Done right ipe miters dont move tightbond 111 is a real good glue.For the no fasteners showing I go t&g material. John

Agree w John (other post this topic)- i used ebty for a real small (3x5) front stoop, nEVER again, especially not on a big deck! Way too slow,i'd screw and plug before I'd use those hidden fasteners again.

BTW, just did my porch w T&G ipe - no miters, but man that stuff seems so stable, hard to imagine miters opening up much.

Thanks to everyone for the prompt responses -- hope I can return the favor to some others one of these days.

Sounds like miters are doable -- was actually going to leave clearance at the ends for expansions but it sounds like it's possible to butt and glue the ends together (and I suppose I should add biscuits to be extra sure).

Have to admit I'm still a bit up in the air regarding the clips -- people seem to either love 'em or hate 'em. I am surprised to hear that they are actually more work than the conventional screw and plug though -- given that you are only drilling and screwing one hole per joist per board (since the boards share a clip on either side) I would have thought it would be easier than the whole countersink, drill, plug, chisel and sand routine. What exactly makes it so difficult? Also, if I have to do the manual grooving and I going to chew through multiple blades on my plate joiner?

FInal question -- I think that everyone that has posted to date is on the East Coast. Just curious if anyone can recommend a good supplier on the West Coast (SF Bay Area) or one of the Internet suppliers.

As always, many thanks for the input.

Regards,

Eric

I'm wondering if you ever found a good SF Bay Area source for Ipe? I have found some on the Internet, but if there were a local source would prefer that. How did your deck work out? I have just decided to do an Ipe deck and am looking for whatever help/input I can find.

Many thanks-
Helen

Eric,just thinking about lining up all those little clips,trying to get the bowrench out of the way,keeping your plate jointer straight every time. working with the differances in mill/bows/thickness, and after your done your decking is not fastened to the frame its a floting system so when you let the bw go....ghessss it gives me a real pain in the brain. It is so much work for so little after your done and say everything works you still see the clip and the screw..... after all that work and money. Not for me.

With Ipe you dont have to allow for any movement in the miters its not gunna happen,ipe will come back a little in the width,another reason not to use the clips.
Man I just cant see it,why not use T&G material, screw thru the T,and be done with it!! no fasteners showing at all and your decking is fastened to the frame. This is just a normal Carpenter way of thinking. J

Eric,

Although I used the IPE clips and am fairly happy with them I'm gonna have to agree with J. Hyatt on this one...it was a REAL labor intensive endeavor for me and my friend to cut all the slots with a plate jointer (1 blade was fine for the 400sq ft deck) even after we got a system down (I pulled the boards and he stayed stationary cutting at all the chalk marks)...then like John said one of us used the bow wrench while the other fastened the clips down the line....the boards are fastened to the frame but only on one side if done properly (some people put the screw into the frame and not the board....so you have to be VERY careful to put the screw at just the right angle to penetrate the IPE deck board and then the PT frame...if you miss the IPE board then that WHOLE area is truly floating like John said and WILL cause trouble....I got luck on my large upper deck and only two boards have noticeable movement (1/4") but the lower deck, which is about 7-12" off the ground and completely skirted with venting, showed most ALL of the boards allowed slight cupping on only one side of the board (guess which side?...yep the one you just slide into the clip....the side with the screws driven into it stayed fine)...so if you are REAL anal or perfectionist do NOT use the clips on a deck that close to the ground EVEN with venting...your risking disappointment...I read all the pros and cons on here too and am one that has to see it to believe it and got fairly lucky....I've seen a few decks since I completed mine and I can tell you mine had the least movement due to my due diligence in screw placement and still had minor issues....I am by no means unhappy with my results but I know it could have been even better if screwed and plugged and it would have taken less time believe it or not (especially plug-n-screw with two people vs clips with two people...I know some say its just a deck but I'm obsessive....just my $0.02 worth

view the enlarged image in the link below and look at about 2 o'clock in the pic and at the very bottom at 6 oclock you will see the 1/4" I was talking about and the exposed clip(s)

Here is a link that might be useful: {{!gwi}}

I put in a deck using the ipe clips last year. After slotting, drilling and and then screwing the boards down, every board turned into a trough during the winter rains. This summer I went back over the deck, face screwed, plugged and sanded it flat...an complete waste of time if I had face screwed it in the first place.

@mike13 @sweet11395 @ekpeterson

hey friends, couple decades later, how are your decks holding up? Still happy?

I have an elevated deck that will be at minimum 18” off the ground at the lowest point, but much higher in other spots where the ground slopes down dramatically. So airflow should be reasonable. Pacific Northwest, temperate climate, not crazy sustained high heat periods, and a fair bit of moisture.

I have our Ipe supplier pre-grooving for us as it’s a large deck, and the time savings seems worth the 75-cent upcharge per linear foot.

Plan is to use Ipe Clip Extreme hidden fasteners for the main field. Screw and Plug for picture frames and risers/fascia.

Hoping all should be good with this plan.

Question: I see that folks used biscuits for their miters. Thoughts on Kreg-jigged pocket screws, like many folks do with PVC miters on picture frames?