Wooden Deck Crew - Do I Get A Grill Mat??

MaskedMarvel

Greetings friends, An exciting upcoming move for me has me planning where the BGE will live. There's an elevated wooden deck at the new house. I know there'll be grease splatters and maybe an occasional ember, but grill mats look, to me, unsightly and like they'll trap water underneath. Suggestions? Your experiences? Thanks! 8-Damien

GATABITES

i dont have one for mine. I just try and keep it as clean as I can. Its a little darker in front of my cart but a power wash should remove the grime. 

RRP

I use a round mat under my medium since it in a nest, but when done I take the mat back to my garage. May sound like a pita but I've seen what long term discoloration can come from the mat when left down. My large and small are in a table and with the screens and a metal tray I use which slips temporarily under those eggs I feel comfortable egging on my wooden deck...knocking on wood!

Carolina Q

I saw one too many fire pics. My egg is no longer on my deck.

Jackh

I bought 12x12 ceramic tiles at Lowes and laid down loose under my table

Little Steven

Any precaution you can take against fire is worth it...Trust me!

GreenhawK

I have had 2 people that I know with major fires from having a grill on their deck.

One was not an Egg, but she lost her house, and her pets.  She barely got out herself.

The other one was an Egg.  His neighbor called him to wake him up to tell him that his deck was on fire.  He is really lucky that he has a brick house, or he would have lost more than his deck.  By the time he got outside the Egg was laying on the ground under the deck.

It also seems that these fires tend to ignite at night when people are asleep.   I guess it's just the timing of the embers falling out while cooking dinner then sparking up later.

BOWHUNR

With five on my wooden deck you could say the deck surface is "well seasoned".   I watch them closely, but the "f word" scares me as more people talk about it!

Mike 

lousubcap

Not trying to rain on the parade, but without serious vigilance the BGE on a wood surface is "playing with fire".  And sure you can mitigate the down-side but you can't mitigate required attention should you go that route.  FWIW-

RRP

This is not aimed AT anyone but I believe subconsciously the fire issue is why I who still use my eggs on a wooden deck became a convert to the turbo method! I see no gain on over night unsupervised cooks. If my egg is hot then I'm awake! Besides that I swear turbo on the egg is the same as low and slow as produced by inferior cookers!

Skiddymarker

@RRP - agree, I like to be awake and near it when it is "alive". All butts/briskets are cooked during the day. 

MaskedMarvel

Yeah. I sleep on the second floor. Guess I'm coming up with a different idea...

Carolina Q

Time to post some pics again?

http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/comment/1471305#Comment_1471305

Fire is HOT people!!

Bayarad

How likely is a cracked bottom during a low and slow overnight I guess is my question? I have had mine on my cedar deck for about three years with no mat and no issues but I only do an occasional overnight most of the time I am on it throughout the cook with a knob creek in hand! This fire catastrophy thing causes me concern but not enough to build a patio!

Carolina Q

Doesn't have to be a cracked egg. Sparks happen. And Steven's house fire was caused by a gasser.

WeberWho

My neighbor growing up lost their house from their grill being on the back deck. Only thing left of their house was studs and the foundation. Scary stuff

MaskedMarvel

Carolina Q said:

Doesn't have to be a cracked egg. Sparks happen. And Steven's house fire was caused by a gasser.

IIRC that was a garage fire not a deck fire?

I'm going to BGE in a bunker from now on.

GeorgeS

While fire is definitely a scary thing I am grilling on a wood deck. I was raised in a fashion that will not allow me to light any kind of fire and walk away. I never light my grill and go to the store. I never light the grill and go to bed. I will never leave my grill unattended while it is hot. I am not criticizing those of you who do and maybe I would feel different if it was on a patio in the middle of my back yard with an acre of gravel around it but is not and I will never leave it without an eyeball or two watching it. Fire is a very scary thing and it doesn't discriminate on any level. If you light it you own it! I do have one of the matts sold at depot that is made of a concrete type material in front of the grill just in case the an ember lands there from the vent and I'm inside getting a beer or something!

robnybbq

I have mine on a wooden deck and I am always worried when using it.  I have not done an over nighter in a while but when I did I got ZERO sleep.  I live in a Bi-Level ranch where the kitchen/deck is on the second floor.  I had the old gasser up there for years then when I got the egg I had it down on the lawn - it became a PITA to use standing in the mud cooking and carrying the food up and down the stairs.  I moved the Egg upstairs on the deck (gasser is now unused under my deck).  While its easier to use and easy access to the kitchen I am worried of fire all the time and the worries get worse as I read/see these stories.  At times I dont want to use it at all - especially windy days.  I dont have a "Good spot" to put the Egg.  I do have a stone patio now installed downstairs off the wooden deck that connects to the pool but its right next to the house. What's the difference between being on the wooden deck and an ember flys out vs. the ember flying out hitting the deck or the side of the house?  Plus if its downstairs I would just get rid of it shortly as its not user-friendly carrying all the food/utensils up and down the stairs for every cook.

Carolina Q

Rob, I know it would be less convenient, but walking up and down stairs multiple times during each cook would be good exercise! Something to consider.

WeberWho

Carolina Q said:

Rob, I know it would be less convenient, but walking up and down stairs multiple times during each cook would be good exercise! Something to consider.

I have to go in and out of my garage with a flight of stairs. A pain, yes but the risk of the house catching on fire probably gets reduced by 98%. You get use to it. Well worth the extra trip.

My neighbors house fire was caused by a small ember that got lodged in between the deck boards. They were watching the grill as well. 4-5 hours later after the grill was shut down and forgotten about that ember stayed hot enough and long enough to start the wood deck on fire. Long asleep at this point of time. They woke up to windows shattering and their house in flames.

SoCal_Griller

A little unrelated, but I had a gasser catch fire.  Luckily it was not against the house so the only damage was the a plant and the gasser itself.  This was the nudge I needed to get the BGE, thinking that it would not catch fire LOL. In any case my egg is on concrete and not up against the house.  I plan on getting a prep table, but will leave the egg in its nest.  The gasser fire was scary enough.

Carolina Q

MaskedMarvel said:

Doesn't have to be a cracked egg. Sparks happen. And Steven's house fire was caused by a gasser.

IIRC that was a garage fire not a deck fire? I'm going to BGE in a bunker from now on.

Nope. Deck...

SmokeyPitt

Just to throw this out there- how much help do you think it would be if you replaced the wood deck boards with aluminum decking?  I have seen some like these:

http://www.nexaninc.com/products/decking/lockdry-waterproof-decking

http://www.wahoodecks.com/ariddek/

...that seem fit tight together so even if the rafters below were wood a stray spark could likely not slip through. 

Probably ridonkulously expensive though. 

robnybbq

Just thinking hypothetically. What's the difference between being on the wooden deck and an ember flys out vs. the ember flying out hitting the deck or the side of the house if it's on the lawn. Down in the yard it would be next to the wooden deck or next to the house. A ember could fly out the top and catch the deck on fire. Unless you are talking putting the egg by itself in the middle of the yard by itself on the grass. If that's the case then forget it. I live in a rural development surrounded by other houses and yards. As for walking up and down the stairs - not, so much the walking but carrying everything = dropping everything as I am doing it. Making bazillions of trips. I understand the risk of preventing fire but if it's downstairs I would just get rid of it which may be the thing to do. I am cooking right now on the egg. Clean out the ash - into the kitchen to dump the ash, Load the egg with lump - in the kitchen to wash hands - get the food into the kitchen and to the egg and bring the plate back into the kitchen to be washed - back into the kitchen for tends to flip the meat - then egg a serving dish from the kitchen to the egg and get the cooked food back to the kitchen. Back out to the egg to shut it down - now worry that it shut down and nothing sparked outside the egg. If the egg were downstairs this becomes a pita. Especially when coking a large amount of food or more complex cooks where different things are going on different times. Would become not worth the effort to use that is all. When I did have it down there it was more of a chore than pleasure mad the gasser was easier to use on the deck to cook a hamburger or chicken breast. now with the egg we cook more elaborate meals. Just thinking about it.

MeridianSun

I don't care how long it had been. I would never dump the ash in the house trash. Bad move.

robnybbq said:

Just thinking hypothetically. What's the difference between being on the wooden deck and an ember flys out vs. the ember flying out hitting the deck or the side of the house if it's on the lawn. Down in the yard it would be next to the wooden deck or next to the house. A ember could fly out the top and catch the deck on fire. Unless you are talking putting the egg by itself in the middle of the yard by itself on the grass. If that's the case then forget it. I live in a rural development surrounded by other houses and yards.

As for walking up and down the stairs - not, so much the walking but carrying everything = dropping everything as I am doing it. Making bazillions of trips. I understand the risk of preventing fire but if it's downstairs I would just get rid of it which may be the thing to do. I am cooking right now on the egg. Clean out the ash - into the kitchen to dump the ash, Load the egg with lump - in the kitchen to wash hands - get the food into the kitchen and to the egg and bring the plate back into the kitchen to be washed - back into the kitchen for tends to flip the meat - then egg a serving dish from the kitchen to the egg and get the cooked food back to the kitchen. Back out to the egg to shut it down - now worry that it shut down and nothing sparked outside the egg. If the egg were downstairs this becomes a pita. Especially when coking a large amount of food or more complex cooks where different things are going on different times. Would become not worth the effort to use that is all. When I did have it down there it was more of a chore than pleasure mad the gasser was easier to use on the deck to cook a hamburger or chicken breast. now with the egg we cook more elaborate meals.

Just thinking about it.

hapster

Common sense has too rule... Well, almost.

My large egg is on a wooden deck off the back of my house. I have a flame resistant mat under it as it sits in the nest. The deck is about 12' in the air and attached to my house.

I have fire extinguishers by the egg and inside.


That said.... If I worried about evey possible risk that could harm or kill me, I'd never be able to get the f outta bed.

Make it as safe as you can stand, egg on and enjoy!

MaskedMarvel

I basically run it wide open until I get the temp living then shut it down to about my correct temp settings. Frequently sparks fly at the lighting stage.

robnybbq

MeridianSun said:

I don't care how long it had been. I would never dump the ash in the house trash. Bad move.

Just thinking hypothetically. What's the difference between being on the wooden deck and an ember flys out vs. the ember flying out hitting the deck or the side of the house if it's on the lawn. Down in the yard it would be next to the wooden deck or next to the house. A ember could fly out the top and catch the deck on fire. Unless you are talking putting the egg by itself in the middle of the yard by itself on the grass. If that's the case then forget it. I live in a rural development surrounded by other houses and yards. As for walking up and down the stairs - not, so much the walking but carrying everything = dropping everything as I am doing it. Making bazillions of trips. I understand the risk of preventing fire but if it's downstairs I would just get rid of it which may be the thing to do. I am cooking right now on the egg. Clean out the ash - into the kitchen to dump the ash, Load the egg with lump - in the kitchen to wash hands - get the food into the kitchen and to the egg and bring the plate back into the kitchen to be washed - back into the kitchen for tends to flip the meat - then egg a serving dish from the kitchen to the egg and get the cooked food back to the kitchen. Back out to the egg to shut it down - now worry that it shut down and nothing sparked outside the egg. If the egg were downstairs this becomes a pita. Especially when coking a large amount of food or more complex cooks where different things are going on different times. Would become not worth the effort to use that is all. When I did have it down there it was more of a chore than pleasure mad the gasser was easier to use on the deck to cook a hamburger or chicken breast. now with the egg we cook more elaborate meals. Just thinking about it.

I agree about dumping it In the indoor house trash. I do not dump it in the house trash but I had to get a trash bag to put it in to carry to the outside trash.

hapster

MaskedMarvel said:

I basically run it wide open until I get the temp living then shut it down to about my correct temp settings. Frequently sparks fly at the lighting stage.

Catching it on the way up might help with sparks

MaskedMarvel

hapster said:

I basically run it wide open until I get the temp living then shut it down to about my correct temp settings. Frequently sparks fly at the lighting stage.

Catching it on the way up might help with sparks

Yeah sorry I was at work typing and wasn't clear. I am catching it on the way up. Occasional sparks with the vent and lid open until then.