Rounded edges up. Just for an extra I cut a little 1/2'' slot in the T done right it wont show like the ss screw thru the T. Ease in the boards together with a little block of the T&G dont jam it up with a big hammer use construstion adhesive on the Joists and Go Get EM!! John

Rounded edges up? Interesting, that's what I thought but I called George at East Teak this afternoon and he recommended the opposite! He said the face with square edges is meant to face up, however it can be done either way.

The way my boards are milled, the face with rounded edges is very slightly narrower than the face with square edges. So that when two pieces are butted up against each other tongue in groove (and I'm just lightly pushing the boards together by hand, not hammering them), the faces with square edges actually touch each other without a gap, while the faces with rounded edges leave a gap (maybe 1/16", maybe a little less).

I know others have mentioned that T&G ipe boards should leave a gap when tapped up against each other, but that doesn't seem to be the case with mine. The boards are touching on one face even when lightly tapped together; regardless of whether that face is up or down, the boards are still touching. So now I'm concerned that the boards won't have room to move and I might get swelling and buckling. Are my boards milled differently than most?

So which side do I install facing up? Here are my thoughts on each option:

1. Install with square edges up, and no gap on the surface. This is what East Teak recommended, and I like it because it doesn't leave grooves between the boards that can collect dirt and gunk. But this might not be ideal because I guess rain water could "pool" on the top of the decking.

2. Install with rounded edges up, showing a gap on the surface. But since the square edges on the bottom will still be touching, it seems that would let rainwater into the grooves between the boards where it has no place to escape out the bottom. Seems like this would be even worse than rain water pooling on the surface of the deck!

I'm really struggling here... Since one face of the boards will be touching when installed regardless of whether I have that face up or down, it doens't seem like either option would make a differnce regarding potential swelling/buckling.

A few more pieces of information - this flooring is for a screened porch and the roof has a 18" overhang on all sides, so the flooring shouldn't really see a lot of rain. And the floor also also slopes 1" in 10', so it does promote some runoff when rain does hit it. Also, the ipe is kiln dried.

Any help would be appreciated!

The beval is for looks,if you dont want that look install it down.beval up also adds a little more drainage.

Make sure your project is provided with Cross Ventalation. J.

Plenty of cross-ventilation - the porch floor is 4 feet off the ground and the underside will be left open on three sides (all sides except where it attaches to the house). Wondering if I should use metal shims to create a 1/32" gap between boards or is it ok to allow them to touch lightly (I won't jam them together tightly)? The boards are kiln dried but they've been outside for three straight hot/humid days in Virginia, so I'm hoping there won't be much further expansion after I've laid the boards.

We eyeball that 32 but you could use a spacer. J