Hello to all,

We just got our 30 ft ABG pool installed this year in time to swim in it 3 times before the temps got too cold. I hope to get a deck installed some time very soon. I plan on only installing on one side and not all the way around - I think. I would welcome any words of advice, suggestions, pictures, etc to help me get started and avoid any mistakes - if I can. Our yard has quite a bit of slope to it and the "back" side of the pool away from the house is buried about 2 1/2 feet. Thanks in advance for help from this great community! Poolnewby in Oklahoma.

Plan it out properly, and if there isn't enough time left before winter - wait until spring, don't rush into it and build something you won't like later on.
Decide on the types of decking material, type of railing material, colors, consult local by-laws, price it all out.

Building a great deck takes a lot of planning, I always shudder a bit when people try to rush in a deck or pool before winter, I prefer to think that it's ready when it's ready.

Oh, if you are struggling with sizes/shapes, it can help to spray paint outlines on the grass so you can gauge what it will look like.

I made a post of my wrap around deck for a 28 ft pool. The new deck was integrated into the existing deck. Composite wood and vinyl railings. Took a while to build but I love it. If you like the pics, I can take more of the underside etc. The hardest part was being flexible. Its quite hard to perfectly plan the posts around a round pool.

We built the largest deck we could afford at the time with plans to add on to it later. We also sprayed the outline on the ground...many times till we got it how we wanted. We looked at decks all over town, on the internet, in books etc....It took my husband 4 months to build by himself, but worth all the time and effort. I agree do not rush and plan, plan plan.

I would agree with the others that an initial outline of what you think you might like is a good idea. Hubby and I have built several decks, only one for our pool though, and I find it very helpful to outline what I think we want with a rope or string first... then spray paint when you think you have it right so you don't lose the design when the wind blows (or someone trips over it). I find that helpful because we change our minds a bit during the outline process and if you have several lines of paint it's hard to tell which one is the one you wanted.

Our pool deck was a bit different because we bought a used pool and talked the guy into selling us what deck he had for a little extra. We set it by the pool to see what we had and decided what else we wanted from there. I might have done something a little different in design... but it sure saved us some $$ by using the deck we salvaged.