Advice on a decent deck layout

[linzjane88]

So we sort of shoe-horned in a 24 foot pool into our small yard. I absolutely love the pool we ended up with but I am trying to work with the small and awkward space leftover when planning a deck. I am hoping you guys might be more creative than I am.
We don't want the deck to encroach upon front yard space. I mean it has the least obstacles but I have pushed norms enough by essentially putting a pool in my front yard :-D. Onto the obstacles...My pump, filter, and well head (in the wooden box). Another thing to consider is that we have a wintertime river view. If we go really tall with the deck (pool height) we run the risk of losing that. Here are the two ideas. I have floating around.

Option 1: Build a ground level deck that's big enough for a few loungers, with stairs and a raised platform that enter to the left of the well head/pump area.

Option 2: Build a pool height deck but perhaps create a hinged door on the top to still access the pump and filter.

As seen from 2nd story living room:


View from the "front yard" angle:


A few more showing the spaces we are working with.

 

[Patrick_B]

If you look around on the forum, you'll see lots of different designs, but I'm sure some folks will chime in. Good luck on your project.

 

[linzjane88]

I figured 3 years later I would update with what we did for our deck. It was a looooong road but we finally got it the way we want it! We went with a Ipe decking and love how ti turned out. Takes about 2 full days of work a season to get it washed,brightened, and oiled to bring back the rich brown. We added a fire table and deck furniture this year.

 

[linzjane88]

A couple more- the stairs lead to our upper deck where there is access to the kitchen so no more grassy feet into the pool for bathroom and drink breaks

 

[MommaHuffman]

Wow! That looks beautiful! You did a fantastic job! Now enjoy!!!

 

[southernblessings]

That looks wonderful!

Nancy

 

[Bigpaws]

I like it. Nice job.

-Bigpaws

 

[Dirk]

That wood looks great. And I love how the railing is absolutely kid/baby safe yet almost invisible, allowing an excellent view of the scenery beyond. Nice. How about three or five (odd number) potted plants to encircle 7our equipment? Nothing tall enough to block your view of the water, just enough to obscure all those pipes and gizmos.

 

[linzjane88]

That wood looks great. And I love how the railing is absolutely kid/baby safe yet almost invisible, allowing an excellent view of the scenery beyond. Nice. How about three or five (odd number) potted plants to encircle 7our equipment? Nothing tall enough to block your view of the water, just enough to obscure all those pipes and gizmos.

Ooh thats a really good idea! I have tried thinking of things to disguise it and I am always at a loss and then I take another drink and quit caring. Haha. But that is a good idea.

 

[Dirk]

Ooh thats a really good idea! I have tried thinking of things to disguise it and I am always at a loss and then I take another drink and quit caring. Haha. But that is a good idea.

Just be prepared for the inevitable. No matter how well I shield my furniture from the little plants I grow indoors, like a with a thick glass pie dish in one case, I still get a nasty ring on the wood surface. Not sure how or why that occurs, but I expect pots will cause some sort of damage to your beautiful deck. I just figure that plant will always be there, so the color variation that I created on my furniture will always be hidden! Oh well. Pots on your deck will probably leave some sort of evidence, so you'll be stuck "hiding" the mark. In the same way you'll probably get some sort of discoloration under your furniture, because it's shading the wood from the sun. Maybe your annual maintenance will resolve those issues.

The other idea I had was some sort of bamboo screen that you could attach to the side of the deck, that would make a little fence tall enough to hide the filter. You might have to replace that every few years. Something like this, you could just cut it down to the height you need and staple it to the deck (or uses screws and washers if you think you might need to remove it every once in a while). EZPZ, 10 minutes then back to the drinks! You might be able to stain it the same color as the deck, if you can't find a dark version.

 

[Dirk]

Coinkydink... Here's a thread for you that just popped up in the What's New section:

Poolside Planters - show them off!

So I scored these large planters at Costco for $15 this weekend, and am trying to figure out what to put in them. I'm not really drawn to the tropical vibe, I was thinking maybe some dichondra and ornamental grass, but I'm just not sure. I've looked all over the internet, but I'd rather see...

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[Dirk]

Hey, I was just sharing this thread with another as an example of an amazing deck. And I noticed something while revisiting your images. Does that wire mesh sit in a channel in the lower 2x4? Is there any drainage for that channel? If not, that will very likely become a problem. It'll collect dirt and other material and then water, and that water will stew in there and then both rot out the wood and rust out the metal. The wire should have sat on top of solid wood, so that you could clean it properly if anything collected there, or perhaps those could have been 2x2s, sandwiched together so that under the wire there was nothing but air. Either fix won't be too bad. You could even use the same piece of wood, just rip it to cut out the channel, then screw it back together on either side of the wire. Or you could wait until the wood rots and deal with it then, but that might really impact the metal by then. Sorry to bring it up... but any material that traps water and dirt is doomed if it's not kept clear of both regularly.

 

[linzjane88]

You are correct in that it's a little channel that it sits in I had the same thoughts to be honest, about 'stuff' getting down in there and speeding up the wood breaking down. My grandpa was the contractor and is pretty stubborn once he gets an idea in his head and I didn't want to bring it up! Haha. I guess we will just run with it and see where we end up in a few years. The only thing it has in it's favor is that I am pretty religious with my leaf blower. I got it a few years ago for my DH. He has used it *maybe* once. I, on the other hand....Less mess on the deck=less mess to get into my pool.

 

[Dirk]

I've learned a lot about building decks and rails over the years, but even more when I recently replaced one. It was obvious where the weak links were. Any kind of rain-exposed channel or seam, and any kind of sandwich (where wood contacts other wood and traps dirt) were the areas that rotted the most. But I got about 25 years out of that deck, so you got a while! Plus those pieces aren't really structural so it won't be a hazard, mostly cosmetic...