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Porches & Decks

SO MANY splinters IPE deck

6 years ago

We bought a house with an Ipe wood POOL deck. It was installed 10 -12 years ago. We have sanded it, sealed it, etc. NOTHING prevents the dozens of razor sharp splinters that we get if we sit on the deck (ouch! even through jeans), touch it or walk barefoot on it. What can we do short of ripping it out and replacing it? Thanks

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Comments (5)

User
6 years ago
Are the corners of the boards square angles? If so, that may be where the splinters originate. First remedy would be to round over all those edges. The appropriate sized roundover bit in a router would be used. One that has a guide bearing and would cut a gentle round over edge on each board(probably both boards when the router is placed in the gap between the boards.

I know Ipe is sold as the best non splintering wood available, but wood is made of fibers, ipe has very small, strong fibers, and will splinter more as it ages.
PRO
AdvantageLumber.com
4 years ago
Are you sure it's Ipe? We've been supplying Ipe for almost 30 years and have never heard of anything like this.
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Master Deckers (Hyatt & PressurePro) - many moons (May 05)ago I asked about attaching ipe to metal. Your advice was sound and the deck is finally complete and rock solid. I've finished plugging, and plugging, and plugging the plethora of screw holes. I stained the railings and the pergola last year and they seemed to be holding very nice - although I will have to do the railings again. I've sheared the heads of the plugs and am ready to sand the deck (around 700 square feet on two tiers). The local hardware store rents a drum floor sander. Good to use? What grit? I've waited a year so now the wood has gone a little silver in the Texas sun. Should I keep sanding until I get down to natural color, or sand until smooth and use PressurePro's cleaning and brightening solution to bring back the beautiful ipe color? I did the railings and pergola in TWP 100 and plan to use this on the sanded deck. PressurePro - been to your website - looks good. Now that I've waited a year
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I replaced a 20 year old cedar deck with IPE. It had rotted through to the point that you could push your thumb through 4x4 posts!. If getting cedar, be sure it is heartwood. That is the only part of cedar that is useable, but it is hard to find since requires large older trees. Cedar is great for saunas because it is soft and flexible--withstands expansion and contraction well. It does well in a wet environment. Being soft, cupping is not a problem since screws can hold it down. Also cuts easy so installation is easy. Softness requires thicker boards and/or closer joist spacing for strength. IPE is extremely hard and stiff. Smooth and splinter resistant. Only vulnerability is excessive moisture. Dense structure makes it hard to stain. Extreme strength means that cupping is a risk if encounter moisture and board is thin relative to width. Wood is strong enough that when it wants to move, screws will rip out of joists as it moves--it is much stronger than pressure treated joist material. IPE is impervious to carpenter bees due to its extreme hardness. While not a priority for most deck builders, IPE is highly fire resistant. Either material will weather to grey if not stained. Hard surface of IPE makes it tougher to damage so it can survive unprotected a very long time. Cedar exposed to sun will gradually lose its insect/mildew inhibiting properties since it is based more on natural chemicals in the wood which are damaged by bleaching of sun. I do not know if a better grade of heartwood would have increased the life of my cedar deck, but generally cedar is not rated for anywhere near the life of an IPE deck.
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HU-420767840
12 months ago
I have an ipe deck and handrail around a guard which had been down for over 10 years. I pressure wash it every couple of years as pollen and dust collect on it and being in the Pacific NW, the rain we get promotes a thin mossy growth which is slippery when wet. However the pressure washing does create a slightly rougher texture, different from when it was new and dry. And ipe being what it is, a tough as nails hardwood, the slivers created from pressure washing can be really sharp and painful. So yes, I am looking for an easy way to 'calm down' the surface of the ipe, but it sounds like it will be something that reoccurs when pressure washing. I too have heard of the orbital sander route as a cure and will give it shot soon.
millworkman
12 months ago
Sold a lot of lumber back a few years ago and I have never heard of it "splintering" either. It does not have the type of grain that splinters. typically any wood that "splinters" from power washing means the pressure is turned up to high.
HU-38499900
6 days ago
I just bought 2x4 ipe from Advantage Lumber. It is now instalked as handrails and it definitely splinters. I have two bandaids on my fingers from just running my hand lightly down the ipe railing cap. I'm hoping to find a solution.

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