admin_old

My wife is looking at this material to replace our current decking surface (pressure treated), and wanted to know if this "IPE" very hard to attach fasteners to? I have read that it is extremely hard material, and that you have to pre-drill each hole to get it through the decking itself...

Any experiences?

GuRu

When using this type of wood you just want to make sure that you are using high quality cutting and drilling tools. It is recommended to only use stainless steel for IPE. As far as the ease in attachment...not sure.

Aliciane

I personnaly have never used it but I talked to a friend who used it and said that yes, it is extremely hard material and that it is best to pre-drill each hole to get it through the decking itself so as not to crack the wood.

Deckman

+1 to using high quality tools. Make sure you dont use old tools that are rusty. You want it to be clean and strong. Pre-drilling them holes can be a pain, but in the end.... One nice deck.

harvcr

I think you should keep in mind the dryness of the place where you live. If you think that your area is pretty dry, then I don' recommend using IPE. It is said that if the humidity is lower than 35% then IPE tends to crack easily.
And yes, it is a very hard material.
Good luck and let us know how it goes!

deadmite

I would recommend that you should just plan where you need to drill, it makes it easier. Also get a more powerful drill too, not a hand held on maybe a table drill because the material is a little stronger than wood

deckman2

Special tools are not required to work with ipe, just good drill bits/blades. A handheld 3/8 drive drill works fine for drilling holes & installing screws. I recommend using Headcote screws #8x2 1/2", they are stainless steel with a trimhead that is powdercoated, use the brown colored ones for ipe. Use an end sealer to cut down on checking. Other than that it's just wood that really hard.

Al

Patiosclotures

I gain some knowledge that Ipe clip fasteners are mechanically the best way to fasten because they allow the deck boards to expand and contract on the width of the board without putting pressure on the fasteners.

aron searle

Generally with hardwood decking, you want to make the holes bigger than the shank of the screw by +1mm, to allow the boards to expand and shrink. Ipe is a very strong timber, and when this isn't done I have seen it snap screw fixings.

The fixings should be 2.5x the thickness of the board in length with such hardwood's, as the pull out force if they try to cup is immense.

clip fasteners should be used with care, there are many different types, and you need to ensure you use very strong clips with dense hardwoods so that they can resist any cupping (the cheaper metal ones bend, and plastic ones can snap).

Roque Valente

a previous reply mentioned to use stainless steel screws for fastening, this is very true and important, otherwise you will get black stain around the screws. If you already have this problem then check this to remove the stain and do some ipe deck maintenance and cleaning