At Home In The Woods

[dcyrilc]

You could you staple screening material on the top floor joists before you put your flooring down. This would keep the bugs out and allow the spacing that you need.
Rick

Rick, that's not a bad idea.

Has anyone out there built a screened porch with the flooring boards spaced 3/16" or more apart? Are biting insects become a problem?

Obed

My only concern with putting screen between the floor joists and decking would be dirt that gets between the cracks. Normally this dirt would just fall through, but the screen will allow it to accumulate and fill the crack. Might be a pain for cleaning?

 

[Obed]

My only concern with putting screen between the floor joists and decking would be dirt that gets between the cracks. Normally this dirt would just fall through, but the screen will allow it to accumulate and fill the crack. Might be a pain for cleaning?

That's the objection that my wife is raising. As an alternative, I could attach the screen material to the underside of the floor joists. Dirt that falls between the boards would not be trapped between the boards; that dirt would land on the screen material below the floor joists.

But do I need to go to that kind of trouble? I hate to spend the extra money and effort unless it is needed.

Obed

 

[dstig1]

The screen on top of the joists is pretty much the standard method of dealing with this. Use fiberglass screen, not alum. Much easier to handle and not a problem in this low abuse environment. Pull it tight as you staple. Compressed air can help blow stuff out, but yes, it can accumulate. The other thing to think about here is that, since this is a screened porch, you will get a lot less debris on the deck boards that could fall through and get stuck there. Most of the coarse stuff like leaves, tree seeds, cottonwood/dandelion fuzz, etc won't get to the deck boards as you have a perimeter screen on the enclosure. So it comes down to dust and whatever bits of food and stuff people drop. You may have one really bad cleaning session at the end of construction where you need a day , a compressor/blowgun and a vacuum, but after that it gets a lot easier.

If you want to go underneath the joists, screen will look really bad down the road. As crud builds up there, it will look like a series of crud hammocks that you made. A better choice might be to make the underside solid. Slope it well to one end for drainage with tapered shims or something, and then tack up plywood to the bottom of the joists. You can use the space for running wires/lighting for below the porch too. Make sure the drainage openings are screened somehow too. Probably with a frame you can remove from the outside for cleaning. And if you are really thinking ahead, you can create access at the top of the slope so you can get up in there with a hose to clear out crud down the road....

Neither method is painless. The screen makes it much harder to lay the deck boards on an elevated deck as you can't poke your body up through the joists from below to work on decking since the screen is in place, so you have to step carefully on top with staging etc. The below joist method is much more expensive, and a lot more total effort.


Edit: One more point - you are building this in the high heat of summer. You probably will not see much more expansion than this, so perhaps 3/16" is too much given the current conditions? It will only shrink from here, unless you are in a real cool spell when it is installed. If so, then the screen on top is looking even more attractive. IMHO

 

[weldingisfun]

You could you staple screening material on the top floor joists before you put your flooring down. This would keep the bugs out and allow the spacing that you need.
Rick

Wouldn't that just catch all the dirt and debris, i.e., pine needles, leaves, etc.? But then, cleaning it out would be better than putting uo with the 'skeeters.

 

[walleyed]

Screened Porch Flooring Question
The composite flooring manufacturer instructions indicate to leave 3/16" to 1/4" gaps between the boards to allow for expansion. Will mosquitoes come through these gaps? If so, it seems that screeing in the the porch would be useless. Please help.

Thanks,
Obed

I have built a few of these and bugs weren't a problem.
I don't know how bad your bugs are but I think the trick was to have no grass or any vegitation for that matter under the deck. We will put down fabric and cover with stone to keep under a deck or porch clean.

Also on high decks I have covered the bottoms with the cheapest vinyl soffit I could find. Just slope it a bit away from the house and it will actually keep it dry also

 

[ruralruss]

Screen under boards, shop vac to clean

Russ

 

[woodlandfarms]

Just make sure you build it so you can repair it. Now with a kid I am sure that scrreen will be toast....

 

[Diamondpilot]

I rent homes a few times a year down the road from you at Lake Norris. All of them have had screened in porches and non have had screen on the bottom of the deck boards. I never remember bugs being a issue.

Another thing I have found is of the few homes I know of with removable screens on the porch non end up doing so. It seems like a great idea but just never gets done. They just leave them in place. Keeps birds, critters, bugs, and leaf debris off of the deck.

I think you will find you may remove them the first year then just end up leaving them in place as most do.

Chris

 

[Obed]

The triangle area above the beam at the end of the porch has been closed in with sheathing and vinyl siding like I described yesterday. Most of the soffits have been completed. One of the pictures shows the framing the vinyl installers added before attaching the soffits. The roof overhang is 2 feet. With the added framing for the soffits, each soffit can be nailed at each end and in the middle. Sagging should not be an issue. Also, no vinyl will be nailed into the brick. We believe vinyl will be completed tomorrow. Guttering will be installed tomorrow. Drywall installation is scheduled for next week.

 

[Obed]

I rent homes a few times a year down the road from you at Lake Norris. All of them have had screened in porches and non have had screen on the bottom of the deck boards. I never remember bugs being a issue.

Chris

I think I may have the decking installed without screens under the floor boards and see if bugs become a problem. If bugs become a problem, we can add screening on the underside of the floor joists later.

Obed

 

[thunderworks]

We installed screens under our floor boards on our screen porch. Yes, some dirt accumulates, but not much since the porch is total covered. For the very small expense of screen material, and a slight increase in labor to install, I think it's a no-brainer. A bug free, outdoor room is wonderful. I power wash the porch every year or so and it gets rid of any accumulated crud between the floor boards.

 

[Obed]

We installed screens under our floor boards on our screen porch. Yes, some dirt accumulates, but not much since the porch is total covered. For the very small expense of screen material, and a slight increase in labor to install, I think it's a no-brainer. A bug free, outdoor room is wonderful. I power wash the porch every year or so and it gets rid of any accumulated crud between the floor boards.

thunderworks,
What kind of screen did you install? Fiberglass? Aluminum? If we can powerwash it without destroying the screens, maybe we would go ahead and put screens between the floor joists and the floor boards.

Obed

 

[dstig1]

I helped a close friend do this exact thing. AGAIN - since it is a totally enclosed porch - you WON'T get a lot of crap in there. During construction you will until it is enclosed, and it will require one PITA cleanup. After that, it will be pretty minor cleaning effort. But it will keep the bugs out totally.

Figure out which way you want to do it, but you need to shut off the below deck access for bugs, or you will be kicking yourself in the not-so-long-run.

BTDT. Do what you like but I have had the experience and Minnesota is mosquito land, and I'm sure your area is not much different. Fiberglass screen is dirt cheap...

-Dave

 

[brin]

Obed....We built our house 5 yrs. ago and we have a screened porch with a vaulted ceiling - 14" by 24' and we have pressure treated 2x6 deck boards for a floor and each board is about 1/4 inch apart...we have never had any bugs come in through the floor..In fact no bugs at all unless when we open a door on slips in. By the way we had each screen built in an aluminum frame and installed between the posts so if a screen needs replacing we just pop out the one panel and repair it and replace as opposed to folks wh just wrap screen around the whole structure .

Just my opinion but having been through the home building process and the fog of construction building a 4,000 sq ft brick home...this is all costing you money...every day that ticks by and it ads up. I found that as much as I wanted to add every last thing there was just too much to try and achieve ..We started construction on our house in June and moved in on Nov. 1 ...so 5 months total time to build. We have many of the goodies, bells and whistles...burgalr and fire alarm, stainless steel appliances, garanite counters, prcelan tile, hardwood floors, vaulted ceilings, house wrap, water filtration sytstem and on and on but at some point I think you will find you will have to get to the ...Get 'er done Phase...It is your money and time is money...I'm just saying ..

 

[Obed]

I haven't heard anyone who has a screened porch without screens under the floor who has bug problems. On the other hand, I'd hate to skip the screens under the floor and find out that bugs are a problem. Dilema.

 

[dstig1]

I haven't heard anyone who has a screened porch without screens under the floor who has bug problems. On the other hand, I'd hate to skip the screens under the floor and find out that bugs are a problem. Dilema.

My friend knew folks who didn't have screen under the deck boards and had bug problems. That was why we did it on his place. This is mosquito-land here... It's cheap and easy to do. The only real downside is the potential to trap crud in there, but in a totally enclosed screened porch, there is very little crud that gets in.

Frankly it's a no-brainer to me. You have many other things that require a real decision...

 

[eepete]

I told the design-build group to get all pressure treated wood 2 months in advance so it could pre-shrink, they did not do it. It was installed tight, but now there is a 1/4 to 3/16 gap on both the screened porch and open deck. Only a few mosquitos get in, but a lot more wasps get in. I hate wasps ! I asked why they did not put screen down 1st, they said they didn't think about it.

The next house they did, I saw they put the screen down. I love using my money to educate people...

On the open deck, the gaps are big enough that the wasps go down under the deck and build nests. The sides are closed in.

So here's what I'm going to try: I found some sites on the web that will sell aluminum rod in various diameters, up to 12 feet long. I will buy enough in the varying sizes to drop it in the gaps. It won't be completely sealed, but will keep out skeeters and wasps. Looks like about $600 to do a deck, much more than screen but neater and no "crud hammock" effect. Will do this on the open deck, and go under the screened (because I can) and put screen on the bottom of the joists. If it gets too cruddy, I'll go the aluminum rod approach.

Doing it again, I'd do the fiberglass screen under the decking. The crud will be small (it had to get through the outside screen to get in, so it should fall back out). If you hated it, it would be easy to cut it away with a knife after the fact. You can't loose.

Pete

 

[ruralruss]

I think I may have the decking installed without screens under the floor boards and see if bugs become a problem. If bugs become a problem, we can add screening on the underside of the floor joists later.

Obed

Mosquitoes are not so much of a problem on a second story porch as a ground level one. However, as some one else mentioned the wasps are, and here in NW Georgia so are the scorpions. Another nice thing about a bug free porch is that the door to the porch will not require a screen and that can give a nice boost in fresh air. It will also make a nice place to sleep on a cool evening.

Russ

 

[Obed]

I think we'll put screen on top of the floor joists and below the decking. Now the question is, should we do fiberglass or aluminum screens under the deck boards?

The wife was hesitant about screens under the deck boards because of collection of crud. However, she seems ok with it if we can powerwash the gaps between the boards.

Obed

 

[Obed]

The walls have been insulated. For sound proofing, the wife added insulation in all 4 the laundry room walls, between the master bedroom and master bath, between the hall bath and master bedroom, and between the living room and master bath.

After the drywall is installed, the insulation between the ceiling and the attic will be installed.