IPE Design & Constr Considerations

17 years ago

Greetings all,

The amount of knowledge and expertise about ipe on this forum is amazing. After reading thru a bunch of the posts, and looking at finished decks on a couple of your web pages I've decided to do a small ipe deck to fit in a little courtyard located entirely within the interior of our house. The courtyard is open to the sky, and enclosed on four sides by the house. The area is about 13.5' x 12.5', and there are 9' sliders on three sides.

The design plan for the deck is to make sort of an overly wide walkway that connects the center (movable) panel in each slider. Material will be pre-grooved 5/4 x 6 ipe. Total deck area looks to be about 100-120 sq ft. The decking will sit about 20" above grade, which is level and drains well.

The design calls for open areas in 3 of the corners, to be used as planting beds. The deck will be floating on posts, with graceful curved edges (6-8 ft radius), ending up against the house (under each slider center panel) with perhaps an 1" from the last board edge to the house siding under the slider.

I've read a bunch of the posts, and have a couple of questions:

1) Is it feasible to cut a gently curved arc in ipe with a jig saw? If not a jig saw, then what would work better (or at all)?

2) What hidden fasteners are preferred - EB-TY seem to get a lot of mention?

3) Should I use construction adhesive under the decking on the joists? If so, what's recommended?

4) I want to make sure there's adequate ventilation under the deck. The plan is to fill each of the three openings with planting soil all the way to just under the deck material - this would effectively block off the underside of the deck along its entire length. There's good drainage in the ground under the deck. But will this be an issue?

I'm sure there's other stuff I haven't thought of - please feel free to comment.

Thanks in advance

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Comments (4)

john_hyatt
17 years ago
How can the deck float on posts.

Dont use the clips on ipe.

Do not block off cross ventalation on an ipe project it will be a major issue.

Ipe can be shaped with a jig saw in the right hands.
J.
weedyacres
17 years ago
Sounds like a gorgeous plan. But I'd be very worried about the ventilation. Even without the planters, a minimum of 24" is recommended, so you're already really close to the line. Perhaps you can put something else in the corners like a fountain or garden sculpture that project above the deck but don't restrict air flow like soil would do.

Make sure you have a supply of jigsaw blades. They dull quickly on the brazilian wood.
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jeffinmonterey
17 years ago
Depending on the sun exposure of your project, be aware that Ipe is very difficult to keep a finish on. The way it is shown in the lumber yard and in pictures is usually beautiful. However, I have had a lot of trouble keeping it looking nice. It is so dense that finish does not penetrate very well, and the UV in the sunlight causes most finishes to degrade quickly. The wood naturally turns silvery. I have tried several finishes designed for Ipe, marine finishes, etc, and none lasted more than a few months.
derekbertrand
17 years ago
I agree with John, do not use pre-grooved material for the hidden fastening systems. Here's one thing a lot of people fail to realize:

The demand for Ipe is very high right now, our exchange rate is low, this means that mills down in South America don't really want to hold on to any inventory, so basically as soon as it passes through the molder it's in a container and on the water, not allowing for proper drying time when it's immediately cut. Distributors of Ipe here in the U.S. aren't drying this material either, it's already stickered and palletized, ready for prompt shipment. If you groove Ipe and use hidden fasteners you're dealing with wood that has the potential to move (twist, bow, etc.) Ipe will move if not fastened securely and hidden fasteners only gap the boards slightly, so the chances of shrinking and popping the clips are likely as well as expanding and buckling boards could result also. Plus those things are so expensive (milling, Ipe and clips) and it would be a waste to see you have to replace something that should never require any replacing.

As far as ventilation is concerned, I know a lot of people who push the envelope when putting this stuff down. Generally anything closer than 18" is considered ground contact but my advice is to get rid of the hidden clips and choose to face fasten using flathead s.s. screws as there is much more holding power.