I used Cumaru instead of Ipe as wanted the somewhat lighter color and
it's a little less expensive that Ipe when redid the two existing porch
floors plus the new one. In the end, it priced out as only very
slightly more expensive than cedar and is clear instead of knotty and as
Leon notes as with Ipe, it's 2-3X stiffer than SYP so you won't need
nearly the thickness to get the same or even more solid feel.
Either mills relatively easily compared to the harder of the normal
hardwoods, but definitely requires carbide as is heavy in silicates that
will dull anything else in short order.
You can get regular dimensional tubaX material as well as the regular
flooring -- it is very dense in comparison as well as stiff so the
weight will be very noticeable difference -- that may also be an
advantage for the purpose.
With the amount we ordered, shipping wasn't at all bad from Advantage
Lumber; not so sure about smaller shipments if not in a location with
local outlets--there was nobody within 250 mi here that had any access
at all from any of their distributors so the online source was it.
I have no qualms in recommending Advantage Lumber to deal with...
--