Decks, Patios, Porches and Docks - t&g recommended for uncovered deck??

i just had some carpenters build a deck for me off of my back door using pressure treated tongue and groove boards. i rained all last week in the midwest (where i am) and we found that the boards have begun to buckle in several places. is this common? we also noticed that water pooled on the deck? should the deck have been built at a slight pitch to allow for run-off? is t&g not recommended for uncovered decks?

i imagine that the floor of the deck will have to be replaced -- any recommendations for that? use 1x6 planks instead of t&g?

I would not have choosen a T & G for the decking, for precisely the reason that you are having problems with.

A 5/4X6 or a 2X6 would have been a much better choice -- which ever your joist spacing will allow you to use. (Max. span on 2X6 decking is 24". It's 16" with 5/4 and most composites.)

so does it make sense to redo the floor? i would imagine there is nothing we can do to level the floor or prevent further problems from happening in the future?

You haven't mentioned the size of the deck, but that's not really important. Even if you spent the money to put a slope in it, you would still have the same problem. The T&G is a solid surface. Even if you get the standing water to run off of it, you still have moisture, and THAT will destroy the decking. IMHO, the only real solution is to replace the decking with deck boards that are properly spaced -- the water will fall between the gaps. No slope is needed.

The best way to save you beloved T & G, which I am a big fan of, is to bite the bullet and install a roof. That T & G is doomed to the expansion and contraction that comes hand in hand with midwest weather/temperature.

It should cost a lot less to reinstall 5/4 or 2x6 decking then a roof. I am surprised a contractor installed T&G on that deck in the first place.

Hellrazor, are you REALLY surprised that a "contractor" used T&G in this application? Obviously not what you or I would have done, for exactly the reasons that dsw is experiencing. But I spend a lot of hours every year correcting work like this. I'm sure that if you and I sat down over a couple of beers and started comparing horror stories, we would have to order a couple of cases!!

I should have said reputable contractor. I see a lot of things that are done stupid, i am fixing one right one. My dad paid a co-worker to hang siding for him about 7 years ago since he got a good deal and i didn't start doing siding work until about 3 years ago. He put 1/2" sheet insulation up and managed to miss the studs with 75% of the nails for the siding. So the last 3 years, someplace on the house ripped loose. So now i am fixing the mistakes of the home builder and the siding installer. I ripped the old fiber celotex off while i was at it, fixed all the missing insulation in the stud cavities (the builders subs were idiots), ran wiring for GFCI outlets and motion detector lights, sheathed the walls with 7/16 osb, tyvek and 1/2" celotex.

Stupid things i found: Missing insulation all over. There isnt any drywall or insulation installed on the outside wall side of the bathtub (explains why they complained you could almost make icecubes in the tub in the winter). Recessed porch lights arent wire nutted in a junction box, laying open. Drier vent wasn't properly installed. Siding wasnt installed right. Vented soffits, but they left the soffits solid with plywood and with only 8 ~12x18 soffit vents on the whole house (hip roof style). The deck i replaced was a whole other mess... imporperly nailed header, etc.