How To Deal With Standing Water On Decking

The primary method of preventing standing water on your decking is to install decking with a drainage slope on the subframe. Working to a decline degree of 1% (100mm drop per 10m length) you can create an incline which is slight enough to not be noticeable and yet allow water to naturally drain off.

By using NeoTimber’s purpose-built fixings provided with our composite decking, you will automatically create a 3mm or 6mm gap between the boards, depending on whether or not you choose our stainless steel or plastic fixing clips. This gap between boards will also naturally aid in draining your boards, preventing an excess of standing water.

If you find you’re getting a large collection of standing water on your deck, the simplest way to get rid of it is to use a mop and bucket. Routine maintenance like this enables you to simply soak up the water and drain it off into a bucket to remove excess water. Towels, squeegees, and general cleaning tools will aid with clearing the water from your deck. Just make sure to avoid using a hard-bristled broom; you don’t want to scratch the surface of your boards. Instead, choose a soft bristled brush for a much gentler clean.

Apply the brush, broom or mop along the length of each deck board, paying particular attention to the grooves of the boards and shaded areas of the deck where standing water is more likely to accumulate. Brush surplus water to an inconspicuous area where it will not cause water staining or further damage to joists and the underlying subframe. Use a sponge to soak up the excess water and wring it away from the surface of your decking.

One issue that can affect all types of decking is standing water sitting on top of the joists. Depending on how well-ventilated the underside of your decking is, a wet subframe can rot surprisingly swiftly. When this occurs, it can cause all kinds of issues with your deck. The boards can bend, twist, and fall through into the void below. To skirt around the rotting of your subframe due to standing water, you can buy specialised joist tape to apply at the time of installation. This ensures that water simply rolls off the timber, preventing the rotting of your decking subframe.

If your deck is situated where standing water is an ongoing issue, joist tape may not be a strong enough solution. Thankfully, there are alternatives to timber for your subframe and joists. NeoTimber® supplies plastic lumber and composite joists, which are particularly useful in areas that either regularly flood or face a high water table. Plastic lumber has a very low water absorption rate, making it the perfect material for our waterproof decking posts. While composite joists aren’t 100% water-resistant, they are far more impervious to the effects of moisture than timber.