Coping options

[dunginhawk]

Good morning.. So I am in the final stages of my planning, pool is going in in a couple months.
That said I have not finalized coping ideas. Its a fiberglass pool.
So I know it wont be aluminum.. I want either concrete in a bullnose or something like that.
Or recently ive been considering stone coping 12-18 inches transitioning to concrete )brushed.
With the expense of coping for a freeform pool (molds) and all that jazz, something tells me it would be cheaper to do something like this.

Am I way off here? I love this type of look (although I dont think id stamp or dye the concrete).
How would the cost compare? Who would actually do the coping? the concrete guys? normal stone guys that will stone my fireplace?
btw, this is the traditional poured concrete I was going to do

However, the forms along for my pool are almost $1000, and the team that knows how to do it is about 2$ more per foot as well.
thanks

 

[Divin Dave]

Hi, judging from that 1st pic, that looks like stone coping to me, and not sculpted and dyed concrete.

A mason or maybe even a tile guy should be able to install stone coping.
The type of stone is a price factor along with the labor and other materials. I wouldn't attempt to guess at what the $ difference is between the preformed concrete and the stonework.

One thing is for certain though, the stone coping is immeasurably more attractive than the concrete.

Maybe someone here who has considered and priced both will chime in. If not, I might suggest to print the photo and start calling stone workers and masons to see if they do that type of work and maybe get a ROM cost for doing it.

 

[dunginhawk]

Yeah I may do that Dave.. I was just trying to figure out if its even worth the effort.. If its CRAZY more expensive, than why bother.
And yes i know its stone, I was referring to the concrete to the right of it (id be using brushed concrete, no dye, as I dont want to seal it).
So if I can save $1000 on coping forms, put that in to stone cost (may not be that high) and hire a mason for a reasonable number I can make this work.
Id love someone who evaluated both to weigh in.
thanks

 

[dunginhawk]

another question that I just thought about is I need to find a stone/paver coping that will look good with typical grey concrete, as I dont plan to dye or stamp the rest of my deck.
man these decisions are hard.

 

[dunginhawk]

I talked to my builder this morning, and he says he rips out more stone coping than he ever does (im in iowa) due to cracking, heaving etc. He stands to make a lot more money selling me stone coping, so I have to believe him on this one.
So i think the angle we will take is pouring it, and dying just the coping batch and putting a few more expansion joints in it to give it a different look of stone pavers.

 

[Jimrahbe]

dih,

Just in case you still need it, here is a pic of stamped concrete with no color added and man-made coping...

The tile and coping were put in by the same team and then concrete team came in and did the decking..

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[dunginhawk]

Thank you... thats a similar look to what im going for... except Im guessing my coping would be darker and the concrete lighter... paying for dye etc for the coping is fine, but not the insane sq foot for the rest of the deck.
Im actually researching DIY staining. Seems very easy and cost effective way to make the decking pop just doing it on normal grey concrete.