Pool Deck - Pavers or Concrete

[RRZ]

I'm paralyzed with moving forward with my pool install because I can't decide which surface material to use for the pool deck (I'm located in northern Illinois)

Pavers/Unilock-- Pros: can be broken down and reset easily if settling occurs; cons: Sand in the pool. Yes, I've heard of polymeric sand that binds together, but several people who have such sand say that the polymer breaks down over time, still releasing sand which constantly gets in the pool. Several people with pavers have sworn that if they had to do it all over again, they would never get pavers.

Swept concrete - doesn't look as nice, but easy to replace if it cracks or settles or there's a need to get at the pool plumbing for some reason.

Stamped concrete - often looks nice, but there's no chance of coming close in terms of color/texture if you have to replace any sections due to cracking or settling in the future.

Pavers set in concrete - Expensive, but might be the only solution that lets me sleep at night. Great paver look, without risk of sand in the pool.

How many of you have pavers and love them or hate them?

 

[DaveNJ]

I have concrete. To help with settling I ran soaker hoses, on and off for a couple of weeks around the excavted area. Moved many loads of dirt to fill in the step, spa, skimmer area. Around the pool it settled 6" to 8". Probed the soupy mess with a length of 1" pvc to help settling.

 

[haybird]

I have 3' of concrete around the pool, with a swirl brush look. And unilock pavers for the rest
of the decking area. The prep work is the key to the pavers. I used polymeric sand and love it
no problems so far. We just finished are 2nd season.

I went with the paver look because I thought to much concrete would look like a big chunck
of sidewalk.

If you would like to see a couple pictures of my deck I have a thread on the 3rd page of
the "show of your back yard forum". Titled before and after.

 

[JohnT]

Unless your builder knows a good way to meet code for bonding the pavers, go with concrete. If he doesn't understand bonding the concrete, get a new builder.