IPE decking-warping and cracking-please help

18 years ago

Greetings! We live in Massachusetts and had an Ipe deck installed last fall. Now that the snow has finally melted, we have some concerns about our deck. It is a large deck, and was installed with hidden fasteners. Our posts for the railing are also Ipe, and we had cable railings installed. These have large metal fasteners drilled into the Ipe, at each corner of the deck. On the posts with the fasteners, there is a hairline crack that runs up the post, creating a crack line that goes up the post along the path of the centered fasteners. All the posts with the fasteners have them. Is this normal? Will it detract from the lifespan of the wood? Also the deck and stairs are framed with Ipe with mitered corners. The lengths of wood with the mitered corners have warped and pulled up from the structure below (pressure treated wood). Again, is this normal? Also the wood that is in the full sun has warped and turned. We are concerned that the contractor might have been sold Ipe that has not been properly dried before installation? We love the work and craftsmanship that was used to build the deck, but are concerned that within 6 months there are issues. Would love to hear from professionals who know this wood and what they think our expectations should be. Any deck owners who have had similar issues and how they resolved them would also be very helpful. Thanks!

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Comments (6)

deckman22
18 years ago
Don't tell me you used Eb-Ty's. I have no faith in hidden fasteners being able to hold ipe, now you know why. Have headcoats installed & it will lay flat. Another problem you may have is not enough ventilation under the deck, this one of the main reasons ipe warps. Don't worry about the cracks on the post, it's normal.

Al
john_hyatt
18 years ago
First red flag>> hidden fasteners I really doubt the moisture content has bearing on the warp/turned going on the clips have just failed. Hair line cracks in 4 x 4'' ipe posts are normal. John
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brooklyndecks
18 years ago
As these 2 learned deckmen have already said...the fasteners did not fasten well. When Ipe wants to move...it'll move, unless you tame it with correctly installed screws.

You say your 4x4s are splitting right thru where the cable fasteners are? The installer probably didn't predrill the screws and they caused the hairline split...which might get larger over time. Shouldn't be a problem, except cosmetically.

steve
john_hyatt
18 years ago
I have to mention again>>>> Cross Venatlation
kmose
Original Author
18 years ago
HI, thanks for all the info! We do have plenty of cross ventilation as the deck is built way off the ground. We don't believe we have Eb-Ty's, but will have to see if we can locate the brand name. Everything was pre-drilled, so that shouldn't have been the problem on the posts and the hairline cracks.
It sounds like in general things were built correctly, minus the decision of using hidden fasteners? We love the clean look of this though, but not at the expense of having warped boards. Plus the labor expense was astronomical.

The other problem we are having is the mitered corners not staying in place on the stairs. Those were screwed down, but seems that over the winter the boards popped the screws up and out of the structure below. We have asked our contractor to come and repair. Is there a proper way this should be done?
Thanks again for all your thoughts and suggestions!
john_hyatt
18 years ago
Using construstion adheasive on miters is a good idea.
J.