Thanks to the advice from this board, and many others, I built my own deck. It was by far my biggest do-it-yourself project. I would say that I designed it myself but most of the ideas came from the internet. It is 650 sq ft designed with IPE decking, hidden fasteners, and PVC facia. It is low enough to the ground that it doesn't require railing yet high enough to ventilate to avoid cupping. Here are the details:

Decking: 5/4"x6 IPE from Monteath Lumber

Bought all 18' lengths. They are supplied by Diamond Decking who owns their own warehouse on the same property

IPE is awsome. Looks great and will likely last. Cut the entire deck with one blade. I might be able to point out some cupping now but there is very little. The last wet spots after rain dries is the most telling for where the likely problem spots are.

Monteath/Diamond supplied mostly great boards but there did seem to be a few salted in that didn't belong. I needed enough that I was able to cut up the bad boards to use them where they did no harm.

Decking Fasteners: Tiger Claw TC-G Hidden fasteners

Once I saw the hidden fasteners keep the surface virgin, I avoiding ALL surface screwing. No plugs, no holes, no blemishes. I used a router to grove all the boards where the fasteners needed a grove. (I suspect that the hard work is why contractors discourage their use because I see no issues so far.) I changed router bits way too many times. If I had to do it again, I would buy a second router. One for the groves and one for to put the 1/8" round edge on cut edges before sealing.

Decking Fasteners at overhang: Deskmaster Hidden Fasteners

The deck is designed to be low enough to the ground that it doesn't require railing and so that we can sit on the edge. There is a 1 inch overhang around the entire perimeter. That necesitated a way to fasten the edge without surface screws. Deskmaster hidden fasteners got it done. I cut the lengths into 3 to 4 inch strips.

Finish: Woodrich Amaretto Hardwood Wiping Stain

Did a lot of research before selecting Woodrich. The Amaretto seemed too dark and too red at first but it only took a month to show the grain and is mostly the same now after 6 months. I expect to have to put on another coat after the 1st and 2nd year then likely every other year or less. I'm not too concerned about the work effort because the first coat was easy enough. I used Oxyclean to prep the deck before the finish. Woodrich stains rather than creating a layer that would peel up off of the very hard IPE. And, IPE resists scratching. However, the color is easy to scratch by dragging anything, like a chair, across it. The photo of the view out of the door shows bad scratches. It is just as easy to rag some Woodrich into the scratch but the fresh Woodrich is darker. I still think it is the best choice and looks great. It was definately a big part of reaching my goal of a very natural wood look.

Framing: Preasure Treated lumber from Lowes

16" OC. Knotched posts. The posts are wrapped in plastic and sit on > 80lbs of concrete. I didn't use concrete up to grade level to avoid difficulties in connnecting beams that would have been just off the ground. I then changed the design to make the beams higher off the ground to allow ventilation but that was after the posts were in the ground. Local contractors said knotched posts are very strong/strongest.

Railing: Timbertech Raidiance Railing

This railing hides all of its fasteners keeping consistent with my preference for hidden fasteners.

Lights: Aurora Sirius

120v, not 12v, so they are brighter and on a dimmer. They light the area rather than just for lighting accents. They fit well but the corners aren't beveled like the corners of the post covers. White isn't as bright as the railing. The two screws that attached them to the post aren't hidden. Oh well.

Facia: Azek Trim (PVC)

Expensive but I like the low maintenance and white. I used white faced stainless steel screws to fasten them in inconspicuous places. The screw heads created big spots. Maybe I should have used something else.

I made the white panels on side of the stairs by cutting it out of 4x8 sheets of Azek, layering it, and routering edges.

Pavers: EP Henry

The local landscaping shop supplied the typical amount of base material for the pavers. I ended up needing twice as much. I think I dug deeper than contractors and/or tamped much more. I bought my own wet saw and tamper. The pavers still look good, still level. I have yet to put a sealer on them.

Design Software: Microsoft Visio

Visio enables drawing to scale and has a feature for layers. I drew layers for framing, decking, each stair level, etc. The best part was that I could then use Visio to determine dimensions of boards involved in the most complicated geometry. (I bought extra 18' IPE board but ended up cutting my last one at the end.) The geometry of the stairs was inspired by intranet photos then I planned it all with Visio.

Awning: Sunbeam 1000XT

It is 20' long. The awning doesn't create much shade because the deck faces south. It does well by being able to drop a corner lower into the sun. I didn't try the screening yet.

Landscaping and Decorations

None yet. Waiting for the spring.

Rich