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What to Know About the Space Under a Raised Deck in Bolton
If you have a raised deck, the ground underneath it is usually wasted space. It gets rained on, it stays damp, and most people end up shoving a hose reel down there and forgetting about it. There is a way to change that, and it comes up a lot with Bolton homeowners planning a build.
The idea is a drainage layer installed between the deck joists, above the area below. Rain hits the deck boards, drops into that layer, and gets carried off to the edge instead of dripping straight through the gaps. The space underneath stays dry, which means you can actually use it, as a covered patio, a place to keep outdoor furniture, or storage that does not involve a tarp.
Two systems come up most often, Trex RainEscape and TimberTech DrySpace. They do the same basic job of moving water off to the side, and both go in during the build rather than after. That timing is the part worth knowing. Adding drainage under a deck that is already finished can be done, but it is more work, so it helps to decide early whether the space below is something you want.
A few things shape whether it makes sense. The deck needs to be tall enough to stand under, which most second-story decks are. You also have to plan where the water goes once it reaches the edge, so it drains somewhere sensible instead of pooling against the foundation. And if you might want lights or a fan down there later, running the wiring is easier while the framing is still open.
For a lot of people the appeal is just practical. The deck already takes up that footprint in the yard, so getting a dry, usable area underneath it without building anything new on the ground is a good trade.
At Deck It, a deck builder based in Bolton, under-deck drainage is one of the choices worked out during the design stage, before the boards go on, which is when it is easiest to build in.