glennmac
Veteran Member
I need ideas to prevent water from dripping through my back deck so I can store my tractor stuff under there and keep it dry.
The acre my house is on slopes downward from front to back. So I have a walk out basement in the back of my house. My wooden, traditional construction back deck comes off my first floor, so there is about 90" clearance underneath the deck. I park my brush cutter under there, some other implements, and sometimes my tractor. However, since the "roof" of this area is the floor of my back deck, water comes through the deck boards and accumulates on my implements and tractor. I would like to plug up this problem so I have a waterproof sheltered area for my gear.
I have thought of three approaches:
1. Put some sort of waterproof flooring on top of the deck floor. I am concerned that this would leave rainwater puddled up on my deck and start to rot things or seep into my house.
2. Caulk up the cracks between the deck floor boards. Same puddling concern.
3. Put some sort of "roof" underneath the deck floor boards. Water that seeps through the deck boards would then hit this roof, which would be sloped, and run off onto the ground. I could even project the sloping roof somewhat beyond the edge of the deck so the waterproofed area would be further enlarged.
If I go with the roof, what do I make it out of? Keep in mind that I can't get on top of it to nail on waterproofing materials. The "top" of the roof will be enclosed by the deck floor above it. I either have to waterproof the top of the roof before I even nail it up, or I have to waterproof the bottom of the roof after I nail it up. Keep in mind that I have no assistants, no home improvement experience, few tools, and few remaining muscle fibers.
Which makes me think about forgetting about wood as a material. How about plastic, fiberglass or metal. Those materials are inherently waterproof. I'm thinking I just need to cut them to the right sizes, attach them to the underdeck beams (nails?), and then somehow seal the seams between the several sheets it will take. This seam sealing issue also puzzles me.
Any thoughts will be appreciated. Simplicity and cost saving is my primary goal, not complex contruction or architectural beauty.
<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by glennmac on 10/20/01 12:24 PM (server time).</FONT></P>
The acre my house is on slopes downward from front to back. So I have a walk out basement in the back of my house. My wooden, traditional construction back deck comes off my first floor, so there is about 90" clearance underneath the deck. I park my brush cutter under there, some other implements, and sometimes my tractor. However, since the "roof" of this area is the floor of my back deck, water comes through the deck boards and accumulates on my implements and tractor. I would like to plug up this problem so I have a waterproof sheltered area for my gear.
I have thought of three approaches:
1. Put some sort of waterproof flooring on top of the deck floor. I am concerned that this would leave rainwater puddled up on my deck and start to rot things or seep into my house.
2. Caulk up the cracks between the deck floor boards. Same puddling concern.
3. Put some sort of "roof" underneath the deck floor boards. Water that seeps through the deck boards would then hit this roof, which would be sloped, and run off onto the ground. I could even project the sloping roof somewhat beyond the edge of the deck so the waterproofed area would be further enlarged.
If I go with the roof, what do I make it out of? Keep in mind that I can't get on top of it to nail on waterproofing materials. The "top" of the roof will be enclosed by the deck floor above it. I either have to waterproof the top of the roof before I even nail it up, or I have to waterproof the bottom of the roof after I nail it up. Keep in mind that I have no assistants, no home improvement experience, few tools, and few remaining muscle fibers.
Which makes me think about forgetting about wood as a material. How about plastic, fiberglass or metal. Those materials are inherently waterproof. I'm thinking I just need to cut them to the right sizes, attach them to the underdeck beams (nails?), and then somehow seal the seams between the several sheets it will take. This seam sealing issue also puzzles me.
Any thoughts will be appreciated. Simplicity and cost saving is my primary goal, not complex contruction or architectural beauty.
<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by glennmac on 10/20/01 12:24 PM (server time).</FONT></P>