Poured concrete pool - built '69 - needs a refresh but i have big concerns

tbthorpe

New member
Mar 7, 2025
2
Rochester, NY
Hey everyone! First time here, but I have a few questions. I'll put some bullet points in.
- The pool is in great shape, but we just got the house and want to make it our own with some new landscaping and surrounds around the pool
- existing concrete "sidewalk" is old and cracked and needs to go

Ideas:
- talked to our longtime paver guy and he wants to put pavers right up to the curtain surrounding the pool - and remove the concrete.
- had a pool guy come out and say that that's probably a bad idea because:
- the safety cover holder things could easily pull a paver up
- it might look really great for a few years, but things will settle and it won't be flat anymore
- putting pavers that close to the pool will just have weeds and grass and all the things come up - even if they were "guaranteed to not do that"

The pool guy had the following ideas:
- put some coping around the pool
- put in a new concrete sidewalk around it, but smaller - 24" to hold the cover and to give a buffer for ground settling.
- pavers can be installed right up to the edge of that new concrete
- the coping / new concrete / pavers can all look however we want and can match and still look great


What do people think? I tend to follow the pool guy's line of thought and trust him.


OH - and the diving board i think will be going away at the end of the season and the conduit for the lights will move over out to the fence.
 

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Welcome to TFP.

Paver guys like pavers, and concrete guys like concrete.

Paver bases may settle over time and concrete will crack. Which one would you rather deal with?

Safety cover anchors need to be properly installed in pavers and they hold well.

Do tight paver joints to minimize weeds growing in them. Roundup takes care of the rest.

Install an expansion joint to protect your bond beam whatever you decide.

 
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Reactions: jonpcar
Huge thanks @ajw22 for the info.
In your opinion, do you think this is correct? "if we get a great paver installer, it'll be fine. There's always room to un-settle and flatten up pavers. Concrete cracks are just ... there."
I agree. Try can always relevel pavers.