How much gap to leave between the pool and the deck?

[D0T-C0M]

I live in Eastern Canada and we have some cold winters. I was building the deck around my 27' AGP salt water pool and I set the deck height to come to about the middle of the top plate and leaving about a 1/2" to 3/4" gap between the deck and the top plate. A friend of mine came over and kinda questioned if 1/2" gap was enough for when the pool freezes this winter. I got to thinking that maybe I'd come on here and ask the experts that have experience in cold climates if I'm alright? The kids were doing cannon balls this after noon and the pool expanded about 1/4-3/8". Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[D0T-C0M]

Can anyone comment, I want to finish my deck and want know if the spacing is adequate before going too far.

 

[duraleigh]

I am not in a cold climate, but won't you drain the water below the top plate? Doesn't that eliminate any concern about too much expansion?

 

[D0T-C0M]

Yes I will be draining the pool to between 1/2 and 2/3 full. That should technically give me more space for expansion but just wanted to be absolutely sure that when the pool freezes its not constricted by the deck.