Composite wood deck over old concrete?

[NullQwerty]

Hey folks,

Got an 18X36 IG pool surrounded by 30 year old concrete. The concrete has some cracking and some settling and just looks unsightly.

Quotes to tear it up and put down pavers start at 16K and go up. More than I want to spend. Tearing it out and putting in new concrete starts 11K, but it could crack and settle all over again.

So, now I was thinking instead I'd just build a deck with composite wood right over the existing concrete instead. Still about 6K in materials, but that's a lot cheaper than 16K. I was thinking I would try to make it as low as possible...like maybe only 1 foot higher than the current deck if possible. I would just need to do something around the coping area since the deck will be higher than the pool, but I'll figure it out.

Anyways...anyone ever seen this done? Anyone have any opinions as to whether or not this is a good idea or bad idea?

Thanks!

 

[MikeInTN]

Well, I haven't done it around a pool, but I rebuilt the back deck on my house over an old patio that had cracked and heaved. Built it out of composite, too, and haven't had any problems. Just make sure to use pressure treated wood rated for ground contact for your framing, and you should be all right.

One thing I will mention - it looks like the composites are prone to mold staining (well, at least the Choicedek variety sold by Lowe's). I used the Choicedek myself, and I do have some spots I haven't tried yet to get up, but to me, it's a deck, it's gonna get dirty, so I live with it. Just wanted to make you aware. There's a thread or two on here about using composites versus vinyl versus wood. Some folks on here have used Ipe, a Brazilian hardwood, and it's gorgeous! Do a search and you should find the threads.

 

[Riles_J]

How many square feet of decking do you have? Something doesn't quite sound right to me with those numbers.

Price per square foot in my experience is about $5 - Concrete, $8 - Stamped Concrete, $12 Pavers. Decking should be about about the same as the pavers or more depending of the materials you choose. It seems as though you are comparing installed prices for concrete/pavers with material costs for decking.

If you are looking for the least expensive option I'm not sure you can beat concrete. If it has been there for a long time you should not have any more settlement issues. Concrete still has to be installed properly and will crack as it is the nature, but if installed properly you should not have any issues with concrete.

I would be cautious about constructing a deck over the top of the concrete. Though it can work I'm not sure it will save you any money and the aestics with how it interfaces with the pool would be an issue for me. I have seen wood decks that line up with the coping and they look good, but in your case the decking would be at least 6 inches above the coping and probably 10-12 inches from the water.

If you post some more particulars about your deck and maybe some pics it would help.

Good luck.

Riles

 

[NullQwerty]

The square footage (not including what is taken up by the pool) is around 1,350 square feet.
So for Pavers: 1,350 * 12 = 16K
I only got 1 quote for the concrete. For normal concrete it was just over 9K and for stamped it was just over 12K.

That includes removal of the existing. If I could get a quote at $5 a square foot for concrete, I'd definitely consider it.

I'll try to post some pics tonight.

 

[Deleted member 62417]

Hi there. Ii did a Google search on "composite decking pool coping" and came across this older post. Was wondering if you went forward with this idea?
I am thinking about removing my old plastic coping and then using a bullnose composite deck board to replace it. I would then build out from that piece with composite deck boards hopefully screwed directly into my existing concrete patio stones. The patio stones are simple cheap "builder" stones. I don't have poured concrete or interlocked decking around the pool.

Hope you get this after a few years!

Derek

 

[pooldv]

I haven't done this around a pool, but, I have built decks on top of concrete patios three times in the last decade or two and it works just fine. I put 2x4 pressure treated sleepers face down on the patio 16" on center with a little gorilla glue at each end and then used 3/4 deck boards with 1-1/4" screws. So the total installed height was 1-1/2" plus 3/4" equals 2-1/4". Make sure to put the 2x4 sleepers in line with the drainage slope of the deck so water still drains off.