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+-- Thread: An Outdoor Project - New Deck - About done for this year (/showthread.php?tid=7070219)
An Outdoor Project - New Deck - About done for this year - jteneyck - 08-07-2015
I finished the planter boxes and seats and put Ipe' Oil on them last evening. I'm pretty much as far done this year as I can go until I address the patio problems; then'll I'll be able to build the other set of stairs, install lamp posts and some other lights, and railings if I decide to do so (not required because it's only 24" high). I will build some inserts to cover over the planter box openings before Winter so they don't fill up with snow and ice. Next year I also will either get a new grill or chop the frame up on this to create a built-in grill in a new cabinet I'll build.
Here are a few beauty shots.
I was fortunate to have Advantage Lumber nearly in my backyard, but I would not hesitate to buy from them even if they weren't. They often have free or $100 shipping anywhere in the country. Their service was great and the Ipe' and Cumaru I bought were very nice with hardly a defect. I think I scraped sections of only one or two boards. The other products I bought from AL worked exactly as advertised - the clips, SS screws, and Ipe' Oil (long term durability TBD).
I followed Advantage Lumber's instructions to sticker the wood and let it acclimate for at least a week prior to using it. I let it sit for 2 weeks, but wish I had let it sit longer because I have had some noticeable shrinkage in some areas. It has shrunk the most in the boards I first installed. The boards I installed last, about 10 days later after a hot dry spell, have shrunk less. Maybe it will all be the same in another year; only time will tell. Ipe' seems to have quite a bit of seasonal expansion/contraction, too, and we'll see how that plays into the carefully constructed planter boxes I made, including the mitered and glued corners.
Ipe' was not that hard to work with as many had warned about. It is heavy, to be sure. But it cut fine. I will get my miter saw blade sharpened, after five years of projects, but it still cut fine at the end of the job and I made hundreds of cuts with it. I cut several hundred feet of clip slots, too, with a Grizzly biscuit slot cutter, and it still looks fine. I even planed and jointed the boards for the planter boxes trim in my high speed steel knife machines. The blades in them look fine, too. Fortunately, I was not allergic to the dust.
I'm very happy I overbuilt the deck framing. It's rock solid with little to no discernible flex. For the perhaps 10% higher cost of the PT lumber I would do it again w/o question.
Thanks for following along. It was a fun project, but I'm already happy to be back in my basement working on furniture and millwork.
John
Re: An Outdoor Project - New Deck - About done for this year - EdL - 08-07-2015
Stunning.
You did an excellent job.
Ed
Re: An Outdoor Project - New Deck - About done for this year - Big Dave - 08-08-2015
EdL said:
You did an excellent job.
Worth repeating.
Well Done!
Re: An Outdoor Project - New Deck - About done for this year - R Clark - 08-08-2015
Wow. What a great deck!
Re: An Outdoor Project - New Deck - About done for this year - Ken Vick - 08-08-2015
Nicest deck I have ever seen. Really, it is furniture quality. Ken
Re: An Outdoor Project - New Deck - About done for this year - Kansas City Fireslayer - 08-08-2015
Wow, John. I don't know what's more impressive, the design or the overall beauty. I like how it has a bit of a mid century furniture look to it. FWIW, I like mid century designs. I also like Ipe and Jatoba wood.
I was surprised to read the lumber was only 10% more then PT. Given the obvious benefits of Ipe, I'm surprised we don't see more of it. I'm planning a new concrete stamped patio next year and I'll look into using Ipe for the overhead trestle and posts. Great craftsmanship and nothing to sneeze at from a labor perspective either.
Re: An Outdoor Project - New Deck - About done for this year - jteneyck - 08-08-2015
Oh, sorry Damon, you either misunderstood or I misstated what I meant to say. The 10% upcharge I was referring to was the for the cost of the larger PT framing materials. I used 2 x 10's for the beams and 2 x 8's for the joists, vs. the minimum requirements of 2 x 8's and 2 x 6's, respectively. That cost about 10% more, on the order of $100 - $150. In total, the framing cost around $1000 delivered.
The Ipe' was a LOT more compared to PT decking. It was something like $5.30 per linear foot for 5/4 x 6" wide stock, pre-grooved both edges, and an $0.80/ft upcharge for anything over 14' long. The Cumaru was cheap at $1/ft but only because I was able to buy a bunch of 2' shorts they had left over from some other project. But Ipe' is on par with the cost of TimberTech decking and that made the choice easy for me as to which one to buy.
And the cost of the clips and stainless steel screws really added up, too. I'm pretty sure I have over $1K worth of hardware by the time I got done with all of it for the framing and deck.
All in all, a good project. It really needed to be done. Best of all, my wife and I are both pleased with how it turned out.
John