Beautiful! Nice job. I hope you get many years of enjoyment from it.

The only problem I see with it is it is not on my house! Awesome job. I am jealous of your skill and handywork. Makes me want to go out and redo portioons of mine...thanks a lot.

NICE JOB STU_R!!!! BTW what finish did you use on the IPE???

Thanks for all of the positive comments!

This project was a long time in the planning so I was able to obtain samples of various finishes and apply them to test strips of Ipe and let them age in the sun. I sampled Behr, Cabots ATO, One Time Wood, Pentofin, Flood CWF, and TWP. I ended up using TWP 116 because it had the best color and retained the finish the longest.

Looking Goooood Stu! that end grain trim makes it all so easy did you put a router detail on it? and those curved balusters really make it nice, a major thumbs up from the John Mon, dont you luv that 116. J

Stu,
Beautiful deck dude. I often wonder why DIYers think that they can build their own deck. I know that it isn't brain surgery, but it does require skills and tools. You obviously have both.

I wanted to zoom in on some of the details, but the link took me to photobucket.com, and I couldn't get to your pics

well done

steve

Beautiful job Stu! Geeze, wish I could get that 116 in Cali.

Where did you get those balusters??

The balusters are Deckorators Architectural Balusters. I special ordered mine from lowes but they are also available on the Deckorators web site at deckorators.com I also found mcfeeleys to have better prices on samll quantities of SS nuts, hex bolts, and carriage bolts.

Why did you choose to connect the boards with face screws and plugging. We are going to use IPE for our front porch and back deck. Our contractor has discouraged me from this technique because he felt it would have problems down the road. I think he said that the plugs would eventually come out due to the weathering it would receive. So he is looking at hidden fastening systems. Can you give me you opinon on this?

do a search on the topic (this board has a search option) I think it is universal among every pro here that those hidden fasteners can present many more problems. If you use the right glue those plugs will never come out or, in the worst case scenario every five years you may replace a total of five of them

I am thinking>> A- your Contractor has never used either of these fasteners,,B-your Contractor has never worked with ipe,,C your contractor wants to sell a few ipe clips.

John agrees with the Ken far as the plugs being light years ahead of the clips in a lot of areas. Done right a joint done with Tightbond111 is stronger than the wood itself. J

Stanza:
I'm a DIY'er and I researched "hidden fasteners" on this forum. The overwhelming advise on the hidden fasteners is "DON'T USE THEM" . Since I did my deck myself, the cost of labor was not an issue. Face screwing and plugging was less expensive than buying pre-grooved IPE and special clips that probably will fail. I'm not concerned with the plugs popping out. Gorilla Glue is plenty strong!
Stu

Hey OP, what railing system is that? IPE too? wide rail?

real nice job,wish i had skill and health to do it that way..

i am using the headcote screws with no plugs..

Thanks for all of the compliments. The railing is constructed of an IPE 2X4 on edge betweeen the posts. The top rail is an IPE 2X6. After the top was installed I took my router with a 3/8 radius bit along the top.
Stu

Getting my IPE lumber tom. Is it ok to install it the same day or does it need a few days to breathe to get use to the climate?