How to fill Large gap between tile and wood decking

[waltpicot]

I bought a home 15 years ago with a beautiful in ground pool but it has a design defect. The gunite w/plaster pool is surrounded by an IPE deck. Looks great. BUT, the gap between tile and decking is filled with concrete that is embedded in metal lathe which is fastened to the deck structure behind the concrete. The deck shifts each winter and the concrete/lath separates from deck a bit and eventually has to be repaired. This winter it was really bad. Concreate to tile bond separates and then protrudes forward... it is getting ready to fall of again. The 2nd picture does not show it well but the crack is there and the concrete is 1/4" forward now. What a mess every year. BTW the tile strays put and is bonded to the concrete well . The whole pool was replastered 3 years ago and this is how they filled the gap. That's how it was done originally also but we had no other ideas and hoped this would last longer. Fail!

I want to rip all the concrete filler off and replace it with something pliable to fill the gap. In an ideal world it would be a strip of grey EPDM or some rubber gasket like thing I can press in that stays put by compression. A compound I trowel in is ok also just harder to do.

I am soooo hopeful someone here has a good solution that can end this misery. Local pool pros are not helpful as they all do liner pools.
Walt

 

[Texas Splash]

Good morning and welcome to TFP! Certainly a tricky spot to be in. Short of dropping a lot of money to have it all ripped out and done right, you're going to find that middle ground for a decent repair. Not sure if pre-packing with a backer-rod followed by some polyurethane might work? Perhaps @AQUA~HOLICS might have a recommendation?

 

[ajw22]

Welcome to TFP.

You cannot have two structures coupled together without a flexible expansion joint or a gap.

I suggest you leave a gap between the pool and the deck.

 

[AQUA~HOLICS]

How far back (away from the pool) does the 2” concrete extend and if it terminates, what does it transition to?

 

[waltpicot]

How far back (away from the pool) does the 2” concrete extend and if it terminates, what does it transition to?

The gap filling concrete is about .5 to .75 inches deep so the gap depth is not great. Behind the gap wood that is part of the deck, thus the slight movement. In my dreams i see a puddy like material i can press in place and it stays flexible. I could or would place stainless screws into the wood so the puddy has something to grab onto. Looking for ideas from folks who know better that me may have. Thank you for the reply and hope to hear from you again.

 

[sktn77a]

Can you fasten a 2x2 or 2x3 (or 1x2/1x3) trim to the bottom of the deck edge to cover the concrete? Not touching it, so that it moves with the deck but not the tile/wall?

 

[waltpicot]

Can you fasten a 2x2 or 2x3 (or 1x2/1x3) trim to the bottom of the deck edge to cover the concrete? Not touching it, so that it moves with the deck but not the tile/wall?

Thx. I am thinking that can be an option. there is plenty of wood behind the gap to screw in a trim strip or affix to the deck planks. being a wet area i would like to use a plastic. the ipe itself is too hard to bend & the pool is kidney shaped so i need easy bending. a pvc trim board could work if i can get a color that complements the deck/pool colors.