Teak vs Ipe: Which is Better For Coastal Decks?
The wrong decking wood for a coastal home is the mistake that costs you money slowly - and then all at once. Salt air, relentless humidity and year-round UV exposure will eat through the wrong materials fast - and plenty of homeowners along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts have already learned this the hard way […]
5 Live-Edge Wood Choices for Restaurant Tabletops
A live-edge tabletop can make or break the entire look and feel of a restaurant's interior. What started as a boutique choice has grown into a design staple - and with that, more first-time restaurant owners are now working through the choice without much help. The product side of it can get tough very fast. […]
Ipe vs Thermally Modified Ash for Pool Decks
The decking material choice for a pool surround is almost never a quick one. Ipe and thermally modified ash hold up well in wet outdoor conditions, which is the problem. When two materials are this evenly matched on durability, it gets much harder to go with just one. Pool decks are pretty brutal on lumber. […]
Fire-Rated Wood Siding for LA Hillside Properties
Life on an LA hillside is a trade-off most homeowners are happy to accept - canyon views and natural beauty on one side and a season of genuine anxiety every time the Santa Ana winds kick up on the other. For anyone who plans to use wood siding on a new build or a post-fire […]
Why LA Designers Are Replacing Marble With Walnut
Marble had a very long run in Los Angeles interiors - white kitchens, polished stone islands, that pristine showroom finish that photographed beautifully but felt just as cold and untouchable in person. For close to a decade, that look more or less defined what aspirational West Coast living was supposed to look like. Many of […]
Fire-Rated Wood Siding Options for California Homes
California's wildfire seasons have changed what it means to own a home here. For homeowners who want wood siding, the stakes have never felt higher - and the legal path to get it done is rarely straightforward. CAL FIRE zone designations, code standards and product listings that change with every Title 24 cycle all have […]
Best Wood Choices for Los Angeles ADU Construction
An ADU build in Los Angeles tends to feel pretty manageable on paper - at least until the material decisions start piling up. Lumber that works just fine in other parts of the country can still fail inspections here, draw in termites or run into fire zone codes that only apply in LA. LA deals […]
Best Hardwood Species for LA Saltwater Coastal Decks
A wood deck near the coast in Los Angeles has a pretty rough life. Saltwater exposure alone is one of the most destructive forces a coastal deck has to contend with - and on the coast, it builds up much faster. What makes it even harder is that salt spray never arrives alone. Relentless UV, […]
Best Fire-Resistant Wood Species for LA Homes 2026
The January 2025 Palisades and Eaton fires tore through entire neighborhoods across Los Angeles in a matter of hours - with more than 18,000 structures lost and over 200,000 residents forced out of their homes. For anyone in a high-fire-danger region like Southern California, the wood that you pick for a deck, a fence or […]
Should You Use Teak or Ipe for an LA Outdoor Deck?
The choice of deck wood for an LA home is pretty involved. Teak and ipe have well-earned reputations in the outdoor lumber world, and plenty of homeowners land on one of the two pretty fast. Once the research starts piling up, though (pricing, maintenance, fire ratings and supply questions), the choice gets quite a bit […]