How to Animal Proof a Deck

Have there been animals digging under your deck lately?

Did you even go so far as to trap them last year and have new ones move back in this year?

If so, you are not alone.

Never worry about nuisance animals under your deck again! How? This post is for you.

Install Wire to Block Nuisance Animals

Rather than trap new offenders year after year, we recommend prevention of these diggers through wire exclusion.

Simply put, we place a durable wire mesh down all along the perimeter of the deck.

Once installed, animal may try to dig under the deck, but it soon meets the resistance of the wire, gives up, and moves on.

This method is the gold standard of the prevention of den diggers like groundhogs and skunks.

Here are some pictures which show a recent example.

The first step is to excavate. We hand dig a trench down and out from the edge of the deck. We are careful to control the dirt, mulch, or sod so that the job is neat when finished.

Once the digging is done, the bent wire goes in the excavation.

The wire mesh comes in a roll and is two feet wide. The appropriate length is cut and the wire is bent to a 90 degree angle.

It is attached securely to the bottom of the deck. This way it sits about a foot down and a foot out from the deck. Then the dirt is back filled.

Here are some more pictures.

In this case, you’ll see that a trim board was added to cover the top of the wire and reflect the top part of the deck skirting.

Once the wire mesh is in place, it can all be backfilled. In this instance, the home owner is going to have mulched beds created.

Finally, we leave a trap in place to make sure nothing is stuck under the deck.

If an animal is under there, this pass-through trap provides the only way out. It stays until no animals are caught for a couple of days. Then the trap is removed and the final sealing is completed.