Decking preference for a dock
 

Just started planning for a new dock located on a river. I can't decide which decking material to use. The ones I'm interested in are ipe (Brazilian hardwood) and another wood product called Kebony. As for man-made stuff, I'm interested in Titan Deck.

What do you guys have and how has it been? Are you happy with your choice?

Ipe is some Hard A$$ wood. I made my Hot Tub deck and stairs with it $$$$

What cost were you quoted per foot for this stuff

That looks great. I was quoted $7.58 per square foot for 1X6 and $10.50 for 5/4X6. Kebony runs $9.32 and I think Titan is about $11.

My only thoughts are my Epi was nice a red when I installed it. It took only a short time and it turned some what brown. And it’s 100% out of the sun. What is the recommended maintenance for Epi

Some people leave it to go grey and others clean and oil it every year like teak. Personally, I’d prefer to let it go grey.

Is there any truth to dogs nails getting ripped off on a product like Titan Deck? We need to redo our dock and we herd that but do not know if there is any truth to it.

Haven't heard about any dog issues. Cost for Titan was quoted around $9 sq ft.

IPE is great stuff but it is so hard you have to predrill for fasteners and it eats saw blades. It will weather nicely of you are OK with grey. It looks great but I could not imagine putting any type of oil on the surface because I don't think it would adsorb and it would be a mess tracking oil everywhere. You need be OK with letting it grey.

I rebuilt a pier with the stuff - 5 semi trucks of 2x6x20. $$$

Decking is IPE after about 8 months. Railing is not.

srock:/ Holly Cow. that's gotta be big bucks. Yes I saw sparks comming from my saw blade when chopping this stuff. My poor Diablo blade :(

Big bucks and unfortunately no match for hurricane educed waves pushing them up. You can see how it weathers grey so it does not get checked like a pressure treated material. The tight grain makes it look great compared to other materials but you still need to be OK with grey.

Yep. Wife prefers the grey and wants it to look natural so it looks like I've got my first ipe project ahead. I've read you need to wipe some wax or oil on newly cut ends and some people say oil it once to prevent checking-even if you plan to let it go silvery grey. Not sure if that's true. I'm gonna use 1X6. I'm looking for some coated, stainless self tapping screws as well as the right counter sink bit since I'm going into 12 gauge galvanized C-channel. I can't find any info on the best size of screws to use. I'm guessing #10? I've also looked into the hidden fastening systems like Ipe Clip, but I'm doubtful that is a good choice for a floating dock.

We hopped on the jet skis and went all over looking at decking surfaces before narrowing it down. The thing that surprised me was just how bad Trex and other products like it have aged. We saw tons of Trex-type decks on the river and Disco Bay that looked like they were pulled out of a landfill.

Didn’t original Trex fail bad? I thought that much of original Trex was replaced via a class action law suit. Question could the Trex you saw been old flawed material, that never got replaced? I thought the newer stuff was much better. That reminds me I saw a bunch of new Syenthetic decking at OK lumber in San Carlos. The stuff looked and felt awesome. No idea how long it would stay like that?

I have a friend who had two different Trex-type decks replaced under warranty. I don't remember which brands they were. He eventually had ipe installed. I think Trex and those types of decking look so plastic that it's not even an option for me. They also get pretty hot in our summers.

One and done..Lifetime Maintenance free paver deck will outlast the original owner...

https://paverdeck.com

My buddy just did a huge floating dock with concrete tiles that look similar to travertine stone for the decking. It turned out awesome. I'll get a picture of in the next week or two. The tiles I just laid out on a frame that sits on top of the floats.

Yeah, I considered concrete as well. Hard to match that durability for sure. The weight adds some stability too when a boat wake comes by.

His is awesome and your right it is so stable.

Here is what my buddies looks like with the concrete tiles. It’s a Tiger brand dock. His brother and Dad own the company I believe.

Nice. Which city and state is that in?

Downside to the concrete is they get pretty hot if they are in direct sunlight.

That’s exactly why I asked where it is.

North Carolina at Badin lake. To me it doesn't get any hotter than anything else I've stepped on with bare feet. Everything is hot when it's 95 out.

http://www.nexaninc.com/products/dec...uminum-decking

I built a dock a couple years ago and used Next Deck, extruded aluminum decking. It stays fairly cool, it's light weight and doesn't fade or stain. I designed my dock and just called them and had it cut to my specs. You can also do 24" centers, which saves on the framing. They have hidden fasteners as well.