My friend Jeff built an Ipe deck for a client in the Puget sound area, and received a call today that the deck boards are pushing the railing posts out, shearing screws off etc.
It has rained a lot in the NW recently, but the deck was detailed for it, following all manufacturers recommendations – hidden fasteners, 3/16 spacing between boards etc. The one mistake may have been close cuts on decking up to the posts, but it sounds like a bigger issue – the entire deck is swelled tight, and pushing away from everything.
How much does Ipe swell? What are the tricks for keeping the screws intact? Any thoughts?
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I have an ipe deck that I did this past summer, also in the PS area. The boards were spaced 3/16" and looked great when they went down--straight, consistent gaps. It has rained a lot up here and the decking has all grown, so much in places that some of the gaps have almost disappeared. I installed the decking using #10x3 SS screws, 2 per joist, and that's not sufficient to restrain the material much.
The problem I see with most of the concealed fasteners is that they physically fill the space between the boards. Eb-Ty is an example of that. If I'd used those on my deck the whole thing would have blown up, a complete disaster.
I should say that the decking I used was stored in a warehouse for almost a year before I bought it, and was at ~14% MC when I got it. It lived outdoors under plywood cover sheets and then got installed. So, it was pretty dry. In retrospect it might have been a good idea to wet down the pile a few times a day to make it grow before installing.