I’m re-building an old covered porch that had T&G over a plywood sub-floor. I like the traditional look , but this porch had to be replaced every 5 years from rot. I decided to go with removing the sub-floor and placing 1×6’s redwood boards over the joists and venting the foundation.
Problem is…my contractor re installed a subfloor over the joists and put down tar paper, when I was gone. Now the 1×6’s boards will drain right down onto the tar papered plywood. Ugh. What to do now??
Should go buy T&G and float it over this…or should I just pull up the plywood and do it with the redwood 1×6’s I have.
My objective is to get the best life out of the new construction and maintain a traditional look.
The joists are 12″ on center and there is a step up on the deck that is built on a concrete foundation. Im in Southern California, but the soil here is clay and has a tendency to hold onto what little moisture there is for an eternity.
Help!
Replies
I'd rip out the plywod -- it's a rot nursery. Problem is, the 1x6 is a hair light, even at 12".
You could try pulliing the paper, peppering the plywood with 1/2" to 1" holes, and layiing down lath about every 6-8 inches to hold the redwood off the ply.
I also think the 1x6 is a bit light - usually it's a 1-1/2x6 t&g if there's no subfloor.
This past fall I repaired some RW decking............
2x4 RW that had no ventilation at all. Ends rotted, no end seals. Some showed rot on the underside that finally worked it's way up.
I'd remove the ply also, maybe lay down some heavy visqueen if you think more moisture is going to come up, rather than rain through............(which is it you were going to use originally-sq edge or T&G?
deck-rot .. columns shot too ..T&G vs 2x6
Confirmed. OK ..The plywood comes off. as for the redwood 1x6's... You all seem to concur that it's too light. I have room under the sills for 2x6's OR ....now that I won't be using the lumber I have, would I be ok with the T&G? If I went with T&G I would have to probably vent all three sides of the foundation on a 12'x30' porch. I'm committed to doing this right. This time anyway! So T&G or 2x6?
I have 4 wooden columns that look pretty bad. I can clean up two but the other two have what looks like cellulite. I think they are goners.
What do you think of replacing them with Fiberglass columns , as opposed to wood?
Robin
Have you considered a t&g
Have you considered a t&g epi? It would span 12" and will be much more rot resistant than redwood. Cost is higher, but it's beautiful stuff if kept oiled and just as durable if no finish is applied.
Another choice is moving away from wood altogether and using a membrane over the subfloor and tiling the floor. Essentially you're making the floor like a shower pan with a very minimal slope to drain and the liquid membranes make this type of situation much easier to deal with than in the past.
It's much more work, but a suspended concrete slab is one of my favorite designs - stamped concrete looks fantastic, no maintenance, almost unlimited life.