Meet Laura Basili, The Deck Diva, of Brazilian Lumber as she explains the exotic hardwood industry, how to select the best product for your home project, the trends in the hardwood industry, hardwood maintenance, what are certified hardwoods, as well as sustainability efforts towards forestry management and SO MUCH MORE!Why is Brazilian Exotic Hardwoods the best types of woods to use in your exterior home projects? Learn more about Ipe, Cumuru, Garapa, Jatoba, Tigerwood, Massaranduba, Santos Mahogany and so many others. Depending on the color or workability that you want, there is an exotic hardwood for you. Cumuru is a current architects favorite here in South Florida due to the color and properties that it has. Know the difference between the different levels of certified hardwoods and why this is so important.  FSC certified wood is important to know about when selecting product and is seen as economically sustainable, which covers social aspects of forestry and manufacturing of the product. Why are the Sustainability efforts so important when discussing forestry management? Forestry is healthy for the rainforest and our ecosystem. Brazilian Lumber is only interested in commercially viable trees. What does that mean? Only a forestry engineer is allowed to select the trees that are no longer viable to the forest and have gone through their life cycle. These trees are no longer seed bearing trees, which allows the underbrush to receive light from the sun as the overall canopy is reduced. Without this, farming and mining would go into these forests, which would pollute and negatively impact the environment.  Forestry is controlled and helps the evolution and continuous development of the rainforest. By doing this, forestry provides jobs, medical facilities, schools, and other aspects of naturally occurring and sustainable product that allows additional growth to occur (both in the forest and socially) that would not have been allowed to take place. The trees in the underbrush  would never have the opportunity to grow.Learn more about selecting the best hardwood for you, the ease of installing exotic hardwoods, maintenance, and so much more from Brazilian Lumber by listening to this podcast. Did you know that there is a platinum level of hardwood? There is just too much to know about exotic hardwoods and the industry so LISTEN NOW! Enjoy Episode 22 on the Home Design Podcast.Visit homeshows.net to learn more about the Home Design Podcast team and mission.Follow @FLHomeShowsMeet The Deck Diva, Laura Basili of Brazilian Lumber, and become inspired by visiting brazilianlumber.comFollow @brazilian_lumber.The Home Design Podcast is where we aim to educate, inspire, and connect South Florida with the industry authorities within their trade.