Coping for gunite pool and pics

[trishalinn]

Hi,

We a purchased a home this past fall. The house had been sitting empty for a couple of years and my husband and I just uncovered the pool last week. We've been working on getting the pool cleaned up and it's coming along, but we aren't sure about what to do about the pools coping. It is a gunite pool and it looks like the prior owners removed the coping when they put stamped concrete around the pool. They never replaced the coping though, they just stuck boards up around the pool. We would like to complete the coping, because we have young children and would like to get a pool cover for on the pool during the summer months. Not to mention, the would looks pretty awful and the boards are warped and popping up.

My brother is a pretty handy guy and has said if I figure out what I want to do he thinks he'd be able to install the coping for us. I've looked online some and it looks like there are concrete or stone coping pieces I can get for around my pool.
Does anyone have any information on doing this as a do it yourself project? Any places online to get coping for a good price? Are there any other affordable options I may be overlooking? I'll post pictures in just a minute.

 

[trishalinn]

I've been taking these pictures more to document how the clean up of the pool is coming along, but I think they should work alright for demonstrating what the coping looks like.

 

[Heckpools]

wood coping looks sweet!

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Trish- I'm sure you will get a ton of helpful suggestions, just be patient as this is the busy time for many pool experts with all the openings/installs their business is picking up and they aren't on the forum as often.

 

[Melt In The Sun]

I don't know if Heck was joking or not, but I actually do think it looks cool! New boards with a nice stain and finish/seal would be cheaper than stone coping, that's for sure, especially if you can do it yourself.

 

[trishalinn]

I think I'd like something a little more permanent than boards. I am looking at getting a manual cover that's on one of those tracks and I think mounting it to stone or something harder than wood would be preferable. I don't want to have to have problems with boards warping and popping up in a few years and have to shell out a bunch more money to have the track re-done on new coping.

My brother is wondering about doing some sort of tile around the edge. I think it's about 4ish inches around the edge of the pool. He lays tile for a living and said that it would be easy for him to do, but he just doesn't know about weather-proofing the tile for the crazy weather we have here in Michigan. Does anyone know if this would be feasible? Is there a special type of grout or sealent that can be used on tile outside around a pool?

 

[n8huntsman]

I actually thought about wood coping to give it a different and unique look. Like the teak that they make those old boats out of. That's stuffs more expensive than concrete though.