On Jul 4, 9:57 am, "Wade Lippman" wrote:
My wife bought a lobster trap at a garage sale and wants me to make an Ipe
top for it. (She also wants me to rebuild our deck, but wants to see what
ipe is like before she lets me use it; a table top seemed a good trial.)

I figure I could glue it up and attach it like a table top, or fasten the
board with a space between them like a deck. Any compelling reasons to do
it one way or the other?

Guy at the lumber yard says that ipe is extremely stable and won't require
as big a space as PT. He also thought that since it is summer, the wood is
probably as expanded as it will ever be, so I could probably build it like a
deck, but without any space. Anyone tried it that way?

Thanks

I did an 18x20 deck with Ipe that is now 5-6 years old ....if you want
photos let me know. I did one coat with $50 a gallon specialty
formula and it only lasted a few months. Wife isn't so crazy about
the patina but it still looks great and certainly will last. Never
saw hair-like splinters but for a while the kids did get some in their
feet...this encouraged them to wear shoes anyway. I never sanded it.
Very stable but very very heavy. I will make benches out of 1x4 I
still have (just the seat and back) but if any table top is made it
will be small like a coffee table. A full sized deck table top would
probably weigh enough that your bracing underneath would be too
expensive. I seek an outdoor stain and poly that will keep the
color...I think I ran across one once.
R
Albany NY area