Separate Pour for Cantilever Deck

[Deucedriver]

I'm building my second owner builder pool and a question came up with my concrete contractor about doing a separate pour for our concrete cantilever deck. My first pool was single pour, so it's a new topic for me, and only found a few mentions of it in the forum.

Our pool is in the Sacramento area and is 38'x19' with a long raised beam along the back side with a fountain area and glass chatter wall. I'm going for a poured in place "faux" coping look along the next to the pool with stamped concrete behind. Our concrete contractor said we may want to do a separate pour for the cantilever, then pour the rest of the deck after. He talked about straighter lines and a cleaner look for the cantilever vs. doing a single pour. In my research I've found suggestions these may be a better construction technique also due to deck movement?

Any thoughts? Is it worth the added expense?

Thanks in advance.

 

[gwegan]

Welcome to TFP !!!

There are competing considerations.

It gets hot in the valley and concrete expands and contracts. A single pour that floats above the bond beam is generally preferred because you don't have to worry about joints near the pool. The slab expands and contracts into the pool and moves at the control joints.

In a separate pour the coping sits on top of the bond bean and doesn't move. That may mean the large deck expands and moves the coping or not. It may mean large control joints. It may mean something else.

So what is he pouring? Is he adding anything to the mix. Is he putting rebar in the deck? He has to put wire mesh or rebar in the deck for at least 3 feet around the pool to bond it. Control joints in the coping?

I'd ask about how he is going to deal with the deck expansion and contraction. Its a valid question and there are many ways to deal with it and you are entitled to know how its working.

 

[Deucedriver]

Thanks for the reply.

I don't know if anything is being added to the mix. He is using rebar, my quote calls for #3 rebar 24" on center for the deck, 12" on center around the edge of the pool. I'll ask him more specific questions about the expansion and contraction.

The few discussions I've found about this online made it sound like the separate pour (if done right) was better for the expansion/contraction issues. Maybe, maybe not. I definitely don't want to add the expense if it presents new problems without any benefit.