Do not be alarmed! I haven't found any.

This is my first post, great website. There's very insightful people on here, and I'm grateful for it.

Long story short: I'm looking to know what to expect of mold on an ipe deck.

Apparently it's rare, but it does happen, and I'll bet it'll happen to me given the arrangement of my house:

/// Here's some quick facts:

- Just got this house, it's in Los Angeles, CA (Eagle Rock)

- Not a ton of rain, but November to March is a rainy season

- used to have a deck, now torn out

- the house is on the east side of a hill, so light is limited, the house (and another hill) blocks the eastern sun until at least 10:30am, the hill blocks the western sun around 4:30pm, so the main deck area is in the middle and only gets direct light at midday for a few hours, though there's plenty of ambient light. The entire backyard (west) was decked and the sides of the house (north and south) were decked as well.

- Previous owners didn't maintain it, so it was very rotted. Not a lot of light back there (some though), plus they had planters and a sprinkler system (now also torn out), so the deck was constantly wet, I suspect at night, and that probably sped up its demise. That's all gone now, save one planter with a nice tree.

So to sum it up: I've got somewhat limited light and I want a deck. Initially someone suggested Trex Transcends, but after research and hearing about Trex's previous mold, lawsuit, and warranty issues, I said let's try something else out.

/// Questions:

The composite decking gets mold all the way through the board. Does ipe? Or does it just form on the surface and you wash it off?

I know ipe's supposed to be mold resistant, am I being paranoid? Or should I look at stone, concrete, or maybe aluminum because of a possible mold encouraging situation?

Treatment recommendations or install tips for enhanced longevity? Paint?

Are the other brazilian hardwoods as long lasting and low maintenance? Tigerwood and Brazilian Redwood are interesting, do they retain color better? Because if they all end up grey, then who cares? Stick with ipe. I'm not going to be retreating all the time for 6 months of color. I want low to no maintenance and 25-40 years of life. Preferably more.

I've googled ipe deck mold and other terms, and besides a couple of posts by garden web users I can't find any evidence besides a few garden web posts that may have been mold, may have been just dirty, or may have been related to improper staining. Unlike when I search Trex Deck Mold. Wow. Anyone have any photos or first hand experience with a stubbornly moldy ipe deck?