LESLIE: Terri in South Carolina is dealing with an issue on a screened-in porch. Tell us what’s going on?
TERRI: Hey, Leslie. We have a porch that was built around an original deck; so it has the basic kind of 2×4-style decking on the floor.
TOM: OK.
TERRI: But there are little gaps in that floor and so, even though the screens have been replaced around the walls of the screened porch and that’s all tight, I think maybe bugs are still coming in through the cracks in the floor. Is that possible?
TOM: Sure.
TERRI: As far as flies and mosquitoes and those things; so you don’t want to be out there.
TOM: Yeah, sure. Yeah, sure. Entirely possible. Is there a skirting around the outskirts of the deck? I mean could you put some screening there?
TERRI: There is on one side but there is one side that’s open.
TOM: It’s completely roofed?
TERRI: Yeah, it’s completely roofed.
TOM: Well then I don’t see why you couldn’t put screening on the underside of the deck, if you can get under there. You know, if it wasn’t roofed and you were getting a lot of grit and grime in there, I might be concerned about the screening sort of holding the dirt but…
TERRI: You know, I had thought of that and I kind of wondered the same thing because we do have dogs that go in and out.
TOM: Yeah.
TERRI: You know, that’s their door to the outside is through that porch.
TOM: Well, why don’t you put it on the underside of the floor joists? This way it’s not pressed up against the underside of the deck board itself.
TERRI: Oh, yeah. So there’s a gap.
TOM: Right, exactly.
TERRI: So like if dog, you know, drivel off of their feet and maybe food crumbs or something falls in between there, it goes down where you can’t see it.
TOM: (overlapping voices) Right. Exactly.
TERRI: Awesome. That’s a great suggestion.
TOM: Alright, good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
This issue is real where the screen to try and ward off bugs, mosquitos etc. makes putting a screen under the joist necessary. The gaps just not tightly together enough opens you up to bugs coming up from the bottom. However I’ve been hearing perhaps tongue & groove flooring is preferred with tighter placement together and Not a screen because inevitably dog hair, candy kisses wrappers etc. will fall between and visibly trap atop the screen which is unsightly. It can be said that vacuuming can take care of it but in truth its not close enough to the floor for the suction to do its thing and there’s not enough room for vacuum attachments either. What to do? Help. Thanks.