Flagstone coping install question

ouachita · Oct 9, 2009

I am currently having a vinyl liner pool installed with cantilever coping. I plan to install 3" thick 14" wide flagstone in assorted rectangular lengths for the coping. I am having a hard time finding any construction details on how to install the coping (i.e. how much overhang, what kind of footer, etc...) I am in Arkansas so we do not have much of a freeze thaw issue.

Any advice would be appreciated.

waste · Oct 10, 2009

Welcome to TFP!!

It's my considered opinion that you'll want a 'sub deck' around the pool to properly bond the flagstone (the top of the pool walls don't bond very well

and you want the coping solidly 'nailed down' :wink:

)

What will you do for the rest of the deck? You may want to pour a sub deck for the entire pool (but, if you are paying for that, you might as well just have a crete deck to start :|

ouachita · Oct 13, 2009

Ted,

I plan to cantilever one row of the flagstone (about 14" wide) and then pour concrete for the rest of the deck. I just wanted the stone border to dress it up and tie it into the theme of my house.

I am going to leave a caulkable expansion joint between the stone and concrete. I just was not sure whether I needed a concrete footer to set the stone on or if a thick mortar bed would suffice. I am leaning toward an independant, reenforced footer just for the stone.

waste · Oct 14, 2009

I think you're doing it correctly

Sounds like you'll have a great pool! :goodjob:

duraleigh · Oct 15, 2009

Would you pour this onto the top of the pool wall? No harm, but that seems unnecessary.

The idea is to uncouple the decking from the pool wall with a cold joint or, better, an expansion joint. If you need to do a footer because the top of the pool wall is not wide enough, I would attach that footer with rebar to the pool wall....essentially extending the pool wall both vertically and horizontally.

Then, as you already plan, do an expansion joint between the footer and the decking.

For that matter, you could cantilever the decking out over the pool wall (use some felt paper between the pool wall and the decking pour) and the uncoupling would occur at that point. That may not work well with your elevations, though.

ouachita · Oct 15, 2009

Duraleigh,

It is a vinyl liner with a pvc ( or aluminum) coping. The coping will not really hold anything ( I don't believe ) so I will have to pour a footer behind it to hold up the stone. As a matter of fact, I considered leaving a small gap between the top of the coping and the bottom of the stone so I could caulk it to keep water from getting between the two and hence behind my liner.

Here is a link to a cross section view of the coping. http://www.poolwarehouse.com/swimmingpoolkitcoping.html

duraleigh · Oct 15, 2009

I'm sorry I overlooked that in your first post.

Since you don't have that expansion/contraction issue, I wonder if you could not simply pour the decking and the footer as a monolithic pour.

It seems like that would help keep weight off of the coping. I may not have it envisioned correctly but I doubt you have any concerns.

As I'm sure you know, virtually all failures with poured decking have to do with improper preparation of the sub base and subsequent settling. Compact everything as good as you can.