coping choices

flywright · Mar 16, 2015

Hi all,

I am in the choices phase of building my pool, and the builder provides 3 choices for pool coping. Limestone, travertine and flagstone, all same cost. The pool is going to be free form, with a raised rear wall and spa. I have no intentions of going salt route, and the pool will be in full sun most of the day. The concrete will be covered in cool deck.

Is there a clear choice to the right material, I am not 100% set on a look yet, so color is not a big factor yet.

Which is cooler to the touch, less maintenance, more stain resistant, more durable, are the type of things that are more important to me. Thank you for your help.

Rich

ErikU19 · Mar 16, 2015

what decking are you going with? you can achieve a "seamless" look by matching the decking and coping.

flywright · Mar 16, 2015

Decking will be cook deck.

jblizzle · Mar 16, 2015

Flagstone gets hot. Travertine is cooler. No idea about Limestone.

I would go with Travertine as I think it holds up better to SWG ... if you ever change your mind.
Or just do a full cantilever deck with no coping so it all matches. Very common in AZ to have it all Kool Deck.

JayBauman · Mar 16, 2015

Your decision should come down to the type of equipment you're putting in (salt or no-salt) and/or how much work you want to put in (stone sealer or no sealer).

You need to finalize one factor first, then make the decisions based on your first factor. For example, choose salt system. Then you'll want to go with limestone. OR....choose flagstone and avoid salt like the plague, unless you want to seal it every few years. I think once you put a line in the sand, the good folks around here can help you with your decisions.

EminenceFront · Mar 16, 2015

We evaluated cost / return and travertine is pretty expensive, unless you're already doing a very expensive deck and pool, in which case it's relative.

we evaluated flagstone vs. brick vs. manufactured bullnose stone (concrete product.). In the end we chose to concrete product due to it's uniformity, and because we know we can always replace cracked or chipped / stained pieces with like pieces since they're factory molded and mass produced.

Flagstone is rustic and natural but we wanted a balance between all the moss-rock features like fountain and spa spillway..

Hope this helps you out. the concrete products look nice, and are smooth to the cheeks and the feet.

Kpag · Mar 17, 2015

I think you should, from a design standpoint, look at your house too. The coping and deck should tie in with the fixed elements of your home (brick, stone, formal, rustic, etc...).

madgunner · Mar 19, 2015

If you go with a natural stone product, I recommend sealing it, regardless of using a SWCG or not.

Concrete products are generally more durable than natural stone, but may not give you the same look or match the surrounding design. If you don't have a need to match stone in the design, go with concrete. You can still seal concrete - especially if you want to protect it against stains. Concrete sealers are much less expensive compared to natural stone sealers.

If I didn't already have flagstone, I would've opted for a bullnose cement product.

Limestone and sandstone are both easy to work with, but are highly vulnerable to damage from freeze/thaw cycles, salt, etc. when used around pools. If using limestone around a pool, opt for Lueders (and seal it), which tends to be more dense than most other limestones.

Dave95b · Mar 20, 2015

I inthe process of getting bids to redo our pool. For the coping, we are going to a tumbled rock from a 12" safety brick coping. It used to be a 13.5" before the last remodel and now have a ridiculous mastic gap. We're going with the tumbled so it can butt up to the Cool Deck walkway around the pool. Any recommendations for tumbled rock or a different product that won't break the bank?