Ipe now is very very expensive, it is what I oroginally was planning on using. I went with the TimberTech because I could not get the hardwoods I wanted.

I hear you BSiple, about the cost of Ipe. It has gone the way of teak in recent years, almost into the range of furniture making material. But it is otherwise remarkably well suited to the decking application, so worth mentioning.

Your deck came out very solid and nice looking. That framing seems very stout. How was the tember tech to work with? And is it proving successful in that decking? My very little use of early manufactured plastics timber showed it to be surprisingly flexible and the stuff I was dealing with would have possibly sagged between farther spaced joists.
It is a developing material so that flex may have been engineered out of the material available by now. The no maintiance feature is a big draw for sure. That railing you used adds a nice look to your deck. Well done!

Cheers Richard

Ive built a number of decks with Timber tech. Its pretty good , as are most of the composites. The original Trex was total garbage compared to the current stuff. Ive only had 3 customers last year that went with Ipe. Its gotten disgustingly expensive.

Thanks for the update on current composites Vinman, trex may well have been the material I was thinking about. Now that you mention it the name does sound familure, limp for sure.

That joist grabber clamp is good to know about also.

Cheers Richard

I talked at length with one of the guys at a hardwood shop nearby about what to use for decking and even though Ipe is the gold standard as far as wood goes, he said he rarely recommends it anymore because the price is too high to justify compared to Tigerwood, Cumaru, garapa, etc. that all have similar properties that make Ipe ideal. Tigerwood is almost as dense, has the same fire rating (still can't believe wood can have a fire rating the same as concrete) and I like the look. At 33% cheaper, it really wasn't hard choice.

I really like Ipe. Wears like iron. I have it in my own house. Mangaris is the other lumber of choice for decking if you ask me. Its 10-15% of Ipe, not as hard (why do we need a super hard decking?) but hard enough to be really durable and it isn't as dark as Ipe. I will try and post a pic of a deck I built for my neighbor later this evening when I get home.

Please post some pics.

Is mangaris know by some other name? Haven't come across it before.

Here's the Mangaris deck. This is for my neighbor who lives a few houses down the street from me. That deck is 20" off the ground

The man in the pic is not me, its my workman. I am much prettier then that.http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1516669881.JPG
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1516669881.jpg

Is that also called red balau? Good looking wood, there is a supplier I might contact for a price. Didn't know that was it, some of these woods have braded names, makes it confusing to compare apples to apples quotes.

Mangaris is Red Balau. Mangaris is a brand name. Most guys know exactly what it is at the lumber yard

Look, do you have any issues with cable railings, as far as them being approved?

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Lots of good advice, but I'd start with a retaining wall. That's why it got wrecked.

No, as long as they are 4" apart, we are fine.

A lot of towns I deal with wont allow the cable rails. Mainly because of the horizontal " ladder" thing.

Most of the inspectors here, especially in the shore area are super tough with deck codes. its just real annoying when I cant get two inspectors from the same office to agree on something.

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Horizontal railing, cable or wood is the latest fad out here. We call horizontal wood railing Hipster fence.

You know who they are, especially in the smaller towns so that may make it easier. In LA, I can go down to the city and chat with one of the planner and do exactly what he say and go back the very next day with corrections only to find out that it isn't necessary and something else is needed but by someone else. This kind of senescence happens often on some of the smaller remodeling projects. I wanna to kill those guys and none of them seem to care and the wait time is fooking crazy and long. Sorry for the rant.

So galvanized hangers are OK?

That's a great job. What decking materials did you use?

That's great work. I want to do something similar. What decking materials did you use? I was thinking to buy composite sheets from dinodecking.co.uk. I read that this kind of decking is durable and will resist for more than 20 years, also I saw some pictures of this decking, it seems to look good. What do you think about composite boards? Is it a good decision or better to buy wood? Any suggestions are more than welcome.

Please use wood decking, not composite or PVC....don't ask me how I know.

They have to be triple galvanized hangers. Simpson hangers that have a Z before the numbers.