|
Deck Decision Help
I have too little experience with IPE to comment intellegently on it. I have built several wood and trex decks, one with cedar rails. It looks and works well. The clients are happy with it. Trex does have low maintenance and looks good. Make sure it has enough support. Joists need to be 12 inches apart rather than the 16 or 24 inches you can use for wood. Same with the steps. Also note that you would not want to put anything heavy on the deck. If the planters you spoke of are larger than a couple of gallons, put put a layer of wooden decking under the trex in those spots to avoid sags. Don't expect to put anything on the deck for any length of time of the mass and weight of a piano, freezer, or lawn tractor. You don't usually have to worry about weighing it down with too many people; they don't usually stay long enough to create sags. Enjoy your new deck. Peter |
Deck Decision Help
With the small difference in price between the cheapest and the most
expensive, I would strongly suggest Ipe on top and PT on the bottom side. IMHO none of the other products comes close to the beauty and rich look if Ipe. You seem to have all the specs before you about maintenance, go with what looks good. |
Deck Decision Help
snippage
After reasearching on the net, I was leaning towards the Ipe. Some of the websites make it looks absolutely stunning. After seeing the Ipe deck, I didn't really think it looked much better than cedar, but if it really is much longer lasting and much lower maintanance than cedar, it's still in the picture. Any advice? Anything I should check with the contractor so that I'm not surprised about anything? Thanks in advance! David David, I built exactly the same deck. Used 1x4 and 1x6 Ipe for the decking, PT for the structure, and WRC for the rail. I also had some of the 1x6 Ipe resawn for skirting of the PT. What is your contractor using for fasteners? Ask him if the quote includes Eb-Ty clips. BTW, I love the way the Ipe looks. It weathers well, or you can use Penofin to help keep the Ipe looking new. It will outlast your deck structure too. Good luck, Rick |
Deck Decision Help
"Rick Chamberlain" wrote in message ... snippage After reasearching on the net, I was leaning towards the Ipe. Some of the websites make it looks absolutely stunning. After seeing the Ipe deck, I didn't really think it looked much better than cedar, but if it really is much longer lasting and much lower maintanance than cedar, it's still in the picture. Any advice? If you live in the Northwest or any area where deck maintenance is a must, Ipe is the only way to go. The Ipe will outlast the cedar hands down, especially if you have to pressure wash every year or so.. Rick is right about the penofin finish, it lightens, but keeps the Ipe looking really nice. I built benches and a table out of Ipe, used the Penofin for exotic woods and it looks like a million bucks. Ed Angell |
Deck Decision Help
Fellas (and ladies where applicable) please excuse my ignorance, but why
would you make the structure of your deck with pressure treated wood and then use Ipe for the rest of the deck? Wouldn't this mean that in a few years, you'll have to remove the deck to replace the pressure-treated structure? Sorry if this is a dumb question, but I'd like to know before I re-do my deck next year. Thanks in advance. Ed "Rick Chamberlain" wrote in message ... snippage Thanks in advance! David snip David, I built exactly the same deck. Used 1x4 and 1x6 Ipe for the decking, PT for the structure, and WRC for the rail. I also had snip Good luck, Rick |
Deck Decision Help
|
Deck Decision Help
Since most PT-SYP has a warranty that exceeds 40 years, I wouldn't
worry about who is gonna outlive the deck.... IPE is probably going to last 50 years, soooo you will have a deck that outlives the house... The other reason is that IPE doesn't come in the larger framing sizes as a general rule. The structure requires much larger framing members by most regulations. Ed G wrote: Fellas (and ladies where applicable) please excuse my ignorance, but why would you make the structure of your deck with pressure treated wood and then use Ipe for the rest of the deck? Wouldn't this mean that in a few years, you'll have to remove the deck to replace the pressure-treated structure? Sorry if this is a dumb question, but I'd like to know before I re-do my deck next year. Thanks in advance. |
Deck Decision Help
I have a 2,000 sq ft 5/4 v.g. cedar deck that has been in place for
about 12 years. All posts and railings are also cedar. The only maintenance is to wash it down and restain (Cabots) every 2 to 3 years. It still looks good even though it sees a fair amount of salt spray. Phil David L wrote: We are in the process having an approximately 450sq ft bi-level deck in our Long Island, NY backyard built. There's a bench or 2 and some flower boxes as well. I've chosen the contractor and have narrowed the choice down to Trex and Ipe. I looked at both a trex and Ipe deck that this contractor built this morning and was impressed with the quality of each. He's quoted us $9,000 for high-grade cedar, $9,600 for trex and $10,500 for Ipe. The contractor suggested using PT for the support structure and high-grade (architectural knotty) cedar for the rails and skirting. With the trex option, he's quoted trex capping, with the Ipe option he's quoted cedar capping and Ipe capping for another $150 or so. I'm not quite sure of the reasoning of using cedar for the rails, capping and skirting, but I pressume it's to keep the cost down some. I would guess that it's ok to use cedar for the rails, capping and skitting because those parts of the deck are less susceptible to normal problems with wood such as splintering and warping. He said we can treat the parts that are cedar every other year or so and we'll be fine. The contrast of the cedar rails with both the trex and Ipe decking looked fine. I think it was nice to have some "real" wood along with the trex decking. Does that all make sense with the mix of cedar and trex or Ipe or should I really pay more for it being all cedar or all Ipe (except the PT support, obviously)? I've seen other posts indicate a greater price difference between cedar and trex. In fact, other contractors we priced out had a 50% higher price for trex. The contractor we picked is listed as an authorized contractor on trex.com and I've checked references, so I'm not really worried about there being a problem with him. I just don't know why his trex price was so "cheap". One of our most important critera is low maintanance. I also want something that will last a long time. I know trex has almost no maintanance. I've read that Ipe also requires very little maintanance and should not warp or splinter for 25+ years. I know that if I treat the Ipe every year or so, it will stay brown and if I don't treat it, it will turn silver, but maintain it's structural integrity. After reasearching on the net, I was leaning towards the Ipe. Some of the websites make it looks absolutely stunning. After seeing the Ipe deck, I didn't really think it looked much better than cedar, but if it really is much longer lasting and much lower maintanance than cedar, it's still in the picture. Any advice? Anything I should check with the contractor so that I'm not surprised about anything? Thanks in advance! David |
Deck Decision Help
Most framing members are vertically oriented and are somewhat sheltered from
direct weathering by the decking and skirting, so treated SYP will last much longer in a framing application than as decking. In this area (VA/MD), treated 2x SYP decking lasts 15-20 years and 10-15 years on southfacing decks which really get cooked. Pairing Ipe (durable 40-50 year decking) with SYP framing (30-40 year life when somewhat protected) is a reasonable match. If you have the presence of mind to end-seal all cut treated lumber ends, you'll probably get at least 40 years of life out of the frame. FYI - Advantage and most other wholesalers carry Ipe in framing sizes, and most retail vendors sell at least the rail components (4x4, 2x4 etc.) - only problem is cost and weight - a 2x10x16 is a two man carry - I went with SYP. Pat Barber wrote: Since most PT-SYP has a warranty that exceeds 40 years, I wouldn't worry about who is gonna outlive the deck.... IPE is probably going to last 50 years, soooo you will have a deck that outlives the house... The other reason is that IPE doesn't come in the larger framing sizes as a general rule. The structure requires much larger framing members by most regulations. Ed G wrote: Fellas (and ladies where applicable) please excuse my ignorance, but why would you make the structure of your deck with pressure treated wood and then use Ipe for the rest of the deck? Wouldn't this mean that in a few years, you'll have to remove the deck to replace the pressure-treated structure? Sorry if this is a dumb question, but I'd like to know before I re-do my deck next year. Thanks in advance. |
| All times are GMT +1. The time now is 04:45 AM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004 - 2014 DIYbanter