Two water-tight decking products cover a front porch and a back deck
Last week on the Model Remodel Show, we were digging into the deck framing pile to build beams, set ledgers, anchor the posts, and frame a front porch and a back deck. This week, we are going to cover them with two decking products that keep the space below dry.
Exterior porch flooring makes outdoor floors water tight
For the porch out front, we’ll use E-Ovate, a composite tongue-and-groove flooring board that installs like oak or maple flooring. The first strip is fastened with a finish nailer through the tongue and the face. Rick slips the nail under the flashing to keep it concealed.
The product is supposed to be very stable to temperature swings, so the butt joints should not open. Successive strips are placed and nailed through the tongue until there are enough strips installed to allow using a conventional flooring nailer.
Deck boards with built-in gaskets direct water into built-in gutters
On the back deck, we’re using a decking product with integral gutters built into the framing. The gutters are bent on a Tapco brake and slipped into the framing pockets. Ben uses Zip system flashing tape to seal the framing under the perpendicular decking that will direct water into the gutters.
Against the house, decking begins with a thin strip of decking just wide enough to accept a nailing flange and hide under the flashing. The flange slips into the grooves and directs water sideways to the end of the decking, into the gutters.
The perpendicular boards that cover the flashing tape are installed first, making sure they are parallel, and then they are screwed into place. The first piece of decking is fastened on the far side by the existing nailing fin, and nailed on the near side with the next one.
A scrap of decking can be used as a beater block to push the nailing fin in, and a hole cut in the edge allows the nail gun to get in on the act.
Water rolls off the decking into the gap between the boards and flows along the length to the end, where it drops into the gutter. The system is fast, neat, and seems like a great way to keep the space below on the dry side.
Next week, we will carry the cabinets inside and pile them into a corner and then stick them up on the wall. We will also install base cabinets and build the island workspace. As we close in on the CO at Professional Remodeler’s 2017 Model Remodel.
