You could do a goggle on composite problems,defentley include trex, they have there own set of problems/maintance.None of them are a miricle drug.
I can put an ipe project down for a lot less money than any man made and yes you can get all sorts of ipe railing installing alum balusters with ipe is good and costs less than solid ipe rail. Good Place to get Ipe East Teak.

What do I recomend>>> South American Lumber JonMon

Thanks John. Is East Teak where I would buy the Ipe, and South American Lumber a type of ipe? Or are they both companies that sell ipe?

Jan Hayatt is a known wood worker and fears the loss of work. South American wood means it comes out of the few rain forests on the Earth. You can lessen your impact on the environment by using a composite which uses recycled plastic store bag material. My pic will show you my Trex deck built four years ago with no problems encountered. Only maintenance is to wash it down with soap once a year or so. No sealing or staining or writing checks to Jan Hayatt every few years. Remember this: Wood and water do not mix. Peruse the problems on this blog about IPE. They outnumber composite problems 5 to 1. Good luck.

Here is a link that might be useful:

East Teak sells ipe 800 338 5636 George is my contact. Another type of South American lumber > Garapa Its very possible to use a quality manmade like Moisture Shield or TimberTech decking along with wood railing. Composite rail systems are very spendy around double over an ipe rial with alum balusters. J.

"Jan Hayatt is a known wood worker and fears the loss of work". Aint gonna happen! Masters like the jonmon can pick and choose!
srercrcr, trex works good for you in your location, good on you mate, but in different areas of the country it fails miserably. What works in one region doesn't mean it will work in others.

I live in the North east - western NY state to be exact. Cold wet winters, and humid summers. Does that affect my decision?

I believe most of the concerns with trex dealt with mold, so in wetter, humid climates, I'd steer away from it. There are other composite mfgr's that dont have similar issues such as timber tech, but a good route to go if you are considering composites would be to ask folks who have composite decks in your area, especially one's that have been installed awhile, and ask to see them or get their take on them and if there are any issues.

Dont let the thing bait ya Sierr total trol.

Wel, Ipe is fine in any weather my own South American decks , ipe,garapa and masenramduba have done well in 110 weather right up to the recent blizzard in OKC. The install is important dont use a Contractor thats never installed it. Of course thats true of any decking project. J.

Sierra, your logic doesn't hold up. This Trex owner IS in very humid South Texas. What say you now? Secondly, if Trex is currently a problem, where are the posts on here to substantiate your position? They are few and far between, unlike the weekly issues with wood.

Composites are a growing percentage of the deck industry, for environmental and maintenance reasons. I encourage all prospective deck owners to consider the pros and cons for both materials, rather than a blanket statement that one is not even worth considering.

John -- I've done some googling, but I'm having a difficult time finding articles that are not written by someone who is selling a product. The wood guys all bash composite, and the composite guys all bash wood! What I really want is a tongue and groove porch, and that is one of the reasons I was leaning towards ipe. Are there even any composite products available that are tongue and groove?

Timber Teck makes a T&G decking product. TT rial system is nice looking fairley easy to install but very spendy.

What I found along with all the bashing...complaints on composite were about the material itself...complaints on South American lumber were mainley about a bad install/finish job.

Its very possible to have a T&G ipe project I have several of them out including my own hot tub room floor. East Teak is a full service Mill that is they can machine/dry the lumber any way you want. There are a few little tricks involved with this install but nothing I could not explain if your Contractor is willing to learn and pay attention to detail, of course this is true with any high end decking. JonMon

Thank you Jon, I really appreciate your advice and offer to assist. I will let you know which way we go and if we need further help. And I will most definitely us East Teak if we go with Ipe -- I have already called them with a few questions and they have been wonderful.