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slasher71

IPE decking arrived warped

slasher71
13 years ago

Hi

I've just had a delivery from a UK company of air dried IPE 141mm x 90mm

Lengths of around 4.2meters & less

About 8 to 10 lengths are warped, is this normal with lengths this long?

I never purchased IPE before & wanted to check that this isn't normal before I ask the company to collect all the wood

Thanks in advance

Regards

Dave

Comments (8)

  • slasher71
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Sorry I mean bowed not warped

  • aidan_m
    13 years ago

    Collect all the wood? Why? Are you going to scrap the entire project? The boards that are unusable should be swapped out for usable ones. If you don't know how to use bowed boards, I recommend hiring someone. As you are building the deck, the boards that can't be made straight get set aside and returned. If you wait too long before getting started, it's going to be hard to argue your case that the boards arrived crooked if you let them sit around the jobsite for half a season.

    Start working right away. Do not sit on the wood. Install a couple of straight boards and then clamp one of the bent ones in place at one end and see if you can take the bow out with the tool you bought for that purpose (bow wrench). If the board straightens, screw it down and keep going. If it is beyond straightening, set it aside. Call the supplier back once you have all the rejects sorted and stacked, and your project is 90% complete. They will gladly oblige. If you call them up at this point complaining you are just going to irritate them...and make it more difficult on you.

  • john_hyatt
    13 years ago

    This is America dude. You want to talk to me dont do it in mm crap. J.

  • aidan_m
    13 years ago

    Oh, I just realized the dimensions you're talking about. Good catch, John. After a few minutes of calculations I figured this guy has a bunch of bowed 4x6. What are you building? How out of straight are they? Can you find a standard tape measure to help communicate with us in inches/ feet? This wood has got to weigh a ton. I've never worked with anything over 4x4 in Ipe, and that's for railings that are made with 4' lengths. A bowed 4x4 12' long is not really a problem once cut down to 4'

  • sierraeast
    13 years ago

    Back in the day I asked and payed extra for the lumbie to select out decent 2x's for a patio project as the rafters were exposed. They delivered junk. Loaded it up in the truck, backed up to the entrance to the store, and dumped the load right there. Within a few hours, decent 2x's were delivered to the site! Good ol' bad days!

  • john_hyatt
    13 years ago

    True Sieer,but the dude is talking 4x6 ipe.

    With an order like that its a given the >>>Carpenter

  • slasher71
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Hi

    The lengths are 13.78 foot long
    5.55 inches wide
    0.75 inches height

    How much will IPE bend without cracking?

    Regards

    Dave

  • aidan_m
    13 years ago

    OK so this is regular 1x6 decking. How are you getting along making it unbent already?

    This is a normal deck job, I gather. How's the progress coming?