screen porch flooring

hyldgrp

we are building a house with a screened in back porch that will sit 9' above the ground. Do you recommend tongue and groove wood flooring? We were thinking of Ipe. Porch will be right next to deck so want to use same material for both. Will tongue and groove separate over time?

joecaption

Have you priced out the IPE yet?
It's about the most stable wood you can buy so it's not going to shrink very much if at all.
I would use the groved 5/4 decking instead with hidden hangers. You want the water to run out of the decking not sit on top of it or in the small gaps like T & G would. If you went with T & G IPE you would have to predrill every single hole.