On top of the issues mentioned above, there was another issue that needed to be sorted out. The latest design called for a retaining wall that butted up against my composite wood deck. Originally in the first design, the retaining wall was supposed to retain a relatively small strip of grass in front of the deck, but due to some changes in the pool placement that were necessary to adhere to various set backs, the original design had to be changed and the strip of grass became so compressed that we just decided to get rid of it altogether and make that entire area decking... hence, the need to put the retaining wall up against the composite deck. There was always something aesthetically about this design that bugged me and eventually I realized that I didn't like the look of a retaining wall that didn't really appear to retain anything. Normally, a retaining wall has soil on one side of it that is visible where there is either grass or a planter or something like that, but my retaining wall wasn't like that. On the other side of the wall from the pool decking was a wall of composite deck skirting. It just kind of looked weird to me. On top of that, the composite deck skirting itself was degrading. It had actually been replaced in one section where I moved the stairs to make room for the pool, but in other areas it was faded and flaking. This was a manufacturers problem with the material, but unfortunately Evergrain would not replace it, because the warranty transfer period (5 years) from the previous owner had expired.
Here is what the composite deck looks like right now:
You can see the soil beneath the deck that needs to be retained. One thing I should point out at this point is that originally, we wanted to put the retaining wall in between the deck and the pool instead of in between the pool and the back fence so that we could keep the elevation of the pool as low as possible. Because my backyard has a grade, we didn't want the pool elevated, because then we would always be looking from the pool deck level right into my neighbors back yard.
So, in order to kill two birds with one stone, I hatched the idea of replacing the composite deck skirting with entirely new skirting that would stretch all the way to the level of the pavers. I was informed that although this would work, we would STILL need some sort of retaining wall and my pool builder said that one option was to chip away the excess concrete from the footers that sticks out beyond the current skirting and to pour a concrete retaining wall that would sit behind the skirting that would tie all of the existing footers together. Then, we could replace the skirting with longer skirting that would stretch down to the surface of the pavers and we would have a nice clean look where the skirting meets the pavers with no visible retaining wall.
That is the latest design idea and I am waiting for an updated 3D model that depicts it. As soon as I get it, I will post it here for all to see. So, all of these changes are why my project has been delayed, however, it looks like we have everything sorted out design wise and are now just waiting for material availability in order get back on track with finishing this project.
