Recent rain got our indoor/outdoor floor covering wet and June/July/Aug are predicted for 4" per month. Moved in Jan 2006 and don't know how to handle potential mold problems. Don't want to block external surface as that would negate the screened porch attributes. Pull up existing covering every rainy season which might be very frequent around here.
What is beneath the floor covering? That can make a big difference in how long the floor covering remains wet after a rain.
Does the sun hit the covering for a significant portion of the day (south side of house, or even west)? The sun will do a lot toward keeping mold at bay.
Does the porch allow the wind to pass freely across it or does it have one (other than the one that has the door to the porch) or more walls blocking the air flow?
End of rainy season will be here soon enough - then you'll be wasting precious water to keep your grass green and won't have to worry about mold on the porch. Have to admit though, last summer was wetter than usual - depends mostly on whether hurricanes/tropical systems come through...
If mold does turn up, bleach and water will kill it, but might also work a number on your floor covering. I'm sure there are other, more toxic, solutions that you could pour on your porch to kill mold if you're into that sort of thing...
Personally, if the floor covering got moldy, I'd toss it and live with what's underneath or do one of the following:
If what's underneath is something like plywood, I'd replace it with 5/4 decking (or maybe the synthetic boards) - plywood will be a problem sooner or later anyway.
If it's concrete, maybe put tile on it if you don't like the look of concrete. You can also stain concrete.
Bred and born in Georgia and never have had a problem with anything growing on *covered* porches. Where we're living now (9 years), front porch faces north, with tile floor - nothing growing on it. Back (screened) porch faces south, 5/4 decking floor - nothing growing on it. Concrete patio (not screened) beneath back porch doesn't have anything growing on it either.
I did have problems with discoloration on a *non-covered* patio on the north side of the last house we lived in. Pressure washing would fix it for a while, but then whatever it was would grow again...
Augusta Chronicle commented the June - Aug period will have the "typical" 4" of rain each month. Lattice under the porch and plywood shows at the floor edge leading out to the deck implying ply on entire floor. We'll probably lift the covering and live on the safe side for now as there are too many other tigers snapping at our tails. Thanks for the informative response,
Don't bank on an inch per week - probably won't happen. Mebbe 4" per month will fall, but likely it'll come as a couple of inches in one storm and a couple of inches in another (or all 4" at once) with dry spells between. That's usually how it works west of Atlanta (my location) and Augusta, as a general rule, is dryer (and warmer) than here in summer. Usually, we depend on winter and spring to recharge the water supplies - tropical systems can change that drastically, but not dependably.
FYI, if you shop around online at the local TV stations' sites you can probably find the monthly averages for rainfall and temp, and possibly the records as well. If the TV stations don't have the info (or a link to it) look at the National Weather Service. I think you'll find that the "rainy season" ends along about the end of May and doesn't start back until around November or so.
Good idea to lift the cover. Putting it out when company comes over or for special occasions will help keep your plywood dry. If plywood gets very wet with any regularity, the plys will separate sooner or later, causing buckles
- even the treated stuff. Probably best to replace with other material when you get rid of some of the tigers.
In the meantime, I'd suggest that you ask around about the best way to seal the plywood against water. The end grains of the plys are the most important as that's what will soak up the most water - but the flat surface is important too. Since the porch is screened, water that gets onto the porch will have a hard time getting off as it probably can't just run off the side. An advantage of 5/4 decking is that the water can escape through the cracks between the boards instead of puddling. The screening will help to keep a lot of water (depending on wind speed) from getting onto the deck part of the plywood, so you have an advantage there...
Although I've never used it, I'd bet that the cover you have would dry quick enough not to mold if it were on top of regular decking instead of plywood.
Depending on the size of the porch, may not be too expensive to deck with 5/4 decking - particularly if you do the work yourself. Dunno your skill level, but it's pretty straightforward unless the roof supports *don't* pass through the decking. Having to support the roof during replacement makes it a bit more difficult and may require replacement of the supports if the thickness of the new decking is less than the original material (5/4 should be thicker than plywood), but not impossible for the do-it-yourselfer. FYI, I'd recommend the galvanized screws over nails - even the spiral shank nails pull out enough for the heads to be a problem after a few years of regular deck use in my experience.
Later, Mike (substitute strickland in the obvious location to reply directly)
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