At Home In The Woods

[Obed]

The spacing between the Trex deck boards is > .25". The gaps resulting from using the Trex hardware are so large that mosquitoes could come through the gaps in the flooring boards. Thus, we are doing something I've never seen; we installed screen material on top of the floor joists. The deck boards will sit on top of the screen. We used heavy duty screen material that is designed to resist damage by pets. We don't need pet protection for the screen material under the deck boards but just want the material to last a long time.

Crawling around on the floor joists stapling down the screens and cutting them to fit around the posts took longer than I expected. In fact, everything I've done on the porch project has taken longer than I expected. Fortunately, putting down the screen material was the last prep step needed before installing the deck boards - finally.

 

[brin]

Crawling around on the floor joists stapling down the screens and cutting them to fit around the posts took longer than I expected

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Obed....How are your knees ? I have done my share of crawling on joists on my knees..always wear knee pads to save the knees...it is worth it...Your deck is looking great and it will last forever. Nice job !

 

[PhysAssist]

The spacing between the Trex deck boards is > .25". The gaps resulting from using the Trex hardware are so large that mosquitoes could come through the gaps in the flooring boards. Thus, we are doing something I've never seen; we installed screen material on top of the floor joists. The deck boards will sit on top of the screen. We used heavy duty screen material that is designed to resist damage by pets. We don't need pet protection for the screen material under the deck boards but just want the material to last a long time.

Crawling around on the floor joists stapling down the screens and cutting them to fit around the posts took longer than I expected. In fact, everything I've done on the porch project has taken longer than I expected. Fortunately, putting down the screen material was the last prep step needed before installing the deck boards - finally.

Did you consider stapling the screen on the underside of the joists?

Or was that vetoed on aesthetic {or other} grounds?
T

 

[clemsonfor]

The spacing between the Trex deck boards is > .25". The gaps resulting from using the Trex hardware are so large that mosquitoes could come through the gaps in the flooring boards. Thus, we are doing something I've never seen; we installed screen material on top of the floor joists. The deck boards will sit on top of the screen. We used heavy duty screen material that is designed to resist damage by pets. We don't need pet protection for the screen material under the deck boards but just want the material to last a long time.

Crawling around on the floor joists stapling down the screens and cutting them to fit around the posts took longer than I expected. In fact, everything I've done on the porch project has taken longer than I expected. Fortunately, putting down the screen material was the last prep step needed before installing the deck boards - finally.

Good thinking, my wife always worries about the bugs that would come in under the deck, i say, who cares it cant be that many??

The only problem i see is that with to much dirt/debris it will fill up the cracks between the boards. Dirt will wash through but they eventually will fill up with pet hair and debris that you track in and or what blows though the open door?

 

[brin]

The only problem i see is that with to much dirt/debris it will fill up the cracks between the boards. Dirt will wash through but they eventually will fill up with pet hair and debris that you track in and or what blows though the open door?

I think Obed can always use an air compressor or blower to blow any debris up and out as long as it is not allowed to accumulate and compact..but good point and something to watch out for.

 

[tony Cecil]

We put up tomato cages using T-posts and woven wire fence.

For two years ina row I`v had the tomatoes fall over later in the season...Make sure the post is well driven into the ground...Once they fall over , the tomato vines break, and that`s it.....Everything is sure looking good, and the view from the porch is a nice one Tony

 

[dstig1]

Pretty sure the screen was suggested earlier in the thread (though it may well have been last year or sometime long ago), as I think I suggested it along with a couple others. I've done it before and heard of others doing it. But no matter, it is a good trick to use. The downside is that it will collect crap, but if the porch is screened in, that gets reduced significantly. Oh yeah, and it makes installing deck boards a royal PITA as you have to be careful not to poke through it (or step through it...). But well worth it in the end, IMHO.

Looks like it is coming together nicely!

I might also suggest that you allow a bit more of a deck board gap around your twisting posts, as they may not be done twisting yet and if they do more, it could buckle your deck boards. Wood movement is basically The Unstoppable Force of the world, so it is best to allow for it rather than fight it...

 

[Obed]

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Obed....How are your knees ? I have done my share of crawling on joists on my knees..always wear knee pads to save the knees...it is worth it...

Brin,
I wear knee pads whenever I will be working on my knees. My wife spent a day painting the tops of the joists without using knee pads and one of her knees suffered as a result.

Your deck is looking great and it will last forever.

Maybe, if the carpenter bees don't destroy it. I keep finding sawdust under some of the holes and it's quite annoying. After we get the deck boards installed, we'll puddy up the holes when it's easy to move a ladder around.
Obed

 

[Obed]

After finishing hoeing the badly weed infested garden, my wife decided hoeing so much was for the birds. So she got some free compost from an adjacent county. She spread the compost between the rows in the garden to slow down the weed growth. In previous gardens, she put wood chips and compost between the rows to help hinder the weeds with good success. Unfortunately, this compost is not as "decomposed" as we would like. You can see a lot of leaves in it. We hope it doesn't hurt the garden.

 

[Obed]

Did you consider stapling the screen on the underside of the joists?

Or was that vetoed on aesthetic {or other} grounds?
T

Stapling the screen from below was a consideration. My wife probably wouldn't have liked the looks; it would have been certain to droop.

For me, the biggest consideration was that installing the screen on the undersides would have been much harder than installing it on the tops. Crawling around under the deck in awkward positions trying to hold the screen up and staple it didn't seem very appealing to me. Plus, if you dropped something through the cracks and it landed on top of the screen, how would you ever get it out? You'd have to cut the screen or remove the staples to retrieve something that fell between the deck boards. In the current scenario, I might be able to use a pair of tweezers from above to retrieve something stuck between the cracks in the boards.

Obed