Second guessing our decking choice

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K

Kelkel

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Feb 17, 2014
35
Houston
We were (are) planning on stamped concrete for our decking and I'm now 2nd guessing it (our dig starts later this week).
After reading so many places online, I'm just really afraid it's going to be slippery, and I really don't want that. I'll have a baby and 7 yr old with me out there, plus lots of other kids, too.
I really don't want us all busting our butts out there! (I'm klutzy by nature anyway)
What else is the least slip-resistant? Or can stamped concrete be applied in such a way that it won't be slippery (I have heard of a matte-like finish?)
My pool builder doesn't care for Kool-decking for a reason I can't recall, and I personally hate the feel of pea gravel.
Flagstone is just out of our (already ballooned) budget!
Please help!
Thanks in advance!!!
 
I think you are going to have a slippery surface on any sealed product. For example, concrete can be acid washed, brushed, or done in a rock salt finish, but once you seal it, it's smooth. Talk to your builder about this, they may have a solution. My surface is VERY slippery, but we haven't had any accidents in 3 swim seasons. "NO RUNNING" is the rule.

I hate Cool Deck type products. We have it on our house patio and front porch. It looks terrible after 5 years. Dirt that power washing won't remove, and parts of it are cracked and/or flaking off.
 
Neighbor has rock salt with some scored lines which looks really nice and is actually pretty cool in the summer since they picked a light color. My guess it is not any more than the stamped concrete...probably cheaper.

You can put additives to make it less slippery, but I'm not sure how long that will last over the years.

I've read a few posts lately with the same concern as you...maybe you can search a bit and see what others have done.
 
You could use a penetrating sealer on the concrete instead of the film forming type. However a penetrating sealer will leave the surface looking like it was not sealed and will not add that nice glossy look and depth of color to your stain. You can add color to the concrete by acid stain or you can have an integral color added to the mix. The integral color will be even and not the different shades of color like acid staining will.

We did a salt finish deck with integral color and did not seal it. It has excellent traction. Stamped concrete with a penetrating sealer should provide excellent traction too as long as you are okay with the appearance of the penetrating sealer.
 
We installed tumbled Travertine and it was actually much cheaper that stamped and stained concrete. It is also very sure under foot. I was shocked at the cost of concrete decking. The benefit with pavers is if you ever need any plumbing repairs you can just pull up the pavers, repair, and then re-lay the pavers. I have a friend in New Orleans that did a scored and stained concrete deck that looked like Travertine. Within one year it cracked from the pool to the house and looked really bad. The downside of pavers is killing the occasional weed in the cracks and having to re-level a few after they have settled. In my opinion I would never do concrete due to the problems with cracking and trust me it will all crack.

Also invest in a "Pool Rules" sign that includes "No Running" and enforce it.
 
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