Decking, Air bricks and Ventilation.

[moustachebandit]

Wonder if anyone can help with some advice? I might just be over thinking this.

My house has a sloping plot and to level off some of the garden to make a usable seating / patio area I was going to install some decking which will sit tight to the side of the house (plan is to take out the kitchen wall and install bifolds so it opens out into the garden) and extend out over part of the garden.

My main concern is that the decking will have to sit above 2 air bricks on the side of the house. Can anyone tell m if this would this cause an issue with restricting ventilation under the house? I don't want to cause dry rot.

This is the sort of thing we are going for

http://www.wrtimbers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/201...

My concern is that the decking wont allow much ventilation to pass through and whilst there are numerous other air bricks around the property I don't want to create an issue by limiting the air flow under the property.

All opinions are appreciated.

Ta,

James

[moustachebandit]

Thanks for the responses - the look we are after means that the deck boards are going to be really tight together and as we are trying to hide away all the crap terracing / concrete paths underneath the decking it will be totally enclosed so air moment will be pretty limited.

I am thinking that for piece of mind installing some of these remote void vents means that I can ensure that the air bricks get some positive ventilation at least rather than hoping there is enough air moment under the decking to help with ventilation.

http://www.manthorpe.co.uk/Building/Products/Throu...

[moustachebandit]

Unfortunately the decking will sit above the DPM due to the levels and the way the house is constructed. All I can do is leave a decent gap between the house and the decking so water isnt able to collect against the brickwork above the DPM.

[moustachebandit]

herewego said:

moustachebandit said:

Unfortunately the decking will sit above the DPM due to the levels and the way the house is constructed. All I can do is leave a decent gap between the house and the decking so water isnt able to collect against the brickwork above the DPM.

As I understand it the issue is rain bouncing onto the walls above the DPC therefore the gap should be substantial e.g. about a foot. I would ask building control what a suitable gap should be.

Having done some research it looks like if I leave a 5/10 mm gap between the ledger and the wall then that should be sufficient to prevent damp. However I may think about installing something like this between the house and the deck

http://i.ytimg.com/vi/aF2mJye12s4/maxresdefault.jp...

Should help with UFV and also limit any potential issue from rain splash (but think I might be over thinking this!)