John, Thank you for your response. You do point out that there are several trade procedures to follow to ensure a successful installation and I was hoping to obtain some of those to apply on my own project. Although I am definitely not a pro, I do have years of home improvement work under my belt (see my rambling post of April 26 that no one understandably cared to respond to it) however I have zero experience from using Ipe. Direct Questions on T&G Ipe - If boards not tight then how much space to allow for while installing? How much T does that leave to lock in with the G? - Butt joints tight or spaced? - Type/size of screws & pre-drill bit? - Screw through T or G? (I have seen both recommended here) - What pitch? - With Ken and Woodzotic apparently a question mark - Recommended (annual?) treatment to prevent (delay) weathering? Thanks, Max + + + + + + + aidan m, You are absolutely correct  normal step height would be 5-8" and I am concerned with a smaller riser becoming a trip hazard or "toe stubber", however for reasons explained in my lengthy April 26 post, I have limited options. Under the circumstances, do you think it would be better if I went for max available (3-4") or the very minimum (say 1") in combination with grates over a trench drainage system outside side D of the porch? Thanks, Max

John, Yes, face fastening. And as I think more about it, if the boards (which I have not seen yet), don't vary in width more than a 1/16th, it may be more hassle than it's worth. I guess we'll see and I'll let you know. Also, thanks for the compliment, it means a lot - did you get a chance to look at many of the pics? I sincerely value any input you might share. Sweet, My building inspector is not firing on all cylinders, so I had consulted numberous engineers/architects. All of them agreed that I would have nothing to worry about. If you looked at the piers in the middle and higher ground part, they are only out of the ground about 6-8 inches (and 36-40" below grade). Also, even though the beams are perpendicular to the house, all of the joists are tied together in the center (and some are doubled 2x10's with 1/2" spacer). Look at pic IMG_0357.JPG. Anywhere there is a post, there is a doubled 2x10. So for sheer to be a factor, the forces would only need to affect the lower piers. This is not the case. There is rebar not only horizontally in the base, but vertically about 1" in from the sides of the edge. The whole idea of bringing the piers up to the beam level was to alleviate the need for the 4x4's or 6x6's. I'd be dead without my water level - it was actually quite easy. As far as the 12" piers, WOW. My understanding of concrete is sheer has less to do with concrete, and more to do with the steel inside. The concrete is for the compression and the steel is for the flex. Am I missing something? The load capacity for my 8" piers is about 63,000 pounds per pier. I think that will suffice. Rich Here is a link that might be useful: screened in porch pics

mquinn, While there may be an outside chance the that the milling operation was sloppy, you really can't compare the tight, smooth, level plane of a hardwood floor to a deck or porch surface. In simplest terms, wood moves. No matter how good your milling operation is, asking to have your ipe porch as tight and level as, say a fine table top or sheet of glass is asking a bit much. The porch has to conform to temperature and humidity ranges in the extremes compared to what is happening inside in a more controlled environment. One way woodworkers get around situations like this is to understand and accept the inevitable, knowing that the wood has to perform in a non-perfect climate. While it's too late to change now, I have seen and used T&G that have the edges chamfered or "eased". It accentuates the joints and they actually become more of a design element rather than trying to hide them. You could always sand the deck down. While I have sanded hardwood floors, I'm not an expert. I'm not sure how well this would work on your porch and I would hate to see it ruined. I have a feeling though that the sanding would only be a temporary fix and your "lips" would show up again over time from the wood movement. Good luck

If the wood was properly acclimated prior to installation, I don't see it shrinking much if at all. Wood shrinks when it's dry, and 3% humidity is already almost as dry as you can get. I'd guess it's more likely to expand when the humidity goes up, which may be another reason why your contractor made the spacing so wide. That said, I'm on the opposite end of the country from you, so I'm not really familiar with the Los Angeles climate and what kind of weather/humidity fluctuations you get there.