Thanks, John. It's heartening to hear that a pro thinks highly of the project, since it took so much blood, sweat, and tears (and money) to do it. The deck was part of a pretty huge remodel/landscaping project, which I spottily documented on a side section of the blog I've been writing since our son was born - you can see more photos about the construction process and the landscaping that went along with it than you'd ever care to see at the link below. (Josh, BTW, is our son; I'm David. I'm not REALLY as obsessed with the little booger as it sounds, I've just gotten used to using my daddy-ly identity as my online handle.) Vents would surely be a good idea - probably something we should have thought of in the first place. Our contractor was and is very good, and had done a number of decks before, but nothing like this, and his main business is high-end home remodels, not decks. I shudder at the thought of retrofitting the vents in the HardiPlank (the stuff is a pain in the butt to work with, and messy), but I'll put some noggin time into figuring it out. I can't imagine the moisture/heat differential between the top and bottom of the planks, either in winter or in summer, is particularly good for the wood, and it might explain some of the early cupping and general movement. (Keeping the posts plumb and square is another problem, since the 4x4 ipe moves a lot more than the supplier advertised; he assured us that it doesn't move at all once it's in place, when in reality it's been twisting and shimmying like a belly dancer.) Just curious - why did you retire from answering outdoor finish questions? More hassle and controversy than it's worth? Incidentally, in case anyone out there is paying attention, I love the purpleheart, and no doubt the deck will outlive me - the Atlantic City boardwalk was supposedly made of the stuff back in the 70s, and is still just fine, in a much harsher climate than ours. But the expense was far above and beyond what we could have imagined in our worst fears, not in initial material cost, but in labor. It's just so difficult to work with and hard to fasten that the costs blew out of all budgeting and were hard to contain. Part of that was the contractor's inexperience in working with the stuff, and part of it was the complexity of the design, but be aware when you're doing a comparison with more traditional materials (redwood, cedar, composites, etc.) that the up-front cost is the least of your worries when dealing with these super-hard tropicals. Just my two cents' worth. I love it, and we wanted wood, not a composite, and didn't want to be replacing a redwood or cedar deck in ten or fifteen years, but we weren't prepared going in for what it would take in all-in cost. Here is a link that might be useful: Remodeling/landscaping album documenting the process

Not even close. Humidity has nothing to do with a deck turning gray. The gray is caused by UV rays bleaching the natural pigmentation of the wood. If you apply a sealer that has pigmenation that pigmentation becomes the sacrificial protection. Eventually the sealer will give up it color but the wood underneath will be fine. If you wait too long and the sealer fades off then of course the deck wil turn gray. Topic 2: Sanding of ipe after initial construction is completely unneccessary. You can use a cleaner and brush and rinse away the gray. Once you recoat it, it will look like it did the day it was first sealed. Here is a link that might be useful: Read More about cleaning here

Thank you all for your wonderful grey resources. I just tried to paint my bathroom EK Berry Red. Wish somebody told me I needed primer! Once I got the gray primer on, I decided I liked it better than red for the bathroom. I'm now trying to choose a shade of gray. I'm loving PPG Dover Gray, as well as it's lighter cousin Flagstone. I've also ordered samples from Barbara Jacobs for some of her full-spectrum grays. Since I had last seen her page, she's added eight new colors to her collection. The one that looks really promising is called timeless gray. Full spectrum gray seems kind of like an oxymoron doesn't it? I'll let you know how they look when I get them!

Let's see: 1) if you didn't click the link at the bottom of the first two pictures, do that to see some original condition photos. 2)I am a Dr., I got an interior design degree after my first renovation. I use my ID degree occasionally to do jobs for other people. 3) My SO is an interior designer who got a degree after being a chef for about ten years. Practices ID primarily, but does baking for other people. 4) The lamps are Laurel. I found one around the corner for $65 and waited years for the other. The Milo Baughman Trend II chairs are from eBay, again, it took a while to find two--I have three, the second one I got was a different size. The stools are Mccobb, again I had three at one point. The dining chairs are Nakashima for Knoll through DWR, not Nakashima Studios--can't afford the real, real thing. The runners are from my parents house, as are the 1970s leather pillows. The Gentleman's chest has been in SO's family since new in the early 1800s. I might put together a side to side before and after of a couple areas to show the process.