Do....Not...Seal...It...ON...All....Sides..Reread Rule 1 After done Reread Rule 1 For a lot of reasons I dont have time to go into after several years of installing T&G S American lumber. Plan... its always possible to get Cross Ventalation be sure and do it. One time with a low leval,8"" low, job with T&G ipe in places we used black plastic pipe under the deck tunneled to the outside with a china cap on it placed 4'' or so outside. Belive me on this one its worth all the trouble. In other places on this same project we put screen vents in the skirting and floor vents,same as inside the house,in the decking close to the walls of the house. The framing has got to be secure, use very solid conectors with the piers/posts,joists on 16'' centers with hangers, no over span what ever it takes dont go over a 7' span with any 2x material. T&G material is going to through a fit with a very slight amount of movement in the frame where as standard fase fastining will just move with it. But dont let its moods scare you off!!! its total possible to use that material exposed to the weather you just have to pay attention to Detail. Leting the frame dry out as well as the ipe material adjust to the local is a good idea. Go Get Em Bro!!! J.

Do not install an outside project like an inside floor. Do not nail ipe at all. Do not install ipe outside with out a drainage gap. Do not install KD ipe outside. Do not install ipe flooring outside as decking. There is no need to seal the cuts. Do not hire a Contractor and then worry if they are going to screw it up. Order the ipe T&G material>>> air dried,with an extra 1/8'' in the G,bevaled on the edges, install thru the G with ss screws and construstion adhesive, snug fit. I cut a 1/2'' slot in the T every 3' or so. Be very sure before you jump off a cliff that you can Fly. John Mon

SF we meet again!! its not the quality of the drill bit but rather the skill leval of the installer, and if the skill leval is a little undevoloped slow down . Dont have " like whatever " paris hilton thing on your mind while your doing this. With this install I suggest an 1/8'' bit,pre drill thru the ipe not into the pt frame,a battery powered drill works best for doing this because its much easier to control. Ease the bit in hmmmm say a 1/4 '' or so using a rounded effort with the drill swirl & twirl the countersink remember your not killing snakes, then proceed with the predrill. I also recomend an impact driver to run the # 7 ss square drive trim head screws, I use a makita 12 volt, belive me after you use one you will wonder how you ever did with out it. Use construstion adhesive on the joist, a small T&G block to tap the decking together,I said Tap that means snug it up dont jam the decking together, and of course do not pre finish the decking on all four sides put the finish on after the project is done. I cut a 1/2'' slot in the T every 3 ' or so. Now you know everything I do,nothing to it but the doing it!! J

spamming: sending the same message indiscriminately to (large numbers of recipients) on the Internet. Think I'll stop contributing to this discussion group as the intent of my contributions are being misinterpreted.