What should I do about my "wood shed"?

[KB007]

I have a nice space under my deck to store current year’s burning wood - it’s raised patio stones and I can get 14-15 face cords under there (maybe less if I don’t go quite so high). This is kinda like my version of a wood shed. I leave a few feet between the piles and the house to leave an air space and give me room to walk in and out. Since it's under the deck, there are 1/4 spaces every 6" over the wood, so it does get wet, especially in the fall/spring and when the snow up top starts to melt.

So - the question is, should I do any of the following:

A) leave it - surface water ain't no need fo' worryin' (wonder if I could make that into a blues tune...)

B) Cover thw wood with plywood - seems like a pain cus then I have to keep moving the plywood every time I need to get wood

C) cover with tarp - kinda the same PIA as B and tarps seem to hold in more moisture than anything

D) put up some kind of 'cieling' or cover attached to the deck joists - perhaps corrugated tin, os some 1/4 plywood and moint it at a slight angle so the moisture will run down to the edge

E) any other suggestions?

 

[SolarAndWood]

I saw a product at the lumber yard a few weeks ago that deals with this. There are pieces that get nailed up to the bottom of the joists with slots in the sides of them. Then flat pieces slide in the slots the length of the joists. I think it was PVC.

 

[KB007]

I saw a product at the lumber yard a few weeks ago that deals with this. There are pieces that get nailed up to the bottom of the joists with slots in the sides of them. Then flat pieces slide in the slots the length of the joists. I think it was PVC.

Do you recall how they dealt with the added moisture in between the joists? I'm worried if I do put anything attached to the joists the it's basically going to become a big wet semi air tight box.

 

[SolarAndWood]

It was pitched towards the outside of the deck. It doesn't take a whole lot of pitch to deal with standing water and there should be enough ventilation do deal with what is left.

 

[sublime68charger]

I like otion D,
I have a deck appx 10x10 also that has just 2 floor joist's at 3-4' on center and then 2x6 boards as the actual floor I put in 2x6 T&G as flooring hoping that would shed more water and I could use the area underneath as storage. Well the water still dripped through on the T&G boards Heck I had even filled the Groove with Liquid Nail and had set the deck for a 1" slope away from the house.

so her's what I then did.

I ran corrugated metal, at each end of the deck I screwed the metal up tight to the bottom of floor and then then in the Middle of the deck I screwed a 1' 2x4 flat to the bottom of the deck and then screwed the metal to the 2x4 so I was sloping in from each end towards the middle. In the Middle I had a Main support beam that was under the other floor joist beams. to that main support I attached a old bowling alley gutter and that slope's that to dump the water out the end of the deck. I still have water drip down past my metal sheets edges next to the floor joists but nothing that can't be worked around or I have even thought of setting up old eve trough on the bottom edge of the floor joist and sloping to get that water also. Not a big deal to me as I have wooden shelving units under the corrugated Metal areas and where the floor joist run's are I leave them open as the alley between the shelving unit's

but you get the jist of my idea. I hope.

good luck.

Also I paint the metal White which really brightend up under my deck area as I used the old flooring that the T&G replaced to enclose the N & S side's and 1/2 of the East side West side is the house.

 

[Spikem]

I saw a product at the lumber yard a few weeks ago that deals with this. There are pieces that get nailed up to the bottom of the joists with slots in the sides of them. Then flat pieces slide in the slots the length of the joists. I think it was PVC.

Do you recall how they dealt with the added moisture in between the joists? I'm worried if I do put anything attached to the joists the it's basically going to become a big wet semi air tight box.

How about this?

Instead of, say, nailing or screwing a sheet of plywood directly to the bottom of the joists, shim a 2x4 above one side of the sheet. This will give you a spacer from the joists and an angle for the moisture to run off. You could angle it away from the wood.

 

[DanCorcoran]

Or you could use corrugated fiberglass instead of metal...no rust and won't degrade with sunlight exposure, since it'd be under the deck.

 

[SolarAndWood]

I saw a product at the lumber yard a few weeks ago that deals with this. There are pieces that get nailed up to the bottom of the joists with slots in the sides of them. Then flat pieces slide in the slots the length of the joists. I think it was PVC.

Do you recall how they dealt with the added moisture in between the joists? I'm worried if I do put anything attached to the joists the it's basically going to become a big wet semi air tight box.

How about this?

Instead of, say, nailing or screwing a sheet of plywood directly to the bottom of the joists, shim a 2x4 above one side of the sheet. This will give you a spacer from the joists and an angle for the moisture to run off. You could angle it away from the wood.

That is pretty much how the system works, it is just all PVC instead of wood. It looked like you could adjust the pitch when you install the pieces that attach to the joists. The thing I liked about it is it kept it up between the joists and there was nothing to rot, rust or need for support. The lower level of my 2 story porch is 8 feet from the deck to the bottom of the joists. So I want to keep it as tight as possible.

 

[LLigetfa]

Take thinwall 4" PVC pipe and rip them in two lengthwise so you have two half pipes. Screw them to the underside of the floor joists with short shims at one end and progressively longer shims toward the other to pitch them down. Lay corregated panels in between the half pipes.

 

[Tony H]

They make a product just for decks that does this . I don't recall the name but you should be able to check with the guys at your local Home store and see what it looks like and costs.

 

[KB007]

Take thinwall 4" PVC pipe and rip them in two lengthwise so you have two half pipes. Screw them to the underside of the floor joists with short shims at one end and progressively longer shims toward the other to pitch them down. Lay corregated panels in between the half pipes.

Hmm, this could work. I guess if you leave the panels floating you can take 'em out every now and them to clean out critter or bugs (get a lot of bees/wasps around here sometimes). I could even do something like that under the hot tub to keep the overflow / splashing from all the "hot tub sex" from washing away all the sand under the deck.

 

[mhvond]

Or you could use corrugated fiberglass instead of metal...no rust and won't degrade with sunlight exposure, since it'd be under the deck.

That's what I have. Guy before me did it. Fiberglass sheets run the water into a gutter system along one side of the deck.

 

[billb3]

I might hinge the 4 foot ends of 4x8 ply to that center beam and prop or rope the ends
or
put tarp down on the deck floor.