Pool Decking Opinions please!

[moppymo]

Hello!

We had a small fiberglass inground pool installed last summer. They poured a two foot concrete coping around the pool at install and beyond that it is just sand and weeds. The coping that the concrete company poured was supposed to be colored and now looks pink. :x So, I have to try to find something that will coordinate with "pink" concrete and look attractive. OR- is it possible to paint the concrete somehow? Hmmm...

Anyway-
We only have about 350 SF of yard to cover with some sort of decking. We've considered pavers-(like from Lowes), travertine pavers and some sort of wooden deck type stuff.($$$) We want to find something that will hold up under many children, foot traffic and of course the salt water splash from the pool.

What have you learned based on experience, what is the most cost effective yet attractive? Would you do pavers again if you've done them? Do pavers (like from Lowes) deteriorate under the salt water splash? Does that "polymetric (??) sand" stuff you put in-between the pavers wash out or stay put? Can concrete color be changed? I think trying to cover it with pavers will increase the cost and complicate the entire situation.

I'm open to any thoughts, suggestions, input- please!

Thank you very much!

 

[Texgirl]

I can't speak to the pavers as I have never had them but they may be a little rough on the feet... my feet are really tender though, as I know pavers are used all the time.

We love spray decking over concrete. It stays cool and is good on the feet. That may be what your peachy stuff is... you could add more concrete decking and have them maybe change the color and do all in a color you like?

Just a thought and good luck!

 

[RobbieH]

Travertine is not a durable product in my opinion.

Concrete staining is possible, and in fact it can look VERY good. It's durable, inexpensive, and attractive.

Everyone I know with anything resembling "cool deck" has flaking problems. I have something similar on my house deck (not my pool deck) and it's cracked and has flaked in spots. Some of my friends have severe flaking on their surfaces. The company that did mine wanted over $7,000 to repair the issues I have.

 

[wtrtoys]

Find a great decorative concrete guy and let his imagination run wild. I am having 900 sq ft of stamped and stained concrete with a border done for about $8.25 a sq ft. If you price out ANY other options it will be comparable, if not more and nowhere near the durability and logevity of concrete. And yes they can stain your existing concrete to anything you want or like. I just gave the gi ahead on ours so all this is fresh in my mind, now if warmer weather would just come my guy can get started!

 

[prosper]

We're doing stamped concrete on our new pool build. $8 sq/ft.

Our last pool had stamped concrete as well. We had that pool for 10 years before we moved.
Concrete still looked new.

Only issue with stamped concrete is that it can be slippery when sealed.

For us the pro's outweigh the cons and we are going with it again.