Deck Skirting Installation — Lattice, Board or PVC With Access Door
The space under the deck is open to leaves, rabbits and the neighbor's view of your storage. Skirting closes it in, still lets air through, and gives you a door to get at the hose bib and the stuff you keep under there.
Deck skirting installation closes in the space under a deck with lattice, horizontal boards or PVC panels on a treated frame, hung from the deck so it does not heave with the frost, with a hinged access door and a gap at the bottom for air. JMB Builders builds it across the Twin Cities metro in cedar, treated pine or PVC, priced per linear foot and quoted from your photos within one business day. Staining is a separate line.
- Priced per linear foot of skirting
- Hung from the deck frame, not set on the ground
- Access door in every run, latched
- Quote from photos in 1 business day
- Licensed MN contractor BC809005
Deck skirting is the wall between the bottom of the deck rim and the ground. It hides the posts and the dirt, keeps animals from nesting under the deck, and finishes the deck the way base trim finishes a room. Most decks in the metro were built without it, or with a sheet of lattice screwed to the posts that fell apart after a few winters.
Skirting fails in Minnesota for one reason: it was set on the ground. Frost lifts the soil a few inches every winter and drops it in spring, and a skirt that touches grade gets pushed up, racked and pulled off its fasteners. We hang the skirting frame from the deck rim and the posts and hold the bottom off the ground, so the deck and the skirt move together and the soil moves underneath. The gap also lets air through, and a dry space under a deck is a deck that does not rot from below.
Every run gets a door. There is a hose bib, a downspout, a gas meter or a storage pile under most decks, and a skirt with no door means somebody pulls a panel off with a pry bar the first time they need to get under. We frame a hinged door on the side that makes sense, with a latch, sized so a wheelbarrow or a lawn chair goes through.
What you supply
- Photos: each side of the deck from the yard showing the ground line, and one of the underside showing the posts and rim
- The rough length of each side to be skirted and the height from the deck rim to the ground at the highest and lowest points
- The style: lattice, horizontal boards with gaps, vertical boards, or PVC panels
- Where you want the access door and roughly how big
- Stain or paint color if the skirting is wood; staining is quoted as a separate line, or do it yourself
What JMB supplies
- Treated 2x frame hung from the deck rim and posts, held off grade
- Lattice (vinyl or cedar), cedar or treated boards, or cellular PVC panels, your pick
- Hinged access door with a latch and a stop so it closes flush
- Corner and top trim so the skirt reads as part of the deck, not an add-on
- Hardware cloth behind lattice or gapped boards on request to keep animals out
- Exterior screws, not nails, so panels can come off for a repair under the deck
- Photos of the finished skirting in your job folder
- Staining or painting of wood skirting when you want it done, quoted as its own line
How it is priced: per linear foot
Quoted in writing from your photos within one business day. What moves the number:
- Linear feet of skirting and its height; a tall walkout deck takes far more material per foot than a low one
- Material: vinyl lattice, cedar boards, treated boards or PVC panels
- Sloped ground that means the frame steps down along the run
- Number and size of access doors
- Hardware cloth or screening behind open lattice to keep animals out
- Rotted or leaning deck posts found when we get under there, quoted as their own item
- Staining or painting wood skirting
Send a photo with a tape measure held from the bottom of the rim to the ground at the tallest corner. That one number sets most of the quote.
How long it takes
A low deck with three sides of lattice: one day. A tall walkout deck with horizontal boards and two doors: two to three days.
How your project works
- 1
Send photos, get a written quote
Send three photos of the space and a sentence about what you want. You get a clear, itemized quote within one business day. We only come out to measure first when the job needs a tape measure — no pressure, no games.
- 2
Pick materials, or bring your own
We help you choose profiles and materials that fit the house and the budget, or match your existing millwork exactly — or you buy the door or trim yourself and we install it. Everything is confirmed before the crew is scheduled.
- 3
Clean, precise installation
The crew shows up on time, protects floors and furniture, and installs with tight joints and consistent reveals. Photos of the finished work go in your job folder.
- 4
Walkthrough and invoice
We walk the finished work with you. If anything is not right, we fix it before we call the job done. Then one invoice, paid by check or direct deposit — no card fees, no payment links.
Situations and options
Lattice on a frame
Vinyl or cedar lattice set into a treated frame with a channel or trim around the edge so the lattice cannot flap loose. The least expensive skirt and the one most people picture. Vinyl lattice never needs paint.
Horizontal boards with gaps
Cedar or treated one-by boards run level with a small gap between them for air. It matches the deck boards, hides more than lattice, and looks like part of the deck. Stain it with the deck or leave the cedar to gray.
PVC or composite panels
Cellular PVC boards or composite deck boards on a treated frame for a skirt that never needs stain and matches a composite deck. Costs more per foot and lasts as long as the deck.
Skirting with a storage door
A wider door on a tall walkout deck so the space underneath works as storage for the mower and the lawn furniture. Hardware cloth behind the skirt and gravel on the ground keep it dry and critter-free.
Deck Skirting Installation — Lattice, Board or PVC With Access Door: questions, answered
Why does deck skirting heave or pull off in the winter?
Because it was set on the ground. Frost lifts the soil every winter and drops it in the spring, and a skirt that touches grade gets pushed up and racked until the fasteners let go. Skirting has to hang from the deck frame with a gap at the bottom, so the ground moves under it and the skirt stays where it is. That gap also lets air under the deck, which keeps the joists dry.
Should there be a gap at the bottom of deck skirting?
Yes, a few inches. The gap keeps the skirt off the frost-heaving soil and lets air move under the deck so the framing dries out. It also keeps the bottom of the skirt out of the wet leaves and snow that rot it. If animals are the worry, hardware cloth behind the skirt and a few inches down into the soil does that job without setting the wood on the ground.
Lattice or horizontal boards for deck skirting?
Lattice costs less and goes up faster, and vinyl lattice never needs paint. Horizontal boards cost more, hide more of what is under the deck and look like part of the deck instead of an afterthought. On a tall walkout deck the boards usually look better; on a low deck the lattice is hard to beat for the money. Either one gets the same treated frame and access door.
Can you put an access door in deck skirting?
Yes, and every skirt we build has at least one. We frame the door as a panel of the same lattice or boards on a treated frame, hang it on exterior hinges with a latch, and size it for what has to go through: a hose reel, a wheelbarrow, or just a person to reach the shutoff. It sits flush so from the yard it reads as part of the skirt.
Does deck skirting need to be vented?
Air has to get under the deck or the joists stay wet and rot from the bottom. Lattice and gapped boards vent themselves. Solid PVC panels or tight boards need the gap at the bottom and a gap at the top under the rim, or a few vents cut into the panels. We leave those gaps on every skirt; a sealed-up deck underside is the one thing we will not build.
Do you stain the deck skirting?
Yes, when you want it. Cedar or treated skirting goes up unfinished and can be stained to match the deck; that is quoted as a separate line, or leave it and stain it yourself. Vinyl lattice and PVC panels come with their color built in and do not need anything. Treated wood should dry a few weeks before it takes stain, so on a new skirt the staining is often a second visit.
Recent JMB work, from our job log
59 installs recorded across 30 Twin Cities communities since Dec 2025. Window and door installs for homeowners and for the builders and dealers we sub for. Counts come straight from our job log; no customer names.
Get a written quote for this job
Three photos and a sentence is enough. You hear back within one business day. Or text the photos to 763-204-2099.
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Read morePage reviewed September 26, 2026 · JMB Builders LLC, MN license BC809005 · All exterior trim pages
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