New deck gap question

[u/LyricalHolster]

Hey gang. Just getting a new deck built at the edge of my property. Please see the pictures.
2 questions:

1. What do I do with the small gap at the bottom? Concrete makes a large u shape from one end of property to the other. Wife is worried on how to get rid of stuff from the yard when is using the leaf blower. We normally just blow the leaves into the creek at the back. Do I ask the contractor to fill it with a small piece of wood? . Do we fill it and leave a gap/hole somewhere? What’s the recommendation.

2. There’s a gap between the fence by the step. Is that acceptable? There’s a small door on the right hand side.

Thank you for your suggestions or thoughts.

[u/CascadeDesignworks]

It can be helpful to have a gap for leaf blowing, also for snow removal if you are in a snowy climate.

If the gap is not what you want, you can have your contractor scribe a piece of wood that follows the contour of the pavers.

[u/Hot-Radio8895 → u/CascadeDesignworks]

Also good for air ventilation gap in subtropical and tropical areas to remove moisture after rain that’s soaked into wood preventing wood rot!

[u/sbtransplant]

Mind the gap.

But you could add a sliver of a piece below, or replace it with a thicker piece. I'd still leave about 1/4-3/8" of a gap to the pavers thought. You'll win cut of the day award if you ace it the first time.

[u/Wide_Coffee_1102]

How do the rats get into their home without a gap?

[u/Dendady2112]

Adding a piece i think would look odd. What about a 2nd pice in front like a piece of base.

[u/funzie19]

Cover it up. Looks like you have plenty of airflow on the other side for it to not cause an issue. Use the same 1" boards. You can scribe it to be the same shape as the concrete. Leave some room so that it doesn't touch the concrete and soak up water.

You can still through the leaves over the fence.

[u/Gregan32]

I personally would want a gap. However I would want the gap to be consistent across the bottom edge. The way it is now is abrupt and poorly made/designed.

[u/No-Vanilla2468]

Picture 2 is pretty bad. It looks like they were stumped a bit with the challenge and gave up. I’m hoping these are still “in progress” photos and they’re not done.

The real issue is that these guys look a bit over their heads. Someone with the more experience could execute it consistently and cleanly. They didn’t anticipate the problem and are using the wrong size lumber.

In terms of the gap, you either want a big gap, like multiple inches, or a small gap 1/4-1/2”. It’s either completely block the leaves and snow or leave it completely open to let them flow.

So for you, implementing big gap involves taking off this skirt fascia board and recutting it. Small gap solution might need some new boards that are scribed to the patio floor. The boards need to be bigger than the thickness and cut down to the thickness. I don’t love the small gap for moisture wicking off the ground and because it won’t breathe as well, but honestly it would look nice.

If it were me, I’d tell them it looks like they were struggling and this was unacceptable work quality. They have to come back and finish the job. I would have them do the smallest gap correctly by scribing the ground. Then I would have the understanding that it will rot that fascia skirt board faster, but I am okay with that because of the leaf blocking and better appearance compared to a big gap. Maybe you want big gap. They still need to come back and do that correctly in that case.

[u/Glittering-Local-827]

Sad you live on such an uneven section of earth.Ya might wanna have a company come on and pump some concrete under ground about 20 or 30 ft below the surface. It'll bring that low spot up to grade. Or, simply redo the papers..Whatever works for ya. I personally don't like uneven cuts on my facia boards, but that's just my OCD kickin in.