What should I put below this deck?

[hugh71158]

Hi all,

my first post here, so please excuse me if this is the wrong section, or for anything else I might be off the mark with.

So, I bought a house 6 months ago and the deck looked like it needed a little attention. Getting further into it, it looked like it needed a lot of attention. Finally, it became clear that not a stick of wood could be salvaged! You will see from the image below just how rotten it all was.

Now that I have hauled everything away, I was wondering, what's the best way to deal with the base?


1. Remove everything and put plastic or similar down.

2. Just build over what's there.

3. Some other solution!


Any advice would be really appreciated.

Thank you!

Hugh

[ArtDeck-O]

It's much easier to rebuild if you remove all the rubble and get down to just dirt. I've torn apart many a deck that looked like that underneath. I'd put landscape cloth down so nothing grows. Then a final layer of black plastic on top of that for insurance. Had some grass grow up between my deck boards at home even with cloth underneath. Must be all the rain we've had.

[CJ-8_Jim]

Just curious... one photo shows rotted framing laying on the ground. But another photo shows what appears to be concrete piers.

Where you planning on laying the frame on the ground as before (as it appears in that one photo)? (Not recommended and 99% chance not allowed if there is a building/code enforcement department).

Or will it be raised above the ground and laying on what appears to be concrete piers in the other photo?

[hugh71158]

Just curious... one photo shows rotted framing laying on the ground. But another photo shows what appears to be concrete piers.

Where you planning on laying the frame on the ground as before (as it appears in that one photo)? (Not recommended and 99% chance not allowed if there is a building/code enforcement department).

Or will it be raised above the ground and laying on what appears to be concrete piers in the other photo?

Hi,

you can see the bottom of the door wall in one photo, so at that point the decking was on the ground. (deck is stepped down from house floor level) The garden slopes downwards, so at the end of the deck it's a couple of feet high.

Thanks for the reply. Kelly, thank you also for your input.

Hugh

[mighty3]

I think you should try to rebuild it again for better result and future protection.
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[Bayn Wood]

Hi all,

my first post here, so please excuse me if this is the wrong section, or for anything else I might be off the mark with.

So, I bought a house 6 months ago and the deck looked like it needed a little attention. Getting further into it, it looked like it needed a lot of attention. Finally, it became clear that not a stick of wood could be salvaged! You will see from the image below just how rotten it all was.

Now that I have hauled everything away, I was wondering, what's the best way to deal with the base?


1. Remove everything and put plastic or similar down.

2. Just build over what's there.

3. Some other solution!


Any advice would be really appreciated.

Thank you!

Hugh

What we usually do here in Michigan is a layer of 6 mil plastic weed barrier, and 2"-3" layer of pea stone.

I would diffently look to elevate that lower portion of the deck as much as you can. Generally you would like to have 8" to 12" of air space below the deck frame.

We recommend to all of our customers that would have framing right at grade level to go with a hardscape option - brick pavers, stamped concrete, etc.

Good Luck with your project!

[hugh71158]

What we usually do here in Michigan is a layer of 6 mil plastic weed barrier, and 2"-3" layer of pea stone.

I would diffently look to elevate that lower portion of the deck as much as you can. Generally you would like to have 8" to 12" of air space below the deck frame.

We recommend to all of our customers that would have framing right at grade level to go with a hardscape option - brick pavers, stamped concrete, etc.

Good Luck with your project!

Yeah, the deck I just took out was laying right into the soil. There is little room, so it looks like I will have to excavate.

Thanks for the reply! (Michigan also, by the way)

Hugh