So about a year back I took on this raised & covered patio….. The client ended up changing the wood to Ipe. I had to make Ipe caps and covers for all the structural beams, posts, ceiling and kitchen. The lumber yard sent undersized boards, so for the wider pieces I had to splice two together. Everything was built on site. I mainly used 5/4 and 1x….. Everything is lock mitered, glued, screwed and plugged……. It took so long because, the client changed the layout about 4 times. Kept flip flopping on materials, and I was shut down for around 4 months when the town stopped by and started complaining about impervious usage (dont ask)….. But today, its finally fucking done… I finished wiring in all of heaters and LED’s and juiced it up.
A few tips and pointers from a recently realized Ipe expert; 1: Traditional wood glues Will not hold up outside. Titebond III works OK after wiping the wood with acetone. Loctite PL3x works great, but is a mess to work with, and the glue lines look awful. System 3 G-2 is the Best overall glue, and is yet to show any signs of degradation…. 2: If youre nailing (pinning joints or tongue and groove… etc) an 18 ga would only work with 1 1/4” nails or less. 15 & 16 ga- No problem, but the nail heads are too big, and the guns too powerful for most situations. I mainly used my 23 ga pin nailer- Which works surprisingly well. Also, make sure All fasteners are stainless steel. Anything else begins to degrade in the wood and leave stains….. 3: I found when finishing that if you use 120 grit and work up to 220 grit sand paper and apply the first coat of oil- You get a traditional Ipe finish that lasts around 3 months before gradually fading. Now, if you wet sand with 320 grit, right after the first coat is dry, and then apply a second coat of oil- It takes Significantly longer for the fading process to commence. And the wood looks much smoother and more uniform. I know it sounds weird- But try it, and youll see how well it works……. 4: If youve never estimated for an Ipe job before- Charge 3-4x what you would if you were to use a common hardwood. You will go through an exorbitant amount of blades, pads, chisels and bits. And it absolutely Sucks to work with……………. Anyway, thats that. Tomorrow’s payday, and Im happy with it.
Side note: I know it looks like the Pink Pony strip club with the choice of lighting colors, but that was the first time my client got to mess around with the smart system I set up- And those are the colors he chose. 🤷♂️