the deck board will be sanded to an incredibly smooth surface finish, then all sides will be stained with Messmer's UV+ for Hardwoods. Protecting all sides of the boards with Messmer's before laying them down allows the boards to acclimate to the local climate and conditions more slowly, which greatly reduces internal forces within the wood and the associated movement and checking of boards. Staining the bottom sides of boards is only practical before they are laid.

Our ultra-smooth prefinished boards will weather more slowly (both initial and subsequent coats of stain will last longer) than standard boards because the smoothness means that on a microscopic scale there is much lower total surface area of wood fibre exposed to the weathering effects of the sun and rain.

Since offering this option 80% of our customers have chosen this prefinishing option, and everyone so far has been tremendously happy with their decision. In addition to the above benefits, prefinished boards allow owners to enjoy the beautiful stained appearance of their ipe deck right from day one, rather than having to watch new boards begin to weather grey while the deck is built and then while they wait for a decent stretch of staining weather to present itself (about 5 dry days in a row - 2 or 3 for boards to dry out, 1 to stain, 1 or 2 for stain to cure).

Price is per linear foot. There are separate upcharges of $0.75 per linear foot for boards wider than 6" and/or for boards thicker than 2" (ex. 4x4 costs $0.75/ft extra, 3x8 costs $1.50/ft extra).