Under-Deck Waterproofing in Bromley, KY

Winter in Bromley (ZIP 41016) brings enough snow and ice that many households keep a bag of ice melt by the back door. Whatever goes on the deck boards washes down between them. Under a drained deck, all of that meltwater runs through the troughs and out of a single downspout. So where that outlet lands, and what the water is carrying when it gets there, is part of planning the job.

Rock salt and most ice melts are chloride salts, and salty water browns grass and burns the roots of anything planted. So the downspout ends on a bed of gravel or a splash block well out from the planting, and never beside a bed. As with house downspouts on these lots, the deck water goes onto the ground and not into the shared sewer under the street. We choose a spot where the ground carries it away from the house.

We also point households to the gentler products. Calcium magnesium acetate melts ice with far less harm to grass and to metal than rock salt does. Sand gives grip without melting anything at all, and it sweeps off in spring. The troughs and gutter are aluminum or vinyl. A rinse with clean water after the thaw washes out any salt left in the corners, so none sits there all year.

The result is a deck that gets used through the winter, with the garden below it untouched. The dry space under the deck keeps the ice melt, the shovel and the spare boots out of the snow, a step from the door. In March, once the last snow has gone, we flush the troughs and clear the grit from the gutter. We also check that the gravel at the outlet is still where we left it.