I did a search on the topic of hidden deck fasteners and since most of the posts were a few years old, I thought I would ask a couple of questions again now that those decks have been down a couple of years.
1. hidden fasteners vs. screwing down from the top – I’d read that some were against hidden fasteners since you can’t replace damaged boards and because of their resistance to cupping.
2. Simpson system – EB-TY – Ipe clip – Deckmaster, etc. Any new pro’s or cons. Any affordable sources (McFeely’s I know of)
3. Any homegrown alternatives – I was wondering if one could use oversize washers or something like that instead of purchasing a propietary system.
The proposed deck will be aprox. 16′ x 42′ plus 16’w steps probably 5/4×4 Mahogany (Batu Kayu) on 16″ o.c. framing. Ground clearance will be min. 18″ to 32″ without any lattice skirting.
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I've used eb ty's on ipe, and really like the results but it is very time consuming. Also, the eb ty's cost tends to add up some just because you use some many of them. As long as you wood is stable, like ipe, you won't have any problems with cupping. As far as replacing deck boards, you might have do it once, its not like you'll be replacing them frequently. And if you use ipe, nothing in the world could damage the wood.
For a deck the size you said, you'll be using A LOT of eb ty's and it will take what will seem like forever. But if your willing to spend the extra time, the look is worth it to me. Where the deck is so low to the ground, I think deckmaster would be difficult to do.
Edited 4/24/2005 10:58 am ET by DDay
http://www.specialtyforest.com/ (Near Auburn, Wash.) They have the clips in boxes of 300 and will sell by the 100. They will ship and they credit cards. Buy your stainless steel square head trim screws locally.
If you have a shaper, or acess to one, then groove all the boards before you start. It will save an enormous amount of time. I took my cutter from my biscuit spliner(lamello) and put it on my shaper and used a power feeder. You will need a bushing because the i.d. diameter of my lamello is metric. Maybe the other biscuit spliner brands are not metric. I used a cheap sealed bearing from my local ACE store. The I.D and O.D are inches, but the inner parts of the bearing are metric.
If you go with Ipe (I did) keep in mind the joist spacing is wider because this stuff is so dense and stiff. I heard the Atlantic boardwalk is made of 2x matl and has a 5' spacing! The less joists, the less fasteners. With Ipe, be prepared to get a couple bisciut joiner blades, I went thru 3 doing a 16 x 22 deck with 1 x 6s.