We have been thinking about putting in decorative concrete for a new pool deck ( stamped w/ stain + sealing) as this seemed to be the only way to get a look similar to pavers w/o spending an extra $2-5/sq ft, but if I'm reading the comments from our pool builder correctly, he believes that if we also want a non-slippery surface for kids that we need to either settle for sand finished standard concrete (non decorative) or be willing to pay for the upgrade to pavers. Is this generally correct? Safety, of course, has to be prioritized over appearance of the deck.

btw, the look we wanted for the deck would be similar to - http://www.concretenetwork.com/concrete ... _small.jpg

My colored / stamped concrete is not very slippery. Just about everyone says that sealing the concrete will make it MUCH more slippery.

There are a couple dozen different types of sealer. I don't plan to seal mine any time soon, so I have not done a bunch of research on the topic. Any of your local stone yards (Orco, Angelus, Thompsons, Belgard, or whomever you have near SD) should have some samples of the different sealers. I don't know if you will get the actual 'Feel' of the final product without just putting it onto a larg area (say 3'x3').

Spoke to my pool builder again and he told me that if we went with stamped colored concrete, the color would fade and the surface would become dull over time if it wasn't sealed. Also, the anti-skid agents that can be added to sealants while helpful, still result in a surface that is significantly more slippery than other options.

I see a number of pool owners have unsealed stamped concrete..... is this something that works out over the long term (note that our pool will have salt system).

My concrete is colored all the way through. They mixed the color with the concrete. I assume it will fade some due to sun exposure, but as long as it all looks uniform I'm ok with that.

I don't want slippery decking.
I don't want 'glossy' looking decking.
I wasn't thrilled with the idea of re-sealing 2000+ SF every year or so.

There has got to be someone on here that sealed their stampled concrete...