You want the gravel under any parts of the deck and at least 2' wider than the deck for support. The gravel should come all the way up to just under the deck. I am not a fan of that coil pipe they are using for the drainage. It can get crushed and you can not seal the joints so there is a possibility of root intrusion which will cause blockages. A blockage in that type of pipe can not be cleared by a snake or water jet like solid sdr35 ot scdl 40 can be. I would insist on 6" sdr for you wick drain. Try to get exact details on how he will install the wick drain. He should dig down the deep end of the pool and get at least 1 ' below the bottom of pool and into as much of the stone down there as possible. A little undermining of the pool shell will be ok because he will be replacing with stone that can be tamped back under the pool shell. A little pitch on the pipe would be nice but if required it can be layed flat and will work just as well. The first 10' should be perferated to allow water into the pipe, the rest can be solid. It is critical that the entire pipe run is encased in stone (4"under and 12" sides and top(the more the better)) and the stone is fully wrapped in a good quality filter fabric.
I am waiting for PB to come over to discuss - that flex tube there he connected to the downspout under the retaining wall when they shot it so it didn’t flood out the area - really not sure his exact plans but want him to walk me through exactly what we are doing
The backside top and right sides of pool behind won’t have decking (image). I am fine with grass up to the retaining wall as it is far removed from pool (clippings) but the area behind I plan to fill and have a few feet wide decorative stone butting up to rear grass yard so they aren’t throwing clippings into the pool
For behind the pool; that’s obviously where the water is pooling collecting all the runoff from higher elevation - knowing that no decking is behind the pool any thoughts on how much gravel vs dirt vs the stone for top layer to use ?
You can see from the image the Travertine deck will be placed in front of the pool, the stairs leading to Baja shelf entry and spa (in front of retaining wall) and will wrap around somewhat on the left side
I imagine this area isn’t super wet but definitely plan to have him run the drainage around the left side seeing we excavated that area already and will ensure all of that material is 100% gravel for the deck base (I know he mentioned something about ABC compacted, not sure what that is)
My thought for the main drainage concern is likely the area behind the pool as the water makes its way downhill and under.
Appreciate yourself guidance - helps me ask informed questions of PB during our meet ups
First regret too - we only installed 6 spa jets where I think we should have had 7 or 8 due to the oversize - maybe it won’t be bad once full
