We live in Iowa. We built our house a year and a half ago but did not build our back deck at that time because we were not sure what we wanted. Now we have decided the features we want etc... and are looking to begin. We were talking to the contractor we like about decks. He said that he didn't recommend the composites due to problems with several fading etc... He didn't mention exotics, and I had forgotten all of the talk of Ipe until re-reading on here. This will be a fairly large deck that goes around an above ground pool. It should sit approx 4 feet off of the ground.

Sooo... my questions... We have lots to do out here and heavy deck maintenance doesn't appeal to me. I don't want to have to do yearly staining etc... We will be using this with the pool so it would get wet with chlorinated water often. We have a dog and four children (not sure that matters, but you never know) Our climate ranges from extreme heat to extreme cold through the year. My budget is fairly limited. Any suggestions to save money? I'm pretty open on materials at this point.

Thanks in advance!