Design problem, under the deck

[Mitchell Andrus]

The new house in NC has a enormous deck, about 1,000 SF. As you can see from the photos, it's up in the air and as you drive up the driveway it's a prominent part of the view.

I'm planning on a new patio under it with a new outside door from the den, either stamped concrete or pavers... I've got a plan to deal with dressing up all of those posts (cultured stone bases, etc.) but landscaping will only go so far towards screening the ugly underbelly of the beast.

My question is... what can I do about the following:

I'd like to catch the rain as it comes through the deck boards to help keep patio furniture and the patio clean(er).

I need to screen the underside of the deck for esthetics, it's ugly. Power washing and a nice paint job isn't unreasonable but will still not address the rain.

Anyone have any ideas/dealt with this kind of thing?
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[Glenn Clabo]

Something like this?
http://underdeck.com/

[Mitchell Andrus]

WOW! Thanks. I didn't think about just googleing it... I guess I'm not alone with this problem.

This looks way too cool.
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[Mitchell Andrus]

Actually, this one looks a bit easier to deal with:

http://www.drysnap.com/index.html
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[Brian Effinger]

I seem to remember someone here posting a similar project either this past summer or the one before. He made his under deck roof from scratch. The problem is, I can't find the post. Maybe you'd have better luck with the search.

[phil harold]

I have seen one done with solid vinyl soffit sloped to a gutter

was done a lot cheaper than the 6-7 sqft for the under deck materials...

[Stephen Tashiro]

Cleaning the underdeck must be an interesting problem. It would collect the spilled sodas and food from the top deck.

[Brian Effinger]

I seem to remember someone here posting a similar project either this past summer or the one before. He made his under deck roof from scratch. The problem is, I can't find the post. Maybe you'd have better luck with the search.

I have finally found it. Allan Lilly posted about his deck in this thread: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...=1#post1284803
That was what I was thinking of.