Lee,

I've seen lots of those holes. Nothing to worry about.
Those insects are dead long time. If you don't like the holes, mix glue and sawdust, and fill them...or drill out a 3/8" hole, and plug.

steve

Thanks steve. One more question I live in california, not to much humidity here, should i set my gaps at 1/16 or 1/8 inch? Thanks again Lee

I've always wondered about those holes .. must be some bad-a$$ed bug that makes 'em! :-)

Lee,

I set a 1/16" gap for sunny locations, and a scant 1/8" if there are trees above.

steve

My thoughts exactly Joe. On a load recently I actually found some bigger holes that still had the bugs in them, they were dead tho.

Al

Thanks alot for the info. I have to say this web site has been an incredible place for informantion. I have been reading the posts for a couple of months now and am so glad that i went with the ipe. I first heard of ipe awhile back and wasnt to sure about it. I almost went with the composite but i did not like the plastic look no matter what brand. The maintence of staining once a year will be a pain in the but worth it for the look. My frame work is just about done. I have part of the deck edging up to my koi pond ( no rail) and I am pretty sure I am going to go with kens woodzotic formula unless some mircale happens and I find a stain that will last longer. I will go with a picture frame deck, 1/16 gap, headcote screws and have a cold one or two after its all said and done.( sixpacks that is)I purchased the makita impact driver and bow wrench, I still have to get my sander and blade for my miter saw. Any suggestions on those? Again thanks again for all the help, You guys now who I am taling about. I will try and post a picture when done. Lee

There are some insects that can bore right through ipe leaving holes maybe 1/2 inch thick or so. But, this is when the wood is in a growing tree. Any wood with holes is supposed to get declassified. But, small holes slip by. All wood shipments to the USA are supposed to be fumigated. Someone posted a picture of a marking on a bundle some time ago. This symbol if anyone remembers it is the marking the fumigation company uses after treatment of the wood.

dk

Hello don, Hows the weather down south? Hey steve part of my deck is under a porch and some direct sun. Should I go 1/16 thru-out the whole deck or 1/16 in the shade and scant 1/8 in the sun. or does it really matter since its such a small increment. i would like consistency. Also some guys say go 3/4 in from ends of boards for face fasting or 1/2 inch. what do you think. Lee

Lee,

I'm obsessive/compulsive with my gaps, but the bottom line is...your deck is outside, and nature will have it's way. The 1/16" gap can become 1/8" after shrinkage...or it can fill up with tree trash, and that gap can close.
You like consistency...who doesn't? After a couple of years, those gaps will be anything but consistent. When I leave my deck jobs, they look perfect, but I know they won't stay that way. Do the best that you can, and then let nature take it's course

steve

I work in Calif. and we use 5' long simpson straps to gap our boards. It leaves a gap slightly bigger then 1/16", but less then 1/8". How's that?

We try to set our screws in about 3/4" in from the edge, but I don't see anything wrong with 1/2" either.

Up here in CT, I always like to go at least 1/8" on the spacing, because of what brooklyn said: Tree trash. Especially those Maple tree "helicopters". In the fall around here those things get stuck between the deck boards, and it becomes a real pain to get them out so that you can stain the deck. Lee, I think you may be becoming the victim of over-thinking it just a little bit. Your'e building a deck, not a piano. It's more important that as you progress with your'e decking that you keep adjusting to stay parallel with the house than it is to have engineer's precision with your gaps.

Thanks for the info, I guess maybe I might be have been a little anal. You are right it is just a deck. I just relized that when using the smart bit that the countersink is not adjustable and there has been numerous post regarding not drilling into the joists. The bit will drill about an inch into the joists since I am going with 1x6 ipe. I will be using #8 2.5 inch headcotes is that okay? Lee

Lee,
With the smartbit, it's not possible to drill thru 1x6 ipe and another 1" into the joist. I think that those smartbits are sized to go thru 5/4 decking, so it should only go 1/4 or so into the joist. I'll go measure.........well, the bit is longer than it needs to be. The #8 is 1.25" beyond the stop. Still, that should only go .5" into the joist, which is ok with 2.5" screws. Don't worry about that. There will still be plenty of bite.

steve

Thanks again Steve. Have a great turky day. Lee

re: gapping - is your Ipe KD or AD. Will make a difference. The KD has a propensity to initially swell while the AD tends to initially shrink. Once they are settled, notes Steves reply above. They will be consistently inconsistent as far as the gap but certainly not an eyesore. All the wood imported is fumigated with ethyline bromide. The bug holes occur in the living tree. i have seen more material with the holes in the last 6 months than I have in the last 6 years. A lot to do with the section of the forest they are harvested from. George@eastteak

I have also noticed more insect holes this year. I sometimes wonder if some of these insects or their eggs will somehow survive fumigation, and we'll end up introducing uber-tree borers into our local environment. Totally off topic, just a thought I had.

Lee,

The weather here on the equator does not change much. It is either hot with sun, or less hot with rain. The all time low temperature recorded in Manaus at night was 58 F I believe. The high was probably around 105 F. The norm is 90 to 93 F high and around 73 or 74 F lows. Right now it is starting to move into the rainy season which keeps the temps down a bit.

dk

Yo Ahren, I was thinking I would like to drift on over to your Site and learn a few things have you got one up with your Deck business?? J

John,
Although I've been building decks for a while I am relatively new at having my own business. I don't have a site up as of yet. Come over to Ken from PressurePros' DIY chat forum. I noticed you signed up as a moderator over there. I've been getting to know Ken and the gang and doing a lot of posting. You can PM me through there if there's anything in particular you want to know.

Intersting,Thanks! J.

I was talking to my partner about the insect hole in ipe boards subject. He brought up a point that also may have some impact. Many of the logs being harvested today are smaller than those previously harvested in many areas. This would mean that more of the boards may come from the transition zone in the log between the heart wood and the sap wood. This area is more prone to instect attack. Another factor may be that the graders are not kicking out as much material as previously letting boards go with more defects like insect holes. With the price of ipe so high and the exchange rate problem with an over valued Brazilian currency letting more ipe ship would be a good mechanism to generate more revenue.

What's interesting? Do I lose some "street cred" because I don't have a site up? I used to be a head carpenter for a major high-end deck company, got sick of the travel, started my own business a few years ago. I've managed thus far to stay plenty busy w/out a site, so I must be doing something right.

Ghessss dont be so thin skined, you are intersting any friend of Ken's is a major referance. J

I have an Ipe deck that we put on the house in 2007. I am in the process in re-staining the deck and have stripped and revived the boards. I haven't yet put the new stain on it since it has been raining fo the past few days. Today I was inspecting the deck and I noticed these same holes all over the deck. They were not there yesterday. They range from 1/16th to 1/8th of an inch. In fact, I was able to remove some sort of insect from the 1/8th inch hole but it came out in pieces so I can't identify it.

The holes were definitely not there prior to yesterday so it can't be any sort of infestation from Brazil. I see the that this thread has been somewhat hijacked from it's original discussion. But it does seem that I have the same problem as the last poster in October of 2011.

Any thoughts or ways to keep the insects at bay?

I just put in an Ipe deck and 1 month later I have bore holes. I dug in one of them that was bored at an angle and tiny (very tiny) bugs came out. Almost translucent so I guess they are recently hatched. Every day a new bore hole shows up (mostly 1/16" diameter) but this one is larger and seems to be growing although I don't see any larger insects at/in the hole? Any idea where these are coming from? Also, I see what looks like holes that were attempted but abandoned. Spent the extra $$ on Ipe for the bug resistance. Any products out there that I can use to spray the decking? BTW I live in Philadelphia if that gives any clues to the climate and/or bug population.

Our Ipe porch is just showing about three of those tiny holes Its been up since 2011 and those holes are new this year. Im in Maryland, the porch is screened and covered.

Heres one of the holes. Pretty perfect looking