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First, as a visitor from over at the “Knots” forum, let me apologize in advance if I break any protocols of this forum or have posted in the wrong area. Also, I haven’t done a search of the archives because I’m not exactly sure which keywords to use, and a search of “decks” alone brings up way too much information.
A little background on my situation: I bought a 40-year old house in the woods in southern Michigan about two years ago. It’s a unique, architect-designed house in the style that was then known as “California modern” (I think) — lots of right angles, flat roof at various levels (since replaced with a low hip roof, because of the snow), floor-to-ceiling windows, etc. It’s on a slope, so at the back of the house the main, or upper, floor sits above a full walk-out lower level. There’s a deck on the upper floor that sits above a concrete-floored porch that extends from sliding doors in the lower floor. A staircase comes off the deck and comes down (one 180-degree turn) to the lower-level porch.
The previous owners had the deck re-built about 8-10 years ago, and they used some type of sealing material/fabric underneath some type of all-weather carpeting. A bad choice; while the deck is waterproof and doesn’t leak on the porch below, the carpet holds water like a sponge. Between the spongy carpet, the lack of sun due to all the trees, and the billions of leaves that land on it each fall, the deck needs about 5-7 days of good weather after each rainstorm in order to dry out. Given our damp summers, that usually means that we get about 3 days of use on the deck each year; otherwise, we’re squishing around.
We’ve spent the last year-and-a-half trying to get someone to come out — including the original contractor — and to bid on a project to re-do the deck (either repair or re-build, whichever is best) and create a three-season room where the lower-level porch is now. For some reason, we have had a terrible time even getting people to come out to the house, much less bid on the job. Those few that have actually submitted a bid have clearly not understood what we’re looking for (and I think we’ve been pretty straightforward and clear, but I could be wrong).
Perhaps its us (we want the deck and three-season room to complement the design and style of the house, not just look like an afterthought, slap-on), perhaps it’s our location (we may not have the concentration of craftsmen that can be found in larger cities), maybe it’s the (former) economy (there was a new home building boom in the area, and many of the contractors confessed that it was easier and more lucrative to bid on those projects rather than our one-off)… whatever. We’ve had more missed appointments than I can count…
In any case, I’m tired of not being able to use the porch, and would like to do some sort of temporary fix until we can finally get a pro in to do the job right. I’m worried about removing the carpet myself and spoiling the seal, so I’ve been thinking about creating a system of wood pallet-like squares that I can build in my workshop and then lay down, like the squares of a large checkerboard, on top of the current carpet covering. This wouldn’t prevent the carpet underneath from getting wet, but will keep our furniture and our feet up off the spongy stuff. Also, since they’re temporary and not nailed down, we could lift them periodically to remove accumulated leaves, put them away for the winter, etc.
Is this feasible and/or sensible? I know I can build them — that’s not the problem — but I’m not sure if the added weight of the pallets is likely to be too much for the deck (it’s about 12′ by 20′). Is there a recommended type of wood for such a fix, that is light but also weather-resistant — and relatively cheap, since I’m hoping this is a short-term solution?
Any ideas? I apologize for the length of this post, but figured that if I gave more information, I’d make it easier for you to offer possible solutions/advice, and keep me from REALLY screwing things up. Thanks,
David Moore
Replies
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First, as a visitor from over at the "Knots" forum, let me apologize in advance if I break any protocols of this forum or have posted in the wrong area. Also, I haven't done a search of the archives because I'm not exactly sure which keywords to use, and a search of "decks" alone brings up way too much information.
A little background on my situation: I bought a 40-year old house in the woods in southern Michigan about two years ago. It's a unique, architect-designed house in the style that was then known as "California modern" (I think) -- lots of right angles, flat roof at various levels (since replaced with a low hip roof, because of the snow), floor-to-ceiling windows, etc. It's on a slope, so at the back of the house the main, or upper, floor sits above a full walk-out lower level. There's a deck on the upper floor that sits above a concrete-floored porch that extends from sliding doors in the lower floor. A staircase comes off the deck and comes down (one 180-degree turn) to the lower-level porch.
The previous owners had the deck re-built about 8-10 years ago, and they used some type of sealing material/fabric underneath some type of all-weather carpeting. A bad choice; while the deck is waterproof and doesn't leak on the porch below, the carpet holds water like a sponge. Between the spongy carpet, the lack of sun due to all the trees, and the billions of leaves that land on it each fall, the deck needs about 5-7 days of good weather after each rainstorm in order to dry out. Given our damp summers, that usually means that we get about 3 days of use on the deck each year; otherwise, we're squishing around.
We've spent the last year-and-a-half trying to get someone to come out -- including the original contractor -- and to bid on a project to re-do the deck (either repair or re-build, whichever is best) and create a three-season room where the lower-level porch is now. For some reason, we have had a terrible time even getting people to come out to the house, much less bid on the job. Those few that have actually submitted a bid have clearly not understood what we're looking for (and I think we've been pretty straightforward and clear, but I could be wrong).
Perhaps its us (we want the deck and three-season room to complement the design and style of the house, not just look like an afterthought, slap-on), perhaps it's our location (we may not have the concentration of craftsmen that can be found in larger cities), maybe it's the (former) economy (there was a new home building boom in the area, and many of the contractors confessed that it was easier and more lucrative to bid on those projects rather than our one-off)... whatever. We've had more missed appointments than I can count...
In any case, I'm tired of not being able to use the porch, and would like to do some sort of temporary fix until we can finally get a pro in to do the job right. I'm worried about removing the carpet myself and spoiling the seal, so I've been thinking about creating a system of wood pallet-like squares that I can build in my workshop and then lay down, like the squares of a large checkerboard, on top of the current carpet covering. This wouldn't prevent the carpet underneath from getting wet, but will keep our furniture and our feet up off the spongy stuff. Also, since they're temporary and not nailed down, we could lift them periodically to remove accumulated leaves, put them away for the winter, etc.
Is this feasible and/or sensible? I know I can build them -- that's not the problem -- but I'm not sure if the added weight of the pallets is likely to be too much for the deck (it's about 12' by 20'). Is there a recommended type of wood for such a fix, that is light but also weather-resistant -- and relatively cheap, since I'm hoping this is a short-term solution?
Any ideas? I apologize for the length of this post, but figured that if I gave more information, I'd make it easier for you to offer possible solutions/advice, and keep me from REALLY screwing things up. Thanks,
David Moore