Ipe Deck

Beautifully done! Hope to build one of those for myself one of these days. Was that built on existing supports? I see the brick column there…

That is beautiful. Great work!
So when you want to invite us for a Hi tea party?...ha ha ha…!

-- masrol, kuala lumpur, MY.

I demo-ed the original deck…those brick supports were there, so I used them.

-- Steve-- http://www.urbanexteriors.biz

Nice, I used IPE to make a floor panel for my sailboat. Really hard to work with, did you have problems drilling fastening this wood? I did, it doesn’t like to be glued either.

-- 1 John 3:16

Excellent job. I live ipe.

For what it is worth – - I built our ipe deck over 10 years ago and it is as nice today as it was the day I built it. I apply a preservative each year. I liked the wood so much that I also built 2 VERY solid adirondack chairs, an outdoor table and a park bench out of it. Those things will outlive me, despite being out in the weather all the time.

I find ipe relatively easy to saw but very hard to drill. I secured the deck with marine glue and finishing nails. I found that my nail gun could penetrate the ipe if my air pressure was close to the limit for my gun (90 p.s.i.).

-- Rich, Cedar Rapids, IA - I'm a woodworker. I don't create beauty, I reveal it.

I’d love to hear about your Ipe experience. How does it cut? Does it glue well? Does it move a lot? How does it take finish? Hard/easy to sand? Thanks for posting.

-- Max the "night janitor" at www.hardwoodclocks.com

That is one beautiful deck!

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

Love the Ipe, hate the sawdust. Awesome deck. To jazz it up, I’ve heard it called Brazilian Walnut also.

-- You can't control the wind, but you can trim your sails

Beautiful deck.

-- If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail!

Max,
I’ve been working with Ipe for over 10 years, so it just seems like regular wood to me. If you look at my projects page, you’ll see that I use Ipe for a lot of projects…I have plenty of scraps.
I have a Forrest chopmaster on my Makita slider, and it makes quick work of cutting Ipe.
As for gluing, I use titebond 3, and it works well with cutting boards and other projects, but I don’t trust any glue outside with NY weather. I use TB3 for my plugs, and that seems to work.
Ipe does like to move, so I won’t trust “hidden fasteners”. I Face screw (2 screws per joist) with “Headcote” trimhead SS screws, if I’m not plugging. If I plug, I use McFeelys dekker 2.5” #10 screws.
Nothing much gets absorbed by Ipe. I use Penofin, and it goes on real nice, but needs to be reapplied on a regular basis…every year, if it’s in the sun.
I sand every deck right before I seal. I use a 5” Ridgid ROS with 40 or 50 grit disks. It gets the job done.

-- Steve-- http://www.urbanexteriors.biz

Nice Deck! I have never used Ipe but have read about it. It is the next thing to teak, I’m told.

-- Jim Jakosh.....Practical Wood Products...........Learn something new every day!!

wow, very nice deck… a lot of work goes into the planning and building. I am not sure I like the idea that the home owner would have to do annual maintanence to keep it looking great… But that is just me being a lazy homeowner…

-- New Project = New Tool... it's just the way it is, don't fight it... :)

wow, very nice deck… a lot of work goes into the planning and building. I am not sure I like the idea that the home owner would have to do annual maintanence to keep it looking great… But that is just me being a lazy homeowner…

-- New Project = New Tool... it's just the way it is, don't fight it... :)

Really nice deck and I like the railing design & construction too.

-- Before you louse it up, THIMK!

Nice job ! i need to redo my deck like this.