I think the answer to your question is in how long you plan on living in your house. If you're only going to be there a few years go with something less expensive than ipe. If you're planning on staying there quite some time then it'll be less expensive in the long run to go with ipe cause it will out last x2 the less expensive options. Cedar now plus cedar in 15 years is more than ipe done now.

Cedar or doug fir will work fine, just make sure it's well ventilated, that's the key to get longevity from any wood.

Al

Thanks Al. I'm sure you can tell from the origional post, and confirmed from this f/u, I don't know beans about woodworking. So I appreciate your advice/help.

The deck is about 15 feet off the ground...I'm assuming that in and of itself would take care of the cross ventilation...is this resonable?

Is 15 years +/- a good estimate of the longevity for fir? Like I said, my in-laws have a 10 yo doug-fir deck that looks great still. Or do woods fail rapidly at the end of their usable life?

Do you think one of these less expensive woods would look better (simple asthetics) next to an ipe deck. At the moment I am leaning towards woodzotic stain for the ipe but have not been able to reach the company yet

I'm afraid, after going over everything last night that this may need to be one of our concessions and we will simply have to bite the bullet again in 15 years or so.

So I suppose, now the question isn't so much ipe vs other, but what's a good, and good looking T&G choice that can save a few $.

Thanks!

Jay

With it being covered & elevated 15' you should have no problem getting doug fir or cedar to last a pretty good while, 20-25 years maybe longer. Ipe in that situation would last a lifetime.

al

Thanks Al,
that helps.

You might price out Garapa,very nice stuff. Its less than ipe with equal life span. Give George a call at East Teak 800 338 5636 they are a full survice mill and you might ask about the T&G cut they do for me. J.

Thanks John,

I was planning on calling them soon actually. I am learning that it might not be really easy to get the doug-fir here in western NC. I may have to ship it in.... I also wanted to chat with George about install and screws and all the rest. I have spent the last 2 1/2 hrs reading various threads about it and decided I would start yet another looking for some install advice. Actually, a thread to try to confirm some of the things I'm learning.

My builder is a great guy with a real eye for detail and a man of few words. He's also a perfectionist who has built houses all his life following his dads footsteps. He's never worked with Ipe before. Knows he needs better saw blades ect and has quoted an increase in labor/tools...so I think the lumberyard forewarned him...but I want to provide him with the collective wisdom here. I also don't want to come accross as some dumb-a$$ "wallet" trying to tell an expert how to do his job!

There are a couple of other homes in the area with Ipe and I don't like the isntall. The skrews are at uneven depths, some counter sunk, some even and some raised...there is a lot of checking and some cupping already....the gaps look to big....ect. I mentioned this to him and told him about some of the things I was reading about and he souned interested so I thought I would try to get as much info as I could and simply pass it on to him. I would point him here but he is internet illiterate.

I will look into the Garapa and will try to put my thoughts together in a more coherent manner tomorrow night.

Again, thanks for the input and help.

Jay