Anyone installed Ipe deck tiles?

[TurnagainD]

I have a couple of deck projects this summer over EPDM roof membranes and I think the deck tiles from Advantage Lumber look great.  I have not seen them installed in my area and have a few concerns...  We get a lot of rain and ice and the spacers provided seem pretty thin.  It seems like the weight of the tiles keeps the deck in place or is there another attachment.  What if your deck dimensions do not fit with the tile layout, can you trim the tiles?

Any thoughts and insights would be appreciated.

Kevin

 

[WarnerConstCo.]

They are nice for that application.  I was using Advantage lumber for the last year or so, but the last load of Garapa and Ipe was 5 days late and 1/2 the Ipe for a gate and fence was junk lumber (huge tear outs, bad milling).  I am so mad at them, I did not bother even trying to send the junk boards back or get replacements from them.  I have a 800 sq/ft Ipe deck I have just started and I am getting all my lumber for that (and the few replacement boards for the gate) from George at East Teak.  He also saved me approximately 2 grand on that order compared to Advantage Lumber.

Moral of the story, the tiles are nice to work with, AL sucks. 

 

[TurnagainD]

Bummer you had a hard time with Advantage Lumber.  I like the looks of their system but being in Alaska, customer service is a big deal.  I don't want to place an order twice much less ship junk back.

Kevin

 

[BraniffK]

I have used the Advantage Lumber Ipe Tiles. They seemed to be machined well, but could definitely tell when the blades where on the last legs. I noticed they use cut-offs & tear-out pieces for the "legs / runners" which is perfectly fine with me...who's going to see them & they will not effect the units. My only complaint was some pieces had larger than expected dings in the face surfaces. I ordered enough just incase.

I used my TS55 w/splinter guard & rail with an Amana Festool General Purpose Blade (160x12T, MD160-120). I had several custom tiles to make and needed the rail to cut the tiles while attached...yes removed any potential screws from area. Although the blade is meant for ripping it handled the cross cuts ok. THe reason I weant with a rip blade was for the large gullets to reduce the heat build up from the Ipe. Maybe a Festool 14T blade #495372 or Amana Festool 20T blade #MD160-140 would have been better??? I'm going try my Trion next-time.

The biggest problem is re-drilling the holes...my counter-sink cole was not sufficient and wish I had picked up the Amana carbide tip one. Cobalt bits worked the best.