Dean H. wrote:

: "goaway" ...
: I want to see if anyone has used IPE and have had it in place more than
: two years.

: I did an ipe (pau lope) pergola about ten years ago. It aged to a nice
: silver gray. At the time nobody had a sealer product for that wood.
: Structurally it is still very solid. Poorly stored scraps show no rot,
: fungus or instability.
: Expect to predrill and countersink everything. There is no give in the wood.
: Zero.
: Expect to buy new bits and blades because ipe dulls tools. You could almost
: make edge tools out of it. It will bite, be careful.
: Expect very dense wood (heavy timbers).
: I don't look forward to working with the wood again, but I would.
: Yes, I would expect a very long life out of an ipe deck.

Everything that Dean said...

I replaced my porch decking with ipe about 7 years ago. I have a
duplex and my neighbor (who builds decks for a living) did his in ipe.
I figured I'd follow his lead, and besides I wanted the continuous
deck to match.

I expect it to last more than 25 years. It is very dense, very hard,
and I've read that it is naturally rot, insect, and fire resistent.
Does it really sink in water? I don't have any scraps to try it. I
read that Atlantic City New Jersey wanted to replace their boardwalk
deck (salt water air, lots of traffic), so they replaced several
"small" sections with different materials and waited a bunch of years.
They chose ipe to do the whole thing, and (quoting from a vendor)
"after 24 years, the planks used show almost no wear!"

I found a lot of good advice on the web using google, which I
distilled down to this (I found my notes from 7 years ago):


Leave 1/16 between boards
Use stainless steel screws, two screws per joist, pre drilled,
countersunk
Everyone seems to recommend lubricated (waxed) screws
One place said that they dont recommend Eb-Ty and similar
products with 1" nominal boards
Seal end cuts with Anchorseal or equivalent
No finish other than the end cuts
Pressure treated joists and supports
All saw blades and drills should be carbide tipped


Try to buy from a reputable source - I hear that there's a lot of wood
poaching going on with ipe.


--- Chip