Renovation Ideas

[ruggerchuck]

We have a large 40K+ gallon pool. Installed in 1990. We are in Maryland so we get to use the pool from June to September. We moved in 3 years ago. The pool needs some updates desperately. The pool Equipment is newer so we are good there and the plaster is in good shape. The tile, coping and pool deck need renovations as parts of tile and coping are coming off.

Would like to replace tile and coping now. Need some ideas. I want something nice than brick.

Don't have the funds to replace the pool deck at the moment but it is ugly concrete, rough on the feet, get super hot and it is a lot. Thinking of just painting it for the time being? It is OK if it peals in a few years as we will save up to replace the whole deck in about 5 years. Also, the drain on the deck is horrible. What options do I have to replace the drain?

What is the best option for the deck that are relatively cheap?

Thanks
Chuck

 

[needsajet]

Welcome to TFP! Good to have you here

If it were mine, I'd take some measurements and see if it's possible to cap the existing concrete with light colored stone.

Key measurement is top of existing concrete down to first step in the pool. If that gets to be too much of a drop, it can be uncomfortable or even unsafe. It looks like your skimmer(s?) are high enough that they wouldn't be too far below a raised deck height. It looks like the concrete is stable, if not, or there's a lot of varying slopes or humps that grinding couldn't fix, I'd have to rethink it. Over here, you could keep the height increase down to around 3/4" to an inch, depending how level everything is. Your stairs to the house would need re-doing, but I suspect that's cheaper than many options, especially removing the concrete.

If it's possible, I like stone right up to pool edge (i.e. no different coping) and then waterline tile to match your overall look. Pick a nice drain cover to set in the stone, and any other fittings. You could lay the stone in stages, but I would buy all the stone needed in one batch. Or, depending on shape choice and pattern, or if you want to highlight the pool edge, it's possible to lay just the 'coping' stone.

 

[kimkats]

Me? I would do a good bleaching of the deck to start with. I am willing to bet that will make it look a bit better. I would NOT paint it as that may be slippery and it will look bad in short time.

The drain needs to come up and cleaned out good. It can be a hard to get it up. I might think about hiring a willing teen to get it up and cleaned out.

Kim

 

[TLT]

I would absolutely not paint the concrete. Our home has painted concrete and its looks bad quickly no matter what type of paint we use. In fact, we are removing all of the decking for the very reason.

 

[kjdiver]

Another opinion not to paint the deck, wont last Very long and quickly make it look worse.

You could try a few outdoor rugs around the pool. My pool deck is also old and unbearable to walk on barefoot, but a large out door rug near the pool steps is all I need. It give a nice area to slip my flip flops off before getting into the pool.

 

[wireform]

I have used THIS with great success.

 

[ruggerchuck]

so don't paint the deck. got it.

Thoughts on a grey flagstone coping with blue tile. Same company will fix the drain for me and cap it and acid wash the pool all for 13K? In a few years we will redo the deck.

 

[needsajet]

You can leave out acid-washing the pool. That will reduce your plaster lifespan, and you mentioned your plaster is AOK. Managing your water chemistry will keep it that way.

I can't comment on pricing in your area, but it seems high to me. A mate got his done (coping flagstone, tile, and re-plastered) for $10K (Australian, around $7K US dollars). Can you get some other quotes? Acid washing a pool is cheap as chips and you can do it with the water in the pool, only if needed)

If you drain the pool (with good plaster) to do the other work, it's good that it's wintertime, but you don't want heaps of sun on it drying it out. There are pool draining risks, but that should be on your contractor's shoulders.

Anything darker than a vanilla shake will feel warm/hot underfoot, so I'm biased to light colored stone, but you need @kimkats for style advice!

 

[kimkats]

grey flagstone coping with blue tile.

The will be very pretty! Just know there are different grades of flagstone. Make sure to visit were it is coming from to see it. Does it have lots of flakes or is it all staying together?

Now lets pick out the blue tile! Do you like 6x6 or 1x1 or 1x2 size? Do you want glass (BLING) or ceramic?

Will the company take up the drain and replace it? That is going to be hard work that may take some time. I don't how fat your wallet is but it is something most anyone could do over time. Do a section at a time as you can kind of thing. OR work with your wallet and pay someone to do it.

Kim

 

[bmoreswim]

Flagstone in MD almost always means PA bluestone which is a solid choice. Hot, yes. Pretty, yes. Cost, not too bad - local. Surface finishes are thermal (they flame it and it creates a great textured surface), natural cleft (what I have - shows the break when it was split - can occasionally flake a piece or two but rarely). Great discussion of it here below. Our deck is stained concrete that has faded considerably. But the surface is still good and I won't bother restaining - although it looked amazing when new. I'd be curious about having someone come and grind the surface. I'm not sure if the remaining surface is too slick though, or if there are options on that based on how they do it. Working with what you have will always be cheaper.

Types of Bluestone Patios - Concord Stoneworks

Here's our pool with natural cleft bluestone. I would have preferred 2" thick for aesthetics. Ours is 1 1/4 to 1 3/4" thick.

House10 - resized.jpg

• bmoreswim
• Oct 16, 2019

424B6529-F2ED-43B1-8FDF-EAF5602D2E18.jpeg

• bmoreswim
• Sep 3, 2018

 

[ruggerchuck]

bmoreswim - You have just the look we are going for. We signed a contract last week and will have the Thermal Flagstone and a grayish blue tile installed in April. They are also sawing out the long deck-o drain and installing a new 4 inch drain with removable top for cleaning. That alone should make the deck look or work much better.

Would love to be able to do what you have for the deck but not at this time. We are still figuring out that part. Thinking of maybe SunDeck to do a coating type thing to get that look. Most of our concrete is pretty solid and not moving so it would be a good base for a top. Sounds cheaper than replacing everything. This would be a next year project so I have some time to figure that part out.

Has anyone use Sundeck or a similar company?