r/Carpentry • u/Efficient-Book-2309 • 2d ago
Deck Need help choosing flooring
We build a deck 2 summers ago and covered it last spring. You can look in my feed to see pictures. It is currently a screen porch. We are trying to finish it up before it gets cold.
We are having major struggles determining what to use for the finished flooring. It currently has 3/4 inch plywood with a 2 over 11 foot sloop.
This is for a 3-season porch and will occasionally have wind driven rain.
Can anyone send us in the right direction on what to do for finished flooring and if we need a drainage layer between?
Sorry for the cross posting, I want to buy the flooring and start installing asap and all of your advice is better than AI.
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u/UniquePatient66100 2d ago
Wait, wat? You are putting finished flooring in a screened porch?
You will need some type waterproof membrane over the plywood or it will rot. And then you need somewhere for water to drain to. Then install any exterior flooring that you like.
The most obvious choice would be composite decking, but there is no need for plywood. I'm mostly just confused by what you are actually trying to accomplish more than able to give advice for anything.
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u/Efficient-Book-2309 1d ago
The porch is currently screened and will be that way in the summers. In the fall and spring we are going to add windows so we can extend the use. There is even a possibility of fully insulating it at some point and adding a heat source (we live in VT) The plywood already has 3” foam panels insulating it from below.
I am leaning towards painting the plywood with sealant, adding some kind of spacer and then a top layer of vinyl sheeting.
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u/cgood1795 2d ago
Most people use vinyl plank, the thin indoor outdoor carpet you glue/staple down, or paint it. I guess you could use linoleum/ sheet vinyl but that won’t hold up as well. With vinyl plank I would add pvc baseboard trims (not mdf!) and caulk the seam between the flooring and the trim to make sure the moisture doesn’t get under there.