To have coping or no coping with SWG?

[Nursenini]

We are preparing to finalize our building plans (yay!) and wonder if it's a good idea to use coping around the pool since we are doing SWG.
Our current bid is without, but I do love the look of it.

If you used coping with SWG, what stone did you use/what stone is best to withstand erosion from the salt?

Also, how much $$ did it add to the price of your pool?

Pictures of your coping on your pools is welcomed as I'm a visual person!

thank you!
Denise

 

[Griswald]

I thought ALL pools needed coping, isn't that just the cap that goes around the perimeter of the pool?

 

[JamieP]

Is the altnative to no coping having the deck poured right up to the edge, or "cantilevered". I am making the same decision, but if we go with coping and a SWG, we'll use precast concrete. However, I've read even the precast concrete may not be impervious to the salt. The manufacturer still recommended sealing it, but that is also to avoid staining.

 

[Timfree]

Here is my 2 cents:
I think, we probably standing, sitting on this coping a lot, therefore choose anything you like as long as it is cool in a hot summer time. And stay away from something that required more grouting , another words, don’t let the water has more chances to penetrate into your coping materials.

 

[JamieP]

Those are very good points. The one benefit of the precast concrete coping is that it is also smoother to sit on, and won't snag swimming suits. I've heard it is cooler than flagstone, but not sure about travertine.

 

[Nursenini]

Is the altnative to no coping having the deck poured right up to the edge, or "cantilevered". I am making the same decision, but if we go with coping and a SWG, we'll use precast concrete. However, I've read even the precast concrete may not be impervious to the salt. The manufacturer still recommended sealing it, but that is also to avoid staining.

Yes, the original build quote we got has the deck all the way to the pool edge and, in my understanding be bull-nosed for a rounded edge.

Trying to to get all of this figured out from pool owners/experts rather than rely on a salesman who wants to make $$

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I thought ALL pools needed coping, isn't that just the cap that goes around the perimeter of the pool?

I don't think it's a "must have" because our original quote did not include it.

 

[azwaldo]

Pros to concrete is that it is cheaper and you can always stain it or add cool deck (which I'm sure PB will add cool deck). It does not look nearly as nice as stone coping. If you have a bit more money to work with then go with stone coping. Looks much nicer. Travertine is much cooler than all of them. I would just recommend you have the coping sealed so salt does not get to it. I did bullnose silver travertine coping on mine.

other option aside from concrete deck is that you there are also concrete coping that can be used to give it more a custom look. Talk to you PB and ask for pricing.

 

[ummgood]

Another option is paver coping. Mine is Belgard Mega Bergerac. I know another thread (I don't know where it is) where they used more of a slate style paver for their coping.

 

[Nursenini]

Another option is paver coping. Mine is Belgard Mega Bergerac. I know another thread (I don't know where it is) where they used more of a slate style paver for their coping.

I'll re-look at yours...

 

[Nursenini]

Looks much nicer. Travertine is much cooler than all of them. I would just recommend you have the coping sealed so salt does not get to it. I did bullnose silver travertine coping on mine.

other option aside from concrete deck is that you there are also concrete coping that can be used to give it more a custom look.

Yes, yours is very pretty!
We aren't doing cool deck, but maybe a stain on the salt finish. Thanks for the tip on the concrete coping and the travertine.

 

[Divin Dave]

With regard to what type of stone,

Natural soft stone, such as travertine, and some types of flagstone, etc are susceptible to accelerated errosion with a SW Pool.
In flagstone, there are different densities of it, and the more dense the stone, the less erosion. This issue does exist, but the severity of it depends on more that just the type of stone.

With any selection though, the errosion issue can be easily controlled by sealing the stone. You can get natural look sealer or wet look or somewhere in between, so no need to be concerned iwth the appearance of the sealed stone. You can make it look however you want to.


An average quality sealer will easily last at least 2 years, or maybe more, depending on the enviornment and how much the pool is used and the quality of the sealer. Some of the better sealers last 5 to 8 years.

Its a easy DIY project too n (roll it on with paint roller and done), and it wouldnt take much sealer to do just the coping. No need to have to hire someone to do that part if you dont want to.

Any molded concrete type coping, or brick, or any natural hard stone (blue stone is popular) is not suceptble to such accelerated errosion due to salt content of the water.

Personally, I like the travertine. IMO, Its the prettiest of natural stone which is used for coping. The down side is, like most thngs that are pretty, it will cost ya!

hope this helps,

 

[pooldv]

Our rock salt finished colored concrete deck is a LOT cooler than our flagstone coping. Concrete will generally withstand salt and weather, freeze/thaw, etc better than a natural stone. If you like the cantilevered concrete deck then go for it. I wouldnt try to talk myself into something that is higher maintenance and cost more. We are very happy with our deck, it looks great, has held up great, is cool-ish and is completely maintenance free.

 

[Nursenini]

With regard to what type of stone,

Natural soft stone, such as travertine, and some types of flagstone, etc are susceptible to accelerated errosion with a SW Pool.
In flagstone, there are different densities of it, and the more dense the stone, the less erosion. This issue does exist, but the severity of it depends on more that just the type of stone.

With any selection though, the errosion issue can be easily controlled by sealing the stone. You can get natural look sealer or wet look or somewhere in between, so no need to be concerned iwth the appearance of the sealed stone. You can make it look however you want to.


An average quality sealer will easily last at least 2 years, or maybe more, depending on the enviornment and how much the pool is used and the quality of the sealer. Some of the better sealers last 5 to 8 years.

Its a easy DIY project too n (roll it on with paint roller and done), and it wouldnt take much sealer to do just the coping. No need to have to hire someone to do that part if you dont want to.

Any molded concrete type coping, or brick, or any natural hard stone (blue stone is popular) is not suceptble to such accelerated errosion due to salt content of the water.

Personally, I like the travertine. IMO, Its the prettiest of natural stone which is used for coping. The down side is, like most thngs that are pretty, it will cost ya!

hope this helps,

thanks for the walk through of the sealing, Dave! I WAS wondering... Very helpful. I love the look of the travertine but as with anything, it all comes down to cost. We'll see what the PB says...

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Our rock salt finished colored concrete deck is a LOT cooler than our flagstone coping. Concrete will generally withstand salt and weather, freeze/thaw, etc better than a natural stone. If you like the cantilevered concrete deck then go for it. I wouldnt try to talk myself into something that is higher maintenance and cost more. We are very happy with our deck, it looks great, has held up great, is cool-ish and is completely maintenance free.

i went and re looked at your pool build (beautiful!) and I do like the concrete and flagstone combo. When we got our first quote, we had a smaller budget so I didn't even let him tell me about stone of any kind. Now that we have more moolah to play with I'm tentatively adding more wish list items.

 

[pooldv]

Woohoo, more money!

 

[chiefwej]

In designing our pool we were looking for a very clean uncluttered look. A geometric shape, two different sized rectangles merged at the corners, one being the main body of the pool and the other a sun shelf and spa set at the same level as the pool separated by a dam wall that comes just to the water surface. We didn't want any coping to break up the clean lines. Our cantilevered deck was actually a conscious design choice. To make it impervious to any effects of the salt we coated the deck with a textured acrylic finish.

 

[Nursenini]

In designing our pool we were looking for a very clean uncluttered look. A geometric shape, two different sized rectangles merged at the corners, one being the main body of the pool and the other a sun shelf and spa set at the same level as the pool separated by a dam wall that comes just to the water surface. We didn't want any coping to break up the clean lines. Our cantilevered deck was actually a conscious design choice. To make it impervious to any effects of the salt we coated the deck with a textured acrylic finish.

Chief, your pool is so similar to our original design, it's beautiful, and I keep going back to look at it and contemplate...gonna head back there now and look some more...