What thickness Ipe for decking?

[CJ-8_Jim]

We've settled on using 6" (5 1/2") Ipe for the deck. Now need to decide on the thickness.

Some background info:
- We are in the Chicago suburbs
- Deck will be shaded most of the day (it will get about 3-4 hours of sun from about 10:30am-2:30pm.)
- We will be using Ipe Clip hidden fasteners which are spec for all three sizes below.
- We will be oiling the deck to retain the deep color
- If we let it go silver, then in 20 years when we want to sell the house, we will power-wash and oil the deck to bring back the deep brown color.

Choices available to us:
a) 1x6 dimensional (i.e., 3/4" x 5 1/2")
b) 1x6 Plus (i.e., 21mm x 5 1/2" which is 2mm thicker than standard 1x6)
c) 5/4x6 (i.e., 1" x 5 1/2")


The 1x6 dimensional is the most affordable for us and hence I'm leaning towards that option. But I don't have experience with Ipe.

What are your opinions on thickness?

Thanks,
Jim

[Justus Lambros]

We have used both the 4/4" and the 5/4". In my experience in northern OH; the 5/4" is much more stable with the seasonal changes that we have. I have seen the 4/4" cup slightly in certain situations. Although when not installed properly even 2x will cup.

Signature Decks llc
www.sigdecks.com

[John Hyatt]

I havent used 5/4 x6'' ipe decking in a lot of years we started out with it back 12 years or so but really 1x6'' is plenty strong with the joists on 16'' centers and no overspan. Far as long life goes its the same.

Most often we face fasten sometimes on the high end its T&G material. The cuping issue and movement problems with 1'' or 3/4'' will be the same with the same install. Local/Weather/sun/lack of sun really has nothing to do with it as long as the install is right.
John Hyatt www.deckmastersllc.com

[ArtDeck-O]

I have never seen Ipe cup, but we've put down plenty of the 3/4" boards. I have one deck that's 1x4's on 2x6 [20" centers] that's now ten years old...still as strong as the day we laid the decking.

3/4 is plenty for most uses. We have set down a couple of 5x4 decks....you can park a Mac truck on those decks!!

[CJ-8_Jim]

Thanks for the replies... quick followup question:

With 1x6 Ipe and hidden fastners using biscuit slots, am I risking that the 1x6 Ipe will cup more?.

I'm NOT face fastening. Framing is 16" oc.

Thanks,
Jim

[redwood]

I won't use clips anymore for Ipe. I wasn't satisfied with the results, when I did. They just don't hold the material in place, like face screwing. Headcote brown trimhead screws are practically invisable.

[John Hyatt]

John aggres with Mark. I defentley do not recomend the clips for any South American decking for a lot of reasons. J.

[ArtDeck-O]

No....Ipe will not cup with tiger claws. I've not had any problems with the fasteners I use, what did you guys experience with yours? Was it on 3/4 or 5/4 and which clips did you use?

[redwood]

Well he mentioned biscuit slots, so I am assuming that he was talking about Ipe clips or something similar.

We were using 5/4 ipe at the time, now we use 4/4.

The decks we used ipe clips on gave us more trouble then all the other decks we've built combined. Mostly due to movement of the ipe. Gapping problems mostly.

Until recently, Tiger Claw did not have a clip that they recommended for 4/4 ipe. They recently sent me some samples that I have yet to test out.

[CJ-8_Jim]

Thanks for the insights.

The hidden fastener I was thinking of using is the IpeClip Extreme (fiberglass reinforced plastic clips with a stainless steel insert): http://www.ipeclip.com/ipeclipExtreme.html

This would be used with 1 x 6 Ipe (net 3/4" x 5 1/2")