Ok.. I wasn't sure where the best spot for this post would be so I picked this thread.. I have an 18x33 semi inground pool. The pook equipment (heater, filter, pump, extra outlets, swg, etc) is located on a pad approximately 12ft away from the pool edge.. When the pool was installed the electrician bonded the pool which included running a wire around the perimeter of the pool and tying it into the skimmer, return, pool equipment. He then asked if we were installing a metal ladder to get in as it would also need to be bonded.. I informed him that we were planning on building a small platform made of composite decking.. He brushed it off as if it did not need bonding.. Well the "platform" idea turned into a full deck build.. I looked around online and the only times I see pool bonding in reference to a "deck" is when the word "deck" is used to describe a concrete surround.. Has anyone installed a deck (wood or composite) around their pool and had to bond it? I have tried searching online and everything with pool bonding refers to "decks" that are pavers, concrete, etc.. I have yet to find anything about bonding a wood or composite deck.. The deck we are building has a traditional wood undercarriage and then composite planks/trim and pvc railing.. Thank for any input...
Deck around semi inground pool - Pool Bonding?
- Thread starter fearthisinc
- Start date
I never heard of it and think you're golden. The deck probably doesn't even have any contact with the pool, correct?
The deck has no contact with the pool other then the staircase going into the pool. We opted for the grand staircase which I think I have heard refered to as the wedding cake stairs... The stairs have a plastic piece that extends from the rails which screws into the deck for stability..
Bonding keeps two conductive items that are not touching at the same potential. You could have your pool wall at one potential, and the ground at a different potential. If you touched both at the same time, then your body would bridge that potential, and it would balance itself through you - I.e you would get a "shock". Bonding provides a low resistance path between all of these various conductive items, alowing the different potentials to equalize.
Seeing as your deck is composite, it is non-counduitve, and does not need to be bonded. Steel reinforcement in concrete decks does need to be bonded.
You can even have different parts of the ground at different potentials. You take a step, and the potential equalizes by going up one leg and down the other. If you are working around telephone poles, and there is situation where the pole becomes energized, well you first choice is to stay in the vehicle. If you have to leave (maybe your vehicle is on fire) you shufffle away, to avoid any ground potential rise. Not that this will happen around you pool, but still, its interesting.
-dave
Seeing as your deck is composite, it is non-counduitve, and does not need to be bonded. Steel reinforcement in concrete decks does need to be bonded.
You can even have different parts of the ground at different potentials. You take a step, and the potential equalizes by going up one leg and down the other. If you are working around telephone poles, and there is situation where the pole becomes energized, well you first choice is to stay in the vehicle. If you have to leave (maybe your vehicle is on fire) you shufffle away, to avoid any ground potential rise. Not that this will happen around you pool, but still, its interesting.
-dave
CJadamec
TFP Expert
While the wooden deck doesn't need to be bonded if you install any outlets on the deck with metal conduit the conduit must be bonded. If you use plastic conduit that doesn't need to be bonded but the outlets must be properly grounded and gfci protected. Any permanently installed metal, like screwed down and part of the deck, within 5 feet of the edge of the pool should be bonded. For example if you used metal railing on the edges of the deck that should be bonded. More than likely though you will have nothing on your deck that needs bonding. Happy deck building, its been almost 2 months for me and I still haven't finished my deck. Some how the deck has ballooned to about 1000sqft I now refer to it as the project that will never end.