We are wanting to add a deck to our new agp, of course we want to go about half way around the pool, have an area large enough for sitting. And thats about all we know. we are so new to all of this. I've been looking thru other post for ideas and solutions. Do you have any recommendations, dont forget to do this..., ideas, good deck plans, etc? Thank you all for your time and effort!

I used plans from Deckplans.com. No affiliation, I just used their plan.

love that site! do you have any pics of your deck on here?

Go as large as you can, a deck will fill up very quickly with chairs, tables, pool toys and people.

If above ground pool determine where you want the final deck surface to be: even with pool rail top, over top of the pool rail, just underneath the bottom of the pool rail, or several inches under the pool rail.

I wonder which is best, above the pool ledge or equal with it?

There's pros'/con's for each.
I like a few inches under the rail but felt that may be a tripping hazard, my wife didn't like that she couldn't sit and put her feet in the pool.
I also like even with the top of the rail, which is what I did. But that can encourage people to stand on the rail, since my rail also pivots to come off I do have to remove a couple of boards to get a rail off.
Over top of the rail, well, personally I don't like that option.

There's no wrong or right, just personal preference.

I like the input and personal experiences! Keep em coming!

Our deck is even with the rails, with about a 2 inch gap at the most between the deck and the pool rails. Basically so I can get the winter cover between the deck and rails.

I put my deck right up to the edge of the pool rail and like it very much. However, I have to use those water weighted tubes to hold the winter cover on around that area of the deck rather than the clips that I can use on the side with no deck. The clips seem to work really well. I also will have to remove a lot of boards if and when I ever have to replace the liner. Here are a couple pics.

Gotta agree with go as large as possible on the deck. Adding a couple extra feet really doesn't add much cost. For the long area next to the pool I was going to go 8' but decided to go 10' and those extra two feet really is great.

I don't but I will get some for you. I need to get my tools picked up anyway. I love that the main deck is not fence height. In our smallish backyard, I don't feel I am walking on the fence and on display when I am around the pool. I have added some at pool level that I am happy with. This upper deck is 1/2 below the lowest point of the top seat. They are resin and thicker in the middle. The decking and supporting structure are at least 1/2 inch away from the pool and all of it's parts. This allows for the pool to move without touching the deck in any way.

I just need to finish the deck between the two. At this time, they are two separate decks.

Late edit, I intend to build a small platform the goes over the top rail for the kids to jump into the pool. The railing being right above the deck does encourage the kids to stand on it but I am not sure it's much different than being able to stand half on and half off with a flush deck, if just encourages them to push off the railing with their toes.

Oh good! I can't wait to see your pics! The jumping off platform sounds like a great idea, our little girls would love that!!!

My deck is close to even with the pool height. I have no issues with folks standing on the pool edge because it's built really well. I walk around the whole pool edge when vacuuming. My preference is engineered decking so I can pretty much ignore it and not worry about slivers. My avatar has a little picture of part of it. It's 16 feet long and maybe 10 deep? Step placement is something to think about. You don't want them taking up too much space with swinging doors and people traffic.

Composite decking is great but it can be very expensive. I spend more on my main deck than I did on my entire pool. I have found a place here that has some decking they have been selling Timber Tech for $1.75 lineal foot, the Azek dealer was 3.68 lf.

My deck is over the rail and I love that I can just sit on the deck and dangle my feet in the water if I don't feel like swimming.

It is but it's so nice on the feet. I went with the basic one Lowe's sells. I think it was $700 ish just for the decking. A bit over $20 for a 12 footer I think. The screws are expensive too but I did it sorta piecemeal to hurt a bit less. Now my wife wants me to put that stuff on our farmers porch because she keeps getting slivers.

I understand... When I was getting the deck boards for my jump deck, I needed 4 each 16 foot boards and the sales guy asked I needed screws, I said yes, he said "ok, that will be 192.00". I asked how much the screws were... $49.00 for 5 pounds. I went to my local OSH...$9 for one pound. In the end I needed a second box. No real savings but still cheaper.

One of my friends has a "trex" deck and it seems to get hotter than wood, his is a darkish brown though.

My experience has been that the more "consumer focused" or price driven the product is (ie Veranda brand) the more likely it is to be hotter than wood. I have a more commercial brand and I have never noticed my deck being too hot to stand on. Even on 100+ days. My decking is grey in color.

You are one a couple of people that have asked about different parts of my decks; so, as opposed to a taking over your thread-- I started one of my own about my decks.

http://www.troublefreepool.com/my-deck-and-it-s-ever-increasing-scope-t49910.html

I will be adding to it when I can get the time. I will have some shots of the jump deck but it is not 100% finished; but, you should get an idea of what I am doing.

Amanda,

I added a few more shots if you were interested. I have others but I didn't want to go any more overboard.

Guy