Stop smoking that stuff every day!!! East Teak has a Cal branch but the shiping is a little stiff. There is most probley a simi local supplier just get on line or look in the phone book. J.

I had actually put in a call to East Teak before I posted this question based on your many postings boasting about them. I hope they treat me right because I'd hate to have problems with them and you both. And I'm not storing the hippie lettuce. Hopefully a fishing boat and a snow thrower. I hope to keep it dry from above.

One word: RAINFOREST

I was just funnen with ya tool ya know the govt helping out with the shipping.

Your area is in the service range for East Teak but Im pretty sure they dock the containers on the East Coast so the shiping might be a little high

Hang in there Bud and just for comparison you might check out Garapa. J.

Wait a sec, rain forest is two words,,right?? J.

Talked to a guy up in WA from East Teak and he's sending me an estimate. You mentioned Garapa. It made me wonder, what sorts of combinations actually work? Ya know, mix and match stair stringers or fascia, etc with different less expensive woods. I'm wondering things about "veneering" PT with ipe or some other hardwood. Wrapping posts and stair stringers is making me worry about creating moisture traps. So many questions....

I have run ipe and garapa together works pretty good. A 5' run of ipe with garapa runing into it at a 90 %.

Latley all of my S Ameican jobs have wrapped posts.The posts are not 4x4s but two 2x4s put together with const adhesive and riped down to 3 1/4'' this way the 5 1/2''mult will work as a cap rail. Or I put the cap rail inbetween the posts and build my own post cap.

The post sleave or wrap is make up in one piece with 1x4 /1x6 and just slides over the post. Even with the extra labor/making the posts its still less money than a solid S American 4x4, has a good look, with the slight over size of the wrapp plumbing up is a easy thing and installing the post to begin with goes faster than using solid ipe or garapa.
Far as fascia or skirting goes its the same as installing trim on a house. But of course I always use endgrain trim with out it water would get in unless you over hung the decking but then you have the cut ends to deal with. J.

I saw a post in here once where the guy posted pictures. Massively beefed up framing and a stair case down the side. Nothing complex (easy for me to say). He had a close-up of the stairs. Looked to me like he had routered the treads and built the stringers with a different wood or wrapped PT with something. It looked sharp. I gotta find that post.

tool fool, I live in south lake tahoe,I built a 1100 sq ft deck, bought my Ipe at Berco Redwood in sacramento. this was a couple of years ago,I paid 2.49 lf and was able to return and replace boards that were bad. overall a good experiance. Bob

Hey xterra! I'm over in Pollock Pines so, not too far to Suckramento. Thanks for the heads up! So far I've found 2 places in Sac with it but the cheapest is $3.25 lf. I might actually save money having it shipped from elsewhere because of the taxes here in CA. 1100sq?! Huge!

I have a question regarding multi levels and framing them up. I'm looking at having an L shaped upper deck and a lower area beneath it. I need to do the higher deck 1st so we can use the back door to the house and I'm wondering; Do I need to have separate posts and beams for the lower? Can I hang a ledger from the beam posts of the upper and build a beam and post setup on the opposite side for the lower or is that a No-no? Maybe I could share footings instead and put 2 bolts in it for separate posts. Lastly, on the L shaped upper, is that actually going to be 2 beams running perp to each other? Graci!

tool fool, here are the finished pictures of the deck. the deck continues around to the back.

Here is a link that might be useful: finished deck pics

Well well well. Mr Xterra. I bet you think you're better than me, don't you? All high and mighty up there in South Lake. And I bet you think you're smarter too, what with your tricky rebar balusters and all. I'm kidding. That's a good idea! I have a couple of questions since we live in similar climates. Has your deck seen a snow yet? If so, did you shovel it off? Scratches is what I'm wondering about. Gouges is more like it. I have shoveled snow from the deck out back and shaved edges off along with it. And what material did you use for your handrail setup? I like the girth of the rails. Wait, that sounds wrong...

The deck has experianced 1 winter. initially I was concerned with every scratch, but with 2 big dogs,3 grandkids, and all the traffic, party's yea right. I came to a realization, it's just a deck. I bought a snow blower just for the deck and it works great. The top and bottom rails are 4x6 doug fir,as are the stair rails.The posts are 6x6. I am not to concerned with the scratches, no gouges yet. snow shovels off real easy as the screws are recessed. This is a deck that is well used. the entire deck took 2 years to build. finished it last summer, then I started a kitchen and living room remodel which I just finished. Broke and done building for a while. If your ever in the area, sop in take a look. Bob