Woodyoak: The perogla is aluminum, the coth cover can be removed and I probably will this winter. I think it will take a pretty good wind; it has been tested once already. It was made to be anchored to either the wood of the deck or the ground but we felt more comfortable with it screwed to the deck. (The smaller part of the post goes all the way to the deck and is secured with very long screws into the joists of the deck.) I had wondered about the vines myself for I feel sure that the frame will outlast the cloth. Cameron: Yes there are pots in front of the two of the posts. We made the deck 12 x 16, the pergola is 10 x 10 and we purposely placed it towards the back of the deck. I had envisioned that being the front and I do want a path leading to it. Sue

Hey cpartist, actually not spamming. I'm a lumberman and not a social media manager for a lumber company trying to boost their SEO ranking. That aside..... we could've started a new thread, but it was an interesting opportunity to tap into an existing thread and offer the community info on a tropical hardwood with working properties exceeding redwood yet will yield the desired red color. Just did the same on an EB-TY thread from 2007. https://www.houzz.com/discussions/2540154/ipe-ebty-clips-and-grades-of-ipe Why? because it was time for an update and the information was old and needed to be updated. If that's spamming..... then guilty as charged.....

We’ve been in the lumber business for over 130 years and dealing in tropical hardwoods for roughly 30 years. If after 4 weeks the boards haven’t cupped you’re probably fine. People successfully build at grade regularly. You could always add some vents to the side of the deck and on top of it back by the house wall if it looks like it is going to be a problem. Based on the photos We’re not seeing any cupping or crowning. For people reading this thread contemplating their own at grade projects we recommend 18” of airflow, but excavating out under the deck and filling with pea stone for drainage will help dramatically. If your contractor did not reapply Anchor Seal wait for the boards to dry out and contract a little then apply it. It’s inexpensive and easy. Your gap spacing looks ok for the most part, but would like to see them just a little wider apart so dirt doesn’t get caught in between the boards which can lead to rot. They’ve probably expanded as far as they’re going to go so if once you blow the dirt out and there’s still space that should be fine for drainage and airflow. As a general rule of thumb we encourage keeping as many tree’s standing in the world as possible. Strange to hear that from a lumber company, but every tree left standing is one more scrubbing co2 and pumping o2 into the atmosphere. Beyond that, those of us in the south love our pecan trees. While they are admittedly a messy tree.... there’s no replacing fresh salted pecans, pecan brittle or pecan pie! Or just as a simple shade tree. It’s nature’s air conditioner....

For those interested, there is an update. The discoloring and splotchy result of cleaning with the typical cleaning and brightening chemicals used on ipe, went away after a few weeks. So for those who have had similar results using commonly suggested methods, you may find that waiting, in my case weeks, will sort out those issues. What I also found was, after the discoloration went away after a few weeks, there was no advange to using the chemicals found in the expensive and highly marketed ipe cleaning products, over simply cleaning with dish soap and water......In fact, just using soap and water, resulted in no discoloration, and no need to have to wait weeks for the discoloration to go away. Staining after either type of cleaning resulted in the same, satisfactory result.....using Messmers Natural UV plus. I could have simply stained the splotchy discolored ipe, without waiting, and perhaps that would have worked also, but the discoloring seemed to include moisture (displaced oil form within the IPE?) , or water, and I was afraid the stain wouldn't take properly......I was just dealing with dirt and grime, so in other situations, the cleaning chemicals may be more effective...... The reason I bothered to rattle on about this, was there are quite a few accounts on- line of people using IPE or exotic wood cleaners which resulted in similar issues, and tried sanding, or other expensive means to deal with it, when, simply waiting, may have sorted out what was going on. Having thousands invested in IPE, or your deck, and using heavily promoted products which, at least superficially, seemed to not work, or even do damage, is not a comfortable place to be.