I used a combination of IPE clips (prior to the embedded stainless steel washers) & IPE plugs. I used plugs on the 2-row border & at the ends of each decking board. I used the IPE clips in between. I did that because I thought the IPE plugs would be quite visible when looking across the deck. However, I discovered the plugs blend in quite well after staining. The IPE clips were expensive & it took a a lot of labor time. However, I have been quite satified with them as there has been no movement after 2 years. Maybe it is because I got good IPE 5/4" X 6 decking but I don't know if that was the case. Regardless, if I do another deck I would countersink & plug everywhere. I can do that quicker than the labor required for the IPE clips, it is less expensive, it does have better holding power, & it does not look like you have dots all over the deck which is what I originally thought it would look like.

Consumer Reports: For certain items, their advice is good (things like digital cameras, cordless phones, some appliances, etc.). The advice seems unbiased and reliability data is gathered from consumers. But for things like cars, I believe the editors have a strong bias against US manufacturers and the "scores" in their ratings include subjective categories like how the car feels and its styling---things that don't mean a hill of beans. Somehow, someway, an imported car (typically Japanese) will always "perform" the best in their tests, even if objective data like 1/4 mile times and braking distance is better on the domestic. The overall score ends up lagging if the GM product is "long in the tooth" or has "shiney plastic on the interior trim" or other nonsense. Honda somehow does everything perfectly as far as CR is concerned. It cracks me up to read their ratings of wine and ice cream---things that they have no business rating since it's all a matter of personal taste. Then for something like a mattress---part of it is comfort but part is price and how well it's made---they seem to have no opinion at all. Decking? Well, I think they pretty much admit that they don't know it all. I evaluated a bunch of them for a deck and screened porch I'm having built. For a variety of reasons, I wanted composite on the deck portion instead of wood (wood in the porch). In the end, I settled on Fiberon Professional Series with the slots to accommodate hidden fasteners. The contractor I hired seems most comfortable with this particular material as he has specified it many times before and seems to have satisfied customers. I liked the darker brown color enough to go with it. I tested it against the Fiberon "Tropics" which looks nicer to me, but I didn't like how easliy "Tropics" scratched. Pro Series took harder keying before showing gauges. Also, he gave me a better price on Pro Series. One material I liked is Pro Cell which I guess now is called Azek Deck. It's lighter weight and I think all plastic with no wood fill. The colors were a little light in shade---like pastel---but the material was nice looking, like painted wood. Evergrain was nice, but not reversible. I heard good things about Geo Deck, but didn't like the look as much as the Fiberon, and it didn't feel as substantial. I might regret not picking the Azek Deck because over the long haul, it probably ages better than the Fiberon, but I do think the Fiberon is a good product in its own right. "Veranda" is made by Fiberon and appears to be the same product but with the HD label on it. Fiberon is 2nd to Trex in Sales, but has not had nearly as many issues reported as Trex has.

Hello ~ This past week I stained a brand new con-hart redwood deck with the Defy Extreme Pine Stain. The visual result were stunning. However, I am sad to report that 2 days after it was stained we had a light rain and a major issue developed. The water did indeed bead up perfectly on the deck, but as it evaporated it left leopard spots and water stains over a majority of the surface area of the deck. I called the manufacturer (SaverSystems) and to their credit they immediately called me back and requested photos, which I sent. Within an hour a 'chemist' called me back and said he felt the spotting was due to acid rain (I live in LA, so it could be plausible). However, not ALL of the deck spotted and stained - so the acid rain explanation doesn't quite solve everything. The chemist relayed to me to wash the entire surface of the deck with Dawn and water and that would remove the spotting and stains. It did remove some of the stains, lightened others and had minimal effect on some. I was disappointed. I am willing to admit in my haste and thinking it was fresh wood, that i that I did not use their cleaner and brighten before the staining process and indeed this could be part of the problem as they relayed if the PH of the wood is off it may not take the stain properly. As of now the deck is still spotted and stained to some degree and the only recourse I will have is to remove the stain via sanding or chemical and restain the entire surface.

Hi Ron! Word of caution on buying black locust. You are correct, black locust is a very durable wood exceeding white oak in hardness. Unfortunately there is not a ton of domestic availability. We wish there was more! That said, a distinction needs to be drawn between black locust heartwood and black locust sapwood. Black Locust heartwood is very strong, but the sapwood is not. The trees available today are not exceedingly large so you have a pretty good chance of having some sapwood in the boards. Additionally, while it is admittedly a durable wood..... it doesn't compare to Ipe. The main unit of measure we use to determine how well a wood will withstand dents, dings, and wear (as well as indirectly predicting the difficulty in nailing, screwing, sanding, or sawing any given wood specie) is the Janka Hardness test. The Janka Hardness Test is a test measuring the amount of pounds-force (lbf) or newtons (N) required to imbed a .444″ (11.28 mm) diameter steel ball into the wood to half the ball’s diameter. Black Locust comes in at about 1,700 lbs Ipe comes in at about 3,680 lbs ***Wood nerd side note.... Lignum Vitae, which grows in SE Florida comes in at about 4,500 lbs, but the trees are incredibly small so you can't get any meaningful lengths out of it and it is so slow growing that it's not a sustainably harvestable specie... Many of the blocks and dead-eyes on the USS Constitution are made out of Lignum Vitae as the wood is so dense and oily when the lines pass through it the friction warms the wood which releases oil that acts as a lubricant. As recently as the late 70's early 80's, the US Navy used it as a bearing for a propeller shaft on a nuclear submarine. Until that point no manmade synthetic could compete with it's performance.