Help me pick a decking material!

[Poolbella]

Right as we are about to start our pool build, we had a last minute freak out about not having the PB install the deck, we had a couple of quotes from local landscapers as we will need them to do some other work anyway, and planned to just add it next year sometime. But the PB gave us this huge disclaimer to sign about it being done by someone else, and it got us thinking that maybe we need to suck up the extra cost and have the PB do it all together.

My husband is absolutely not a fan of the cool deck on top of concrete. They had it on the floor at the showroom and he hated it. He’s also having a hard time believing it will stay cool to walk on. But total cost will be around $8k.

I personally like travertine and I think it will be the most cool to walk on, but cost will be around $11k. We picked out Antico onyx travertine by Keystone for our coping, I don’t think we would use this for the whole deck.

I’m also really nervous about the cool deck cracking, or rather the concrete. I assume travertine doesn’t crack unless you drop something really heavy on it.

It will also be out of our budget to re-cover the existing concrete covered patio if we get travertine, but will it look weird? The cost to cover it in spray deck will only be around $500 otherwise.

 

[mknauss]

Concrete cracks. You hope to limit it to the control joints, but it cracks.

I used pavers. They get warm, but they do not crack.

Travertine sounds nice. But I believe most install it over a concrete base.

Hope this gets you some more responses.

 

[MinerJason]

I hate the way kool deck looks, but it's significantly cooler to walk on than anything else. I have very old kool deck that's starting to flake off, and I'm really torn about whether to re finish it with the same, or replace it with travertine. I love the look of travertine, but know from experience that it's a lot hotter on the feet, which can be a significant concern here in the desert where it gets up to 115F in the summer.

 

[Poolbella]

Thanks Marty

They do travertine on a sand base here in Houston. We have a paved patio currently that gets really hot in the sun, like can’t walk on it hot. So travertine will still get hot?

 

[mknauss]

Any stone surface gets hot. Shade is the best thing to keep it from getting hot.

It is a choice. Stone is pretty. The cool deck stuff is cooler. My wife picked pretty.

 

[riley00dog]

We have tumbled, unhoned travertine laid on a concrete base. It was installed by the pb at the same time as the coping. I got sample pavers of all sorts and left them out in the 40*C sun for several hours. I then stood on them. The travertine was noticeably cooler than the others. It has a lovely feel underfoot. Not slippery even when wet. You wouldn’t want to run on it wet but that is true for most surfaces. I love our paving. It has such a natural look and feel to it. It makes our new pool look like it has been here for a while as it blends so well into our backyard.

 

[JamesW]

Maybe consider a light colored sandstone or limestone.

 

[Geebot]

Thanks Marty

They do travertine on a sand base here in Houston. We have a paved patio currently that gets really hot in the sun, like can’t walk on it hot. So travertine will still get hot?

The laws of physics and thermodynamics are immutable. A light colored travertine will be cooler, but not by a huge amount (and more a function of color -- lighter colors reflect more heat).

 

[Lershac]

Another experience based travertine recommendation. We have a lot of it. It stays cool to the feet even at the hottest here in Louisiana. See my pool build thread in signature.

 

[JamesW]

The material makes a big difference. The conductivity of the material and the temperature difference determines the rate of heat transfer and how hot or cold something feels.

For example, if you step on carpet and then on tile in a cold room, the tile will feel a lot colder, even though the tile is the same temperature as the carpet because heat transfers a lot better and faster through tile than carpet.

 

[gdfein]

First house/pool here in Houston we did concrete with aggregate as we had little kids and we were super slip focused as well as cost conscious. I always hated that decking as I felt the exposed aggregate was rough on bare feet and hot as heck! Always felt friends that had travertine decks were much cooler and gentler on feet.

For current build now with older kids we are going travertine. PB says they will do travertine pavers over sand and set deck level with existing concrete patio so we can put a matching travertine top over the existing patio.

 

[Backyard_Lap_Pool]

Our pool deck gets intense sun during the summer. We did a rubber crumb deck. I will say that the rubber can get uncomfortably hot, but the travertine coping stays relatively cool even in the intense sun. Just stick with the light shade of travertine and I think that will be your best bet - short of shading the deck.

 

[Poolbella]

PB also suggested spray deck with aggregate - anyone got an experience with this? I’m thinking I might be able to win my husband over with this as a compromise.

 

[shelliemac]

Bump. We are in the process of building and need to make a decision quickly on decking. The spray deck sounds like a good compromise for us as well. Would greatly appreciate any feedback. Thanks!

 

[Poolbella]

So PB came back with a discount on the travertine price today and we took it. Going to pick some out tomorrow. I figure we will find a way to tie in our existing concrete covered patio, maybe with some staining. I just didn’t want to raise the height another 1.5” with all the rain we get here.

Thanks everyone for all the advice, very much appreciated!

 

[riley00dog]

Excellent!

 

[martinkennedy]

Now that you have decided to go with travertine (great choice) you can do travertine TILE on your patio. I have over 3,000 sq ft of travertine pavers on a compacted sand base and had them use travertine tile to go over my stamped concrete patio. You can search for my build "new build in south Texas" .

 

[Pool_Medic]

Just an FYI. Google Moisture Shield decking. Yes it’s that good. Not your vinyl capped trex. Far superior.

 

[BBailey]

We love our Kool Deck type coating. It’s only a year old and still looks good with no cracking. The coating company sells a patch kit, but I’m not sure how that will work. I will say, it does work, our deck stays cooler and didn’t have any discomfort walking on it during the summer. My regular concrete driveway was too hot some days as a comparison.

 

[Poolbella]

Now that you have decided to go with travertine (great choice) you can do travertine TILE on your patio. I have over 3,000 sq ft of travertine pavers on a compacted sand base and had them use travertine tile to go over my stamped concrete patio. You can search for my build "new build in south Texas" .

The PB mentioned that, we’re going to see if we can find some. Our deck is only around 350 sq ft thankfully!