Thanks John. The wood on the deck is all Ipe and the pics were taken prior to staining. Last year I used Woodzotic to finish, this year I let it go. Since Woodzotic is no longer available, next year I'll probably use WoodTux or Armstrong Clark after a good cleaning. The edging is a cut piece of Ipe routered on the end and screwed in and plugged. It really gives the deck a more finished look hiding all the end cuts. My contractor used Tiger Claw hidden fasteners, I believe the TCG type. These are made for hardwoods and are stainless steel with an anodized black finish. I know the concensus on this board is to stay away from hidden fasteners but my contractor insisted he has had great success with the TCG's.I do know he didn't purchase pre-grooved Ipe, but rather made biscuit cuts in the boards where the fasteners attach. The deck is now two years old and I haven't had any problems. It is holding up great so far and I love it. Scott

Since this post IS so old, I wonder if some who posted early in this string made any decisions, what they went with, and if they are happy with the choices they made. I have builders trying to get me to use EverGrain, another one wants to build with Latitudes. Neither of them want to use composite railing. They are really trying to sell their composite (I'm guessing they have some discounted contract with their dealers), but somehow no one likes composite railing. I was leaning on building using composite (possibly TimberTech, but I haven't found anyone in my area willing to go with TimberTech yet), and I was hoping the deck railing could be complimentary to the material on the deck and actually be made of the same composite material. This seems to be next to impossible for me to accomplish. What am I missing here?

http://deck-lok.com/ We have a tiny "deck" and are using them - use them if you are building one that high. They are about $10 each, but worth every penny. Get a good deck building book and have lots of patience. Framing our 52 inch by 52 inch deck an foot or two off the ground too us a weekend and we still have a little more to go - we did it right, and it's not hard to do, but if you haven't done it nor have anyone helping, it takes a lot of time. For the Fiberon Tropics Mahogany we were quoted $2.64/contractors price at two lumber stores, not including screws, etc. Plus you need, framing, concrete, all the other brackets, screws, bolts, copper flashing, tools (if you don't have them or can borrow them), etc. I think we are switching to IPE as the Fiberon scratched and it and Trex are the only two with the very dark color and I think Trex looks too much like poop (sorry, don't know how else to describe it). And, that runs anywhere from $1.50 (not including shipping) - $3.00/locally. I forget how much or pressure treated wood cost. It was probably about $1 a foot or so but you have to buy the lenghts they have so don't forget to factor in overage (same with the deck boards). The guys here are helpful with very specific questions that haven't been asked before or are specific to you - they don't like very general questions if you haven't done your homework - they are busy and tired as it is decking season for them. And to give them credit after starting our tiny deck, it's a lot of work, especially if you do it day in and day out with picky customers and that doesn't include any of the other business aspects. This DIY "deck" is costing us much more than we thought, but given what we had, worth every penny. (and my husband is doing an amazing job).

When my ex and I were young with 2 kids and not much to spend, we wanted a front deck so we could watch the kids play. We framed out our patio with redwood 2 x 4's, made sure they were level, and then put gravel down. We topped that with bricks, but pavers would work fine, then swept sand between the bricks. That was many years ago, and the patio still stands. We don't get snow here, but without concrete, you wouldn't get any cracking. Moving on, we have lots of wood decks, and neighbors have composite, but all the decks are raised off the ground and the wood is nailed or screwed into the support frame. Not sure you can just lay the planks on the ground. You will need a frame.