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Porches & Decks

finished Ipe/Massaranduba Deck

15 years ago

Thank you for everyone's advice, tips, and pics posted on this board. I relied on much of the information for my deck project that started about a year ago. Most of this project was done last summer, but I just put the stain down this past weekend. Eventually I'll build some Ipe benches around the edges of the deck.

The 3 board wide picture-framing and step surfaces are Massaranduba, the rails are PT, and the rest is Ipe. I tested the stain (TWP516) on a few boards last summer and it only lasted a few weeks. I'm hoping that after a year of weathering, it will hold a bit longer.

Here are some pics of the finished project:

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Comments (8)

dooer
15 years ago
Looks Great!
carolina_prowash
15 years ago
Beautiful! I love the way you met the boards at the corner! Looks great and I'm sure it was nice not to have to miter all of them :) My husband will be THRILLED that I like that LOL!
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Just ripped out a 10 year old Ipe deck in Northern California because they tightly butt jointed the deck boards and they cupped . Suggest you leave at least a 1/8 inch to 3/16 inch spacing. no experience with Massaranduba.
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No need for klin dried materia installed outside. Garapa is easy to install and more stable than the other two but of course after a while those guys will probley figure out how to work the wood so Massaranduba would be a go as well. If by cross blocking you mean the on center for the joists all three can span 2'- 1 1/2'' thick. Why would you ask this if the project has a designer? Anyway this is sounding more and more like the job that got nixed. A call to a big time importer like EastTeak is the place you should be talking to not over here at your basic diy site. J.
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Thanks. Our contractor is a good guy and done great work for us in the past. I think he is just getting other advice, especially from his ipe distributor, and is worried about taking chances on quality. Most of the ipe distributors around Maryland are claiming we should only use 5/6 x 6, but you guys seem to have real experience with the wood. I guess the trick will be convincing our contractor that it is okay to use 1 x 6 and shipping it in isn't as risky in terms of quality as he thinks. Any thoughts on Massarandula? Thanks again.
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Can you post a photo of your diagonal layout? I'm having a hard time picturing it from your description.
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john_hyatt
15 years ago
Lookinggggg Gooooooooood!!!! Very nice attention to detail. TWP is a build coat finish, uppers I was not going to get into finish. Carolina Your ON!!!! John Mon
kelleynelson
15 years ago
Very nice! I like your painted rails. It looks good and will make your maintenance work easier too.
alexis68
15 years ago
Your deck looks great! We are having a new deck put in (as I type!) and using Massaranduba wood . Does anyone know a good Sealer? Someone told me about product called Semco??
Anyone have any advice?
The deck work will probably take another week- how soon should we seal?

Thanks! (sorry for taking over your thread!)
Alexis
decker173
15 years ago
Looks like your deck is right on the ground. Reading what others have said concerning ventilation, aren't you concerned about moisture problems with the decking due to lack of air flow?
happychap
Original Author
15 years ago
I found the herringbone corner a lot easier to do than the mitred edges, and it was a lot more forgiving. Since I left gaps, a bit of movement or differences in board thickness don't show up the way they do on the mitred corners. It was a bit more work in blocking underneath.

The decking I took out was PT and due to being close to the ground the boards were warped and sticking up all over the place. I found out after pulling off the old boards that a groundhog had dug some huge holes under the deck and piled the dirt up so that it was almost touching the bottom of the decking - in those places, the boards were going wild. I removed quite a few wheelbarrows full of dirt from beneath to try to allow some air. So far, cupping of the boards is minimal - I tried to get a few inches of clearance below each joist. And I screwed down with 2 1/4" headcotes and left generous gaps between boards (somewhere around 3/16"+ gaps).
AaronCGI
15 years ago
Your deck is beautiful, excellent work! I too find the corner joint very appealing and certainly unique.

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