Deck flooring advice needed.

[firstjois]

[snip]

I've seen a couple of decks with a couple of different kinds of roofing underneath - getting the dry area below but without tampering with the deck above. One just had those rippled vinyl deck sheets - I guess several are linked together side by side to make the water proof cover. Tucked neatly under the deck, it hardly showed.

Another had the same kind of sheeting used on the typical backyard shed - Tin? I don't know but it was brown instead of white and had something on the front and sides to direct rain that cme through the deck into gutters and down spouts.

Another was at a "show" where they had constructed and little deck and put a little shed underneath, again I think it had extra stuff to provide for run-off. I didn't care for the look but think some construction that looked like the deck (same materials) would have looked better.

Josie

[Andy Haldorson]

I would like a solid wood deck. It will see a lot of snow and some roof runoff but never any sun, completely shaded. We live in a dry area mostly, almost desert mountain conditions.

I have pine 2x6 construction grade boards I would like to plane the tops and then edge glue, clamp and nail the boards as I go so the 12x12 deck is one solid piece. Then belt sand the entire thing flat. I want the deck board look but don't want water underneath it. In the shade it stays damp.

Would Titebond three be a good glue for this? It is mostly over a cement pad about 18 inches from the ground. If I don't seal the boards on the bottom will I have problems. How long should it last?

[max]

Gluing up an outdoor deck in that size will not work. Wood moves! Period. The boards will crack. The best way is to put a space between each board to allow for drainage and movement. The other option is composite decking. Some are made of plastic and some are made with wood fibers. The composite looks like new longer, don't move much and are easy to work with. I have built a few decks and usually use redwood or cedar but that would probably be too expensive back east. max

[DScheffold]

You can ship lap the boards to allow for movement. DO NOT USE GLUE!! The boards WILL move and they WILL split.

[Juergen Hannappel]

Even if it is fixed only in the center? He might produce some extra long sliding dovetails to keep the deck on the floor...

[bridger]

a couple of days.

that is *not* how decks are made.

[Tyke]

As the others have stated, gluing all the boards together will result in lots of cracks as the wood moves. Here is my latest example.

I built a 3ft x 3ft cover for my spectic tank pump-out lid. This cover is for a 3x3 square well which is 2x PT boards to hold back the soil. Depth is around 2ft. Bottom of the well is the concrete top of the septic.

I glued 2x6 PT together, then covered the entire surface with epoxy. I thought this would certainly last a few years. How long did this last in the August sun before it warped and split - a few weeks.

After a few days, the top warped due to moisture from the bottom vs sun drying the top.

I then decided to make another top from TREX. This has been in place for a few months with zero sign of warping.

I think TREX or one of the other composites is the best way to go for you. I would personally allow for drainage into the concrete slab. Others have suggested alternatives to direct the rain off the slab. These will work for rain but may not work for the freezing snow melt.

Dave Paine.

[Juergen Hannappel]

Careful with septic tank covers! In my home town an old woman suffered a horrible death when she walked over the rotten planks covering hers...

[Eric Ryder]

You've got the correct answers in regards to a one peice wood top. There are vinyl and aluminum deck surfaces the are "water proof". Like another poster, I've built roofs under a few for dry storage with "Onduline - the Lifetime (or at least until we change the companys name) Roofing ". A low pitch is usually ok under an 1/8" gapped wood deck.