Help! Specs for IPE deck in contract

keep replacing the boards until he is completely satisfied. send him T&M bill.

Part of the draw in using a natural product, is the color variation. As for the gaps, I know that the ipe we now receive is not as dry as we used to get it and the widths are not constant.

JonMon gets his South American lumber from East Teak its the same now as when I strated with that outfit 10 years ago.

Ipe goes from almost black,the center of the tree, to blond, the outside of the tree. As with any lumber there is going to be differances in width thats been the nature of the game from the begining I am not understanding why your guy would not know this.

But say this Wallet is geting a little picky size the lumber on the table saw, or sort it by width use them together, save out the ones with wide color diferances buy more for her use those for cool stuff in the shop, explain to her the cost of doing this.

There ya go in writing and all. J.

Uppers replace she with he, it just sounded like a girl complaint.

Magic Hammer said:

Does anyone have good written contract specifications to install Ipe decking?
My last customer is driving my carpenter crazy picking out boards because of color variations and saying the gap varies between the boards.
My carpenter always does a good job and I always get referrals from his jobs.
How can I tell the customer he's being too picky?

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Color variations come w/ the territory of using real wood, as stated above. That much should be explained to the customer w/ finality.

Gaps between the boards should be consistent - what is the variance? Are the boards face screwed or are you using a HFS? (Please don't let it be Eb-Tys)

Mac

Hey Skye, this sounds like a matter for the DECK GOD. DECK GOD SPEAKS, YOU HAVE A BOTHERSOME SHOPPER. THE TIME FOR SHOPPING HAS SINCE PASSED MY SON. I'm sure if your bothersome shopper had asked for perfectly matched material size and shade when shopping you would have priced it if it exists at all. SAY THREE HALE DECK LORDS, STOP THE WINNING AND MOVE ON TO A MORE MEANINGFUL PURPOSE.

Ok I'll stop "winning" now and move on.
What I asked for is if someone had good specs to write in the contract to avoid it next time.
Sometimes the sells rep doesn't tell the customer everything may not be perfect because it's a natural product.
Thanks for all the comments and help.

I don't have that in my contract. It all gets okayed as the job progresses.

BTW, those colour variances will be minimal once you oil the wood. And as time goes by, the boards will eventually be nearly identical in colour.

Magic Hammer said:

Ok I'll stop "winning" now and move on.
What I asked for is if someone had good specs to write in the contract to avoid it next time.
Sometimes the sells rep doesn't tell the customer everything may not be perfect because it's a natural product.
Thanks for all the comments and help.

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NO NO No I wasn't suggesting that it was you that was wining. I was saying it was your customer. In Most spec's all you should have to state is the type, size and grade. No reason to get any more detail then that. example Pressure Treated 2x4 S/Pine #2 and better. If your customer understands the Spec's it should be clear what to expect. The time for learning and shopping is over. You don't have a crystal ball that tells you what your customer doesn't or forgot to ask about what they just purchased.

Mike From the Deck God's Press Association