No. Always land the beam on the post. J

John, thanks for you reply

The 6x6 post i am refering to is actually on top of the deck. I am questioning weather the deck will support the 6x6 post on top of it.

Your posts must have solid conection to the foundation of your project. J

Where did you find 6x6 ipe posts, and how much $$?

You can order 6x6 Ipe from East Teak (call George - 800-338-5636). It's a bit expensive ... I can't remember exacly, but a 4x4 is about $6/lf, and I think the 6x6 was quite a bit more per foot. It's gonna be HEAVY too.

Good luck,
Birgit

John, thanks again for you response.

Kenstl,
I order it from A&M wood specialty in Canada.
There are $30cad/LF
It's very heavy stuff.
Also, the finish on the 6x6 is not as good as other like 4x4. So you might ask the place you buy it from to dress it up abit before they ship to you.
Also the 6x6 tend to split or crack more easily

Your deck was designed to support X amount of live load & Y amount of dead load. Typical deck live loads are 40 to 60 pounds per sq ft (if you are in a snow area that range might be more) & typical deck dead loads are in the 10 to 20 psf.

With the Pergola being constructed out of IPE the weight of your lumber will be at least a couple hundred pounds so you will have greatly exceeded the dead load rating of this deck, given it is anywhere close to typical construction.

So, bottom line, as John stated you need a continuous connection from this IPE post down to the foundation.

Thanks Birgit and Sponge..

I have an email in to George at East Teak, as I ordered my deck IPE from George and had a good experience. You
re right, the above 6x6 price could get costly! I think we decided, (after putting up treated lumber samples) that the 4x4 will look better anyway. My corner posts are wrapped to 8x8 and the additional inteior posts for the screens would look a little bulky at 6x6.

Thanks...