# erosion control under my deck



## blacktail (Sep 4, 2012)

Just looking for more ideas here. I'm rebuilding my deck, which is over a bit of a slope. It's easy to see from the original concrete that in the 20 years since it was built, 2-3" of soil have washed away in the steeper spots. When the original owner built it, he used black fabric over the ground under the half of the deck closest to the house. The other half was left bare and that's where the erosion has taken place. . I've looked at the different fabric-type products available at one of the big box stores, and I'm thinking of getting a couple yards of crushed rock to go on top of that. The deck is 16x20 if it matters. 
Any other ideas or thoughts? Should I just go with one of the erosion control fabrics and call it good? This is something I wouldn't mind going overboard on just for peace of mind.


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## DAKSY (Sep 4, 2012)

I would use round stones (bigger than Pea Stone) or something similar, depending on how steep your slope is. MY driveway & sidewalk are covered in crusher run & heavy rain will wash it downhill, creating gulleys for the flow. Then again, you may not have as much water actually hitting the ground under your deck, so crusher run (1s & 2s & rock dust) might work very well for your application, especially if you tamp it tightly...


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## swagler85 (Sep 4, 2012)

The cloth and larger stones is what the highway dept's use. They seem to have it down to a good system. I would go with that. Other ways would be vegetation but wont get any of that to grow under a deck.


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## JustWood (Sep 4, 2012)

Screw metal roofing to the underside of deck joists.
Instant woodshed also!


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## semipro (Sep 4, 2012)

I'll bet you'll get some good responses in the diy-and-general-non-hearth-advice forum
https://www.hearth.com/talk/forums/diy-and-general-non-hearth-advice.12/


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## My Oslo heats my home (Sep 4, 2012)

If you can get some stone in there, I'd say 3/4" or larger and be able to keep the stone in place on the slope, you'd be able to battle the erosion. In the case where you have a slope that is significant enough I'd make the bed of stone thick, say 3-4 inches min.


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## blacktail (Sep 4, 2012)

semipro said:


> I'll bet you'll get some good responses in the diy-and-general-non-hearth-advice forum
> https://www.hearth.com/talk/forums/diy-and-general-non-hearth-advice.12/


 
Doh! Wrong forum. Mods, feel free to move it if you want.
Thanks for the responses anyway.
The rock I'd like to get is pretty big. It's baseball to softball size crushed rock that I see used on a lot of new logging roads. I've seen it used on slopes around highway projects too. What's under the deck now is just the natural loose dirt with some rocks.
Got the last post support done today and it was the worst one. That's why we saved it for last.


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