Deck design - what to do and what not to do; that is the ?

[TonyM]

I bought a house last year that came with an above ground pool. Found this place and have successfully turned my swamp into an oasis. I am a graduate of the pool school and I am a fan of BBB.

Now that I am past this stage, I gotta give the wife a place to put her chair. Its deck time.

The pool currently has grass, weeds, rocks and an attempt at a concrete paver patio. All of this mess has to go. The previous homeowner (husband) did not want the pool (according to his wife), and put no effort into the area around the pool, at all.

I have read through the forums and have seen several great projects, as well as some neat extras that help to increase enjoyment.

What I want from this thread is some feedback on 'must-haves' or 'wish-i-had-done-this' or the 'be sure to not do this' from builders or owners of AGP decks.

I am experienced with deck building, so no option is off the table (within budget).


Right now, I am thinking I will deck about 25% of the pool, approximately 16'x16'.

 

[Suziqzer]

Re: Deck design - what to do and what not to do; that is the

When we built our deck it had to work as our fence too to meet code. We couldn't afford to put a privacy fence up around the entire area, and had to have a 6ft fence around the pool with a self locking gate. We chose to build a narrow walkable deck around the perimeter of the pool and at one end we have a nice size sitting area.

I wish we had made the opposite side of the sitting area larger so we could have had a solar cover reel at that end. Now we roll the cover onto it's reel in sitting over the center of the pool & have to lift the cover to sit on the railing that is around the walkway when we want to use the pool. A bit of a feat for me... DH has no trouble with it though.

It looks like you live a bit further south, so you may not have as much need for the solar cover. We use ours most nights w/the exception of the heat of late summer, just to keep our temps where we like to swim... low to mid 80's. We're in central Indiana.

 

[deweypip]

Re: Deck design - what to do and what not to do; that is the

We just put up a 24' AGP. My deck design is approx 27X27. Takes up about 1/3 of pool diameter. Personally I'd like it bigger. Budgetarily(sp??) it will have to do.
Point is---build it as big as you think you need, or to what you can aford. Too big won't be a problem, too small will be.

 

[Txmat]

Re: Deck design - what to do and what not to do; that is the

I agree too big will not be a problem. My only suggestion is to consider future maintenance on the pool. When I had to replace some broken rail caps I had to demo part of the deck to gain access. A better original design would have made it easier.

 

[cramar]

Re: Deck design - what to do and what not to do; that is the

How many people will be on your deck?
Add to that: tables, chairs, pool toys, room for horseplay, etc.

A 16x16 deck will suit a small family and is enough for a few kids to play on, we have a 20x12 deck, with a 4 seat table/chair set and a few adults it fills up fast, I wish I had room for 20x20.

 

[danpik]

Re: Deck design - what to do and what not to do; that is the

Here is how I handled mine. Did not want or need too big of a deck but wanted something more than just a square blob on posts. I designed this as a modular system and can add more pie sections should I ever want to.

When I built this I took some ideas and lessons from friends who had pools. One thing I did not like about some pools is the framing of the deck built over the top of the pool rail. What I mean by this is the 8" framing as well as the decking hovering over the top of the rail. I also saw what happened to the top rail on my friends pool when he built his deck level with the top of the rail. All three rail sections the deck is around are completly trashed after two years of use. I went with what I determined to be the best alternative and that was to fit the deck so it is only a couple of inches over the rail. It, to me, does not look so imposing and still protects the rail. Both pie sections were framed separatly on the ground and are exactly the same framing configuration. Both deck sections to this day simply sit on top of the framework rails and can be moved if needed. The stairs are mounted to heavy duty hinges and can be folded up when not in use. When I first built them I thought they would be too heavy but, my wife can lift them with realtive ease.

 

[TonyM]

Re: Deck design - what to do and what not to do; that is the

It looks like you live a bit further south, so you may not have as much need for the solar cover.

True - but I hadn't thought about that. I might look at building this capability into my design, just in case I want/need it in the future.

build it as big as you think you need, or to what you can afford. Too big won't be a problem, too small will be.

Good point. My line of thinking was just a few chairs and maybe a small table - maybe I will go to 1/3 or 1/2…...

A better original design would have made it easier.

This is my biggest design question - where to put the deck in relation to the pool rail. Over? Flush? Under?
I like over (with the deck boards only) to keep people from standing on the top rail, but I am concerned with maintenance down the road. I am looking at a method (similar to danpik's post), where I can remove the deck near the pool for maintenance or liner change.

How many people will be on your deck?
Add to that: tables, chairs, pool toys, room for horseplay, etc.

I would say that the most people regularly on the deck at one time would be 4 - 6 adults. When kids are there, obviously that would increase that number, but they can put their chairs in the yard

When I built this I took some ideas and lessons from friends who had pools.

That is exacly what I am doing now. I want to take all of these ideas and build the right deck first time around. I really like the "birdsmouth" cut over your rail. Is it sturdy (standing on the edge)? If I put my deck "over" I only want the thickness of the decking over the rail, or as close as I can get to that height.

 

[danpik]

Re: Deck design - what to do and what not to do; that is the

That is exacly what I am doing now. I want to take all of these ideas and build the right deck first time around. I really like the "birdsmouth" cut over your rail. Is it sturdy (standing on the edge)? If I put my deck "over" I only want the thickness of the decking over the rail, or as close as I can get to that height.

No problem standing on the edge. I weight 250 and there is no deflection when I stand on it. There are actually 5 rafters under each pie section counting the two outside rails.

Here is a picture of the overhang.

 

[TonyM]

Re: Deck design - what to do and what not to do; that is the

ok - After vacuuming last night, I spent some time studying the area. I am bumping up the size based on recommendations here, but I will have to sneak in some lumber as the wife is the one with the hard budget ceiling .

 

[BethyM]

Re: Deck design - what to do and what not to do; that is the

What size are you considering now? We're just getting the pool this week so dreaming of a deck is just in its infancy. What size pool are you putting it around? I will eagerly watch how this thread progresses, I love the way you phrased the question! So much knowledge to be gained here

 

[TonyM]

Re: Deck design - what to do and what not to do; that is the

27' round. I am now thinking 1/3 of the pool, with a larger area for chairs and a table. Right now, the area around the pool is a mess. Patio pavers and weeds everywhere. I am going to post some progress pictures to this thread as I start building it.

 

[BethyM]

Re: Deck design - what to do and what not to do; that is the

I'll be watching this!! When you say a 1/3 do you mean like 28 feet? Just curious as we've been trying to visualize deck sizes. Best wishes with it.

 

[TonyM]

Re: Deck design - what to do and what not to do; that is the

I'm thinking 33% of the circle will have deck to the edge, with a 'rectangle' shape (as if the pool was eating into the rectangle-shaped deck). My pool is partially buried on one side (hill) so the deck will be over the buried part. This will make the cost less (lower to the ground - save on some posts).