deck skirts

[Smitty Two]

I'm slightly concerned about the deck skirting on the elevated side and back decks, since it clearly violates the wood/ground contact rules. It's just 1/4" plywood and I don't care too much if it rots out and needs to be replaced periodically, but if it's a significant termite issue then I'd like to consider some alternative design.

To the extent reasonable I'd like to cat and rodent-proof it, because the deck crawlspaces and the house crawlspace are contiguous. (You can see some tunneling has been going on to the left of the steps.)

So what are the usual (or even unusual) approaches to this issue? I can think of a few home-brew concepts but there must be some standard ways of dealing with it.

FWIW, the house is in California's central valley, was originally built in 1930, added onto twice, and completely remodeled just prior to our acquisition 18 months ago. I have no idea how old the decks are.

[gpsman]

It is. Get some Talstar One (shop ebay for the best $) and spray 1' up and 1' out every 90 days, according to the label directions. I'd probably use a 1/2 strength concentration.

I think I'd stack a row or 2 of decorative stone/brick along it. They'll protect the Talstar from UV at the same time. -----

- gpsman

[DerbyDad03]

You asked about the plywood, but what about the corner trim?

It looks like regular wood from here, so isn't that as much of an issue as the plywood?

One thought is to cut the plywood a couple of inches above ground level and "hang" a piece of Azek vinyl trim to bring it back down to the ground.

Azek comes in flat stock of various widths and thicknesses. You could even replace the corner trim with Azec to match - and for longevity.

Assuming you can get into the deck crawlspace, you could screw through the plywood into the back of the Azek so the fasteners wouldn't show.

As far as the rodents, can you bury chicken wire (again, from inside the crawlspace) down a foot or so?

[mm]

Can you ask the neighbors or the mailman how long they have been like that?

[mm]

That is, I worry about termites too, but maybe they've been like that for 20 years with no termites.

[DT]

They do make treated plywood. I wonder how one of the cement board products, like Hardiebacker, would work in this situation? Hardiebacker is smooth, unlike many other cement boards. It is made in 4x8 sheets, although I have only seen 3x5 at the home centers.

[keith]

Instead of HardieBacker, which is intended as an interior tile substrate, how about HardiePanel (or HardiePlank), intended to be exterior siding? ;-)

[keith]

We have HardiePanel siding on our house. I haven't painted it yet, but it should be fine. If there was a choice I wouldn't use Google at all.

[clare]

Blue-Wood is extremely termite resistant, if not termite-proof.

[clare]

I just redid my front "deck" with Trex Transcend - and used their fascia board for the skirt. We'll see how it works. I had 1X6 PT fence boards as "soil boards" for the last 20 years, and they were still fine - while the 24-26 year old cedar deck was DONE.

[PHILIPWOLF]

I used 1" lattice on mine and love it. My dogs were digging by the house under the deck in the middle and i have a 12" to 18" space between the deck and ground so I couldn't get in there and fill the holes by my foundation. After I put up the lattice problem solved.