Coping

[Diego168]

Hi everyone, i recently had installed a fiberglass pool in my yard here in Connecticut. the pool builder left a 18" wide concrete surface from fiberglass lip outward in order to install stone pavers. i will be doing the coping and patio. the pool builder recommended that i use PL premium to adhere the pavers to the concrete base. i was planning on leaving a 1/4" gap between each paver. what do you guys recommend in order to fill this gap grout, or some kind of self leveling caulk.
any product recommendation????

thank you

 

[jimmythegreek]

I would mortar each bullnose down and use same between joints as you go. You need the mud in order to level and pitch away from pool and level off the slab. Its tricky to transition from the slab to base gravel for pavers so make sure your base is well compacted and I would use a separation fabric barrier as well. Get the base as lose to finish grade and use minimal concrete sand for the bedding layer an inch at most. Set them 3/16 high and run the plate to set then into the bedding sand flush be careful where they overlap onto concrete. Use a pad on the plate or use carpet scrap on it. Can also use thin plywood and move that around on the actual pavers. TIP: A piece of rigid insulation floating in pool will keep mortar from dropping in pool while you tuck the bull nose mud

 

[Diego168]

I would mortar each bullnose down and use same between joints as you go. You need the mud in order to level and pitch away from pool and level off the slab. Its tricky to transition from the slab to base gravel for pavers so make sure your base is well compacted and I would use a separation fabric barrier as well. Get the base as lose to finish grade and use minimal concrete sand for the bedding layer an inch at most. Set them 3/16 high and run the plate to set then into the bedding sand flush be careful where they overlap onto concrete. Use a pad on the plate or use carpet scrap on it. Can also use thin plywood and move that around on the actual pavers. TIP: A piece of rigid insulation floating in pool will keep mortar from dropping in pool while you tuck the bull nose mud

Thanks for your response and what would you use on the pool side where the fiber glass meets the bottom of the paver. How should I fill that gap so that water doesn’t get in there.

Also stone place where I bought the coping paver told me that some people do not put a gap between each paver. Do you think it’s bether to have a small gap or no. Thinking about expansion with temperature fluctuation.

 

[jimmythegreek]

you can use a PL glob or stripe for adhering to the fiberglass. once your done you will get some high quality sealant and run a bead underneath the paver to seal it off. some use silicone, some use tile caulking, but regardless you need to tape it off and do it nice so it doesnt look sloppy. I would run a space, you will have spacing between pavers so butted tight wont look right and you will have no wiggle room when you are doing your bends or curves around pool. use a polymeric sand when done for pavers you want to keep water away from the shell and coping. make sure you have a drainage plan in place for you water management. pool coping and pavers are very tricky, if this is your first crack at it I wish you luck. my main advice is to run string lines and check your layouts as you go. its super hard to get the pavers square and have them meet up when you get to the other side of the pool and have them meet up. also depends on the style paver you will use if you can cheat it in the field. I have seen where measurements are taken and people start on the main big area against the coping and work out, then do the opposite smaller area using measurements to have that layout right and meet in the middle. this is for experienced ppl only and smaller simple layouts, and a square/oval pool. just keep control lines and follow them while setting, otherwise you will get crooked and out of pattern easily. pavers are all in the prep laying them is the easy part. one thing I will add is I wouldnt have poured the concrete collar that way. I would have stepped it down. The width of the coping stone minus a half inch should be flush with the shell, and the remainder should be down an inch or more. this lets you mortar only the coping to the bond beam and lets the paver body float on the base. if you have any settling from pool backfill or from the base it pops the pavers like teeter tots. and compact the life out of your dirt first, then the base in shallow lifts like 1-2" over and over damp it down as you go. if you dont own a plate compactor find one used on craigslist and sell it when your done. if you rent it you will have rented it enough times to have bought it by the end. I prefer to make all my cuts on a wet saw and only use the demo saw or angle grinder on curved cuts

 

[Diego168]

Thank you.
How about using PL also for attaching the paver to the concrete?
And do you mean polimericsand in between each of the coping pavers? Or you mean mortar it to concrete and in between. Pl only to fiberglass
What would be a quality caulk for the inside / under the paver pool gap. I thought of sikaflex but since it’s selfleveling it would probably just slide down off the gap.

 

[jimmythegreek]

unless your slab is dead level and pitched back slightly PL is not gonna let you set the coping where you need to. theres no cutting corners with coping stones and pavers its not forgiving like concrete is. yes polymeric between all the pavers but mortar between the coping and to adhere them to the concrete. depends on how big your gap ends up to be. for small gaps you can use silicone with a color to match the coping, or you can use tile caulk thats sanded to fill larger gaps. mapai makes good stuff as do others

 

[Diego168]

unless your slab is dead level and pitched back slightly PL is not gonna let you set the coping where you need to. theres no cutting corners with coping stones and pavers its not forgiving like concrete is. yes polymeric between all the pavers but mortar between the coping and to adhere them to the concrete. depends on how big your gap ends up to be. for small gaps you can use silicone with a color to match the coping, or you can use tile caulk thats sanded to fill larger gaps. mapai makes good stuff as do others

Thanks for help!!!!!