IPE as decking material
Top posted for convenience
Paul:
I put in about 800SF of Ipe deck last year, so it's entering its
second year of Texas sun. As recommended at one online site, I treated
it one time with Messimers (SP?) oil. That has now weathered out (it
was a real pretty natural brown when new) and the deck is silver gray
all over - quite attractive IMHO. I did seal all ends with AnchorSeal.
It's all 5/4 so I used the Ipe Clip, the Extreme variety with the SS
washer and SS trim head screws, pre-drilled an plugged on the end
boards. I did put a bead on construction adhesive on each joist just
as insurance. Not sure that over time it will make a difference, but
it can't hurt.
So far the deck is solid, no splintering, twisting etc.
The wood is very hard, cutting and drilling it is, as others have
said, a pain. I did plane down a couple of spots where boards met and
that was really exercise! Even a sharp Hock blade wasn't real happy
cutting even wispy curls.
So far, so good. You'll be happy and maintenance free for a LONG time
after the sweat dries.
Regards.
Tom
BTW, if you need some Ipe clips and screws I have about 250 left over
that will go cheap (they're just occupying space!). If you want them,
drop me a line at
xleanone at airmail dot net
Regards.
On Tue, 29 May 2007 21:50:36 -0400, "goaway"
wrote:
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
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