Experts needed - pool deck level and pitch

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Also, someone else mentioned that French pattern is more likely than other patterns to create water build up due to the different size of the tiles. Not sure the truth to this but it is logical. Just thought I'd put that out there in case this thread ever helps anyone else in a similar situation.


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I finally got around to measuring the pitch away from the pool to the deck drain. It is significantly less pitch than the pitch under our patio. My measurement fell somewhere between 1/8" and 1/16" fall per foot depending on the spot, but closer to 1/16". Our pitch under the patio is 1/5" or nearly 3x the pitch from the pool. We started putting some furniture out for space planning and the pitch is definitely still noticeable. I have a paver company coming tomorrow to give us an estimate to widen our driveway, so I am going to get their expert opinion as well. I will most likely wind up asking the PB to repitch it closer to 1/8" per foot, or just more than half of the current pitch.


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grumpiebk said:
I finally got around to measuring the pitch away from the pool to the deck drain. It is significantly less pitch than the pitch under our patio. My measurement fell somewhere between 1/8" and 1/16" fall per foot depending on the spot, but closer to 1/16". Our pitch under the patio is 1/5" or nearly 3x the pitch from the pool. We started putting some furniture out for space planning and the pitch is definitely still noticeable. I have a paver company coming tomorrow to give us an estimate to widen our driveway, so I am going to get their expert opinion as well. I will most likely wind up asking the PB to repitch it closer to 1/8" per foot, or just more than half of the current pitch.


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That being the case, I don't think you have much option to fix the pitch under your patio. The pool is where it is, that elevation isn't going to change. They have to pitch the deck away from the pool for proper drainage, which brings your drain to the level it's currently at. Any higher and the pitch away from the pool would be affected. Your patio pitch has to meet up with that drain at a set elevation, which in turn gives you a greater pitch on the decking under the patio. Sounds like the only other option would be to put a small step which would be more of a trip hazard than anything. If you wanted to fix it to make it the same as the pool deck, you would need to raise the height of the entire pool.
 
jtrovato21 said:
That being the case, I don't think you have much option to fix the pitch under your patio. The pool is where it is, that elevation isn't going to change. They have to pitch the deck away from the pool for proper drainage, which brings your drain to the level it's currently at. Any higher and the pitch away from the pool would be affected. Your patio pitch has to meet up with that drain at a set elevation, which in turn gives you a greater pitch on the decking under the patio. Sounds like the only other option would be to put a small step which would be more of a trip hazard than anything. If you wanted to fix it to make it the same as the pool deck, you would need to raise the height of the entire pool.
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Thanks for the insight. Are you saying this based on the assumption that the decking is flush to our door opening? Our decking under our covered patio is not flush with our slider glass patio doors. There is probably a 4-5" step down. I can try to snap a pic in a bit. I don't think another 1-1.5" would make a drastic difference and is probably closer to what it was with our original patio. Does this change your perspective?


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grumpiebk said:
Thanks for the insight. Are you saying this based on the assumption that the decking is flush to our door opening? Our decking under our covered patio is not flush with our slider glass patio doors. There is probably a 4-5" step down. I can try to snap a pic in a bit. I don't think another 1-1.5" would make a drastic difference and is probably closer to what it was with our original patio. Does this change your perspective?


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Yes, if you are able to lower the starting point of the deck at the house side, you could reduce the pitch that way. I was thinking it had a set height at the house side also, but if you're saying you could have it start another 1-1.5" lower to make a bigger step out of the house, that sounds like an option.
 
Whoa nelly -----
If you reduce the starting point for the covered deck then you increase the risk of water from around the pool flowing onto the covered deck. As stated above the pool level is set and the house level is set you want water flowing away from both --
 
gwegan said:
Whoa nelly -----
If you reduce the starting point for the covered deck then you increase the risk of water from around the pool flowing onto the covered deck. As stated above the pool level is set and the house level is set you want water flowing away from both --
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The pitch under the patio is 1/5" fall and the pitch from the pool is closer to 1/16" fall, both towards a channel drain. The house is 16 feet from the channel drain and the pool is 15 feet from the channel drain (on the other side of the drain than the house). Said another way, the pool is about 30 feet from the house with a deck drain in the middle. The 1/5" fall is a difference of 3"+ over 16 feet. I was saying we could reduce the pitch from 1/5" to 1/8" (a little more than half of the current pitch) under the patio. This would still be nearly double the slope of the slope away from the pool. But this would mean that our step down from our house onto the patio would now be 1" bigger (because it would be set 1" lower against the house to make the adjusted pitch 1/8").

Water would seriously need to be moving down the 1/16" slope from the pool to climb a 1/8" slope 16 feet past a deck drain. Or at least that's my logic. I realize I am being stubborn on this issue, it's something that is really bothering me. But does my logic not make sense?


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gwegan said:
Whoa nelly -----
If you reduce the starting point for the covered deck then you increase the risk of water from around the pool flowing onto the covered deck. As stated above the pool level is set and the house level is set you want water flowing away from both --
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And yes, technically it would increase the risk of water flowing onto the covered patio. But with a 1/8" pitch away from the house and towards the deck drain (under the covered patio), i was thinking that it should run back down the slope. The only real concern for us is if it were to ever actually reach the house (16' from the deck drain).


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Us old construction guys assume the deck drain is clogged like most are after five years. Good contractors work hard to move water away from the residence.

I also don't think that jacking out the covered patio and lowering it will improve the look all that much if at all. Your eye will still pick reference points and may still see the slope.
 

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BigEinAZ said:
His trench drain slopes a lot which is adding to the visual that is troubling him . . .
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And yes. The biggest visual issue is our enclosed wall of our patio on the ZLL side. It looks like a fun house wall (kidding of course). The ceiling is straight and the patio floor is sloped 3" across the 16'. With furniture facing that wall (our tv will be there), it also looks sloped.

We had the paver company come out today for our driveway estimate. They gladly took a look at the patio concurred with the crew here. Did it need to be pitched as so? No. But it was the safe call and is more noticeable to me than anyone else. They definitely didn't see anything that should have been done differently. I asked for a quote just so I knew what the damage was if we did repitch. It was $2500-$3000 for about 650-700 sqft, which wasnt crazy to me. I think I've learned the PB likely isn't going to do it on his dime given it is acceptable, but I will still mention it to him in discussion. For now we are going to leave it alone (unless the PB bites on it) and get through our first storm season this summer. Hopefully by then I can look past it, or have been proven wrong about the excessive drainage concern.

Thanks for the continued support and feedback here!


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That's a good way to handle it.

If you decide to lower the patio on the house side, the 1/8" slope up to the house is fine and the new ~6.5"/7" step down to the patio is also fine. It's a good warning that strip drains get forgotten or don't get enough rain to scour, but the slope of the drain also allows the water to run on the surface toward the lawn if the strip drain is plugged or covered with leaves from a storm. Your builder did a good job and the pool looks great.

If I remember right, the pavers are laid on sand without concrete underneath, so it's easy enough to re-lay them now or later, depending on your priorities.
 
needsajet said:
Your builder did a good job and the pool looks great.

If I remember right, the pavers are laid on sand without concrete underneath, so it's easy enough to re-lay them now or later, depending on your priorities.
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Thanks. They have done a quality job. And that's right, we can always pull them up easily later on.



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I think you won't notice once everything is in place, including landscaping. But that's just my opinion :) We went to considerable lengths when we bought our 1960's house 20+ years ago to regrade and repave everything away from the house, and we've had no water entering the basement since.
 
The guys are correct on the 1/8" in per foot and it might be a good idea to dry well the end of that drain. Run a piece of 4" PVC or Flex Drain ......away from the edge of patio and where the drain ends.
Run 8' feet or so of pipe, have your PB. Dig a 4 foot x 4 foot hole 4 feet deep, fill it with crushed stone to a level where you can still have 4" on Loam on top and plant grass, this should handle it nicely and it's invisible and you won't have wash out.
Let the pipe enter the pit of stone about 8-10" below grade, then you take good advantage of the volume of the hole to collect the run off and naturally percolate into the surrounding soil.
Ideally they should place a piece of landscape fabric (geo-tech fabric) on top of the stone so the fines from the Loam on top don't filter down through the stone. This fabric is readily available, Home Depot or Lowes's may have it or something similar and it is cheap. Usually they have it on a big roll and you buy it by the yard.
I dry welled all the downspouts on my house south of Boston 10 feet away from the house and never had a problem, I did it to get the rainwater away from the house so it wouldn't get in my basement.
The pool and pavers all look great, wish you the best of luck with it.
Also, I think it is a great idea to go out there with the hose as recommended here and test it. Check the direction of flows, make sure nothing drains towards the pool and you do not have puddling.
 
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