Paul,
I'm not trying to talk (type) you out of using Ipe for a deck but I
built three decks on my property ranging in age from 18 yr, 12 yr, and
2 yr. The 18 yr deck (26 x12) uses PT hem fir (on the recommendations
of my house contractor) for the floor and railings but I used PTYP for
the stairs. (PTYP for all structural components). Minimal splitering,
checking, etc has occurred. I live in an oak forest but my deck gets
about 6-7 hrs of direct sun daily. We use some type of Behr product
on it and all of the other decks. Our front porch is the same
construction but it gets no sunlight and minimal wettings. The second
and third decks (10 x 12 and a wrap around with about 140 sq ft) are
entirely PTYP and show les efffects of weathering than the Hem Fir
deck.
I do not pressure wash any of my decks. Instead, I use Dawn
dishwashing detergent and a bristle brush, then hose it off and then
weather seal it once dry. I have seen a few Ipe decks and drool with
envy but I can afford PT lumber (and can work with it easily) and it
holds up very well for me. Some of my friends have replaced their
decks in the time I built mine but I noticed they used one inch lumber
for the floor boards and I've always used 2x6 or 2x8 (for angled
pieces.)
Would you be remaking the entire deck or just applying Ipe over the
existing structural components? At work, the University erected a
huge Ipe trellis with no weather coating protection. It is several
intersecting beams consisting of eight 2 x 12 boards ganged together
running 30 feet or more. I got to take home lost of the scraps for
projects. The boards look good after weathering for more than a year
and a half but several checks are evident on a few of them. Anyway,
just my comments but let us know how it goes if you do it.

Marc


On May 29, 9:50 pm, "goaway" wrote:
Time has come to redo once again the deck outside the house. I have used and
hated :

CCA: shrank split and looks nasty by the fifth year
Composite: Stains, supports mold , does not come clean(power washer,
chemicals etc)
Cedar: Nice and soft, always love to pull the soft breakable splinters out

I want to see if anyone has used IPE and have had it in place more than two
years. I expect to use a water sealer on it. And yes IPE seems expensive,
but so is replacing the decking every five years or so.

Thanks

Paul