I really can't suggest solutions without knowing more about the soil
conditions. either the soil itself is suspect (marine clay, or something
similar) or there is some sort of physical barrier keeping that area from
draining. Other possibilites are leaky sewer lines or water lines...

If it were me, I'd get under the deck and shovel out a hole going about 2
feet down. I'd dump the soil onto a tarp and then drag it out into the sun
until it dries, then I would examine it. You can plot your results on a
three sided chart which I've posted to alt.binaries.pictures.gardens as
'soil makeup grid' which is widely used to classify soil types. The diagram
shows a three sided grid with each side representing the content of a
particular particle on a scale from 0% to 100%. The bottom line is the sand
content, starting at 0% at the bottom right hand corner, and rising to 100%
in the bottom left hand corner.


--
David J. Bockman, Fairfax, VA (USDA Hardiness Zone 7)
email:
http://beyondgardening.com/Albums



" wrote in
message oups.com...

David J Bockman wrote:
If you have positive drainage topographically away from that space,
then the
problem lies in both the moisture retentive qualities of the below
deck
soil, as well as the inability of the surrounding soil to translocate
the
water away below ground. Many different possibilities exist for why
exactly
that's happening, but the solution you propose is not a good idea.

Are you familiar with how to identify what types of soil you have?
(sandy,
silty, loamy, etc?)

David-
This is the problem as you state. Do you have any solutions to share?

The soil is so wet all the top an identfication of type is difficult
for me.

Rob