Hello everyone. New member here but I’ve been trolling for a bit. We are in the DFW area and are remodeling our late 90’s freeform pool this spring. Regarding travertine coping on a freeform pool - would it be best to go with eased edge or bullnose? We currently have the 90’s red brick coping with bullnose so I wanted to get away from that but our builder believes the bullnose might be better than eased edge on the freeform I worry it’s dated. Can anyone chime in here? I want what’s best for the overall look. I also have two kids age 6 and 7 that get in and out of the pool a lot. Any thoughts welcome!
Travertine Coping Shape on Freeform Pool
- Thread starter GoodFriendJen
- Start date
Hello Jen, welcome to TFP 
A lot of folks lately have been putting in a very straight edge on their coping (I don't know the name of the edge, is that what you are calling "eased edge", I dunno?) and it looks very clean and modern. But... it also looks a bit harder to hoist yourself up and over as kids are wont to do. A bullnose edge is easier on the body, in my unscientific opinion.
Maddie
A lot of folks lately have been putting in a very straight edge on their coping (I don't know the name of the edge, is that what you are calling "eased edge", I dunno?) and it looks very clean and modern. But... it also looks a bit harder to hoist yourself up and over as kids are wont to do. A bullnose edge is easier on the body, in my unscientific opinion.
Maddie
Help a math challenged guy with pool coping radius?
I'm planning to put pool coping around the edged of a spa. I have 16x24x2" travertine, double bullnose. Before cutting them into pie shapes, I've got to figure out the radius calculation. Problem is, I wasn't great at math back in school. Does anyone have any tips or what math calculation I...
www.troublefreepool.com
Hi Jen! Welcome! I unfortunately don't have much to offer here as I'm learning myself but I can empathize. I really wanted to do a rock face or straight edge coping but my concern was regarding the safety for kids. It's disappointing but something tells me that the bullnose will never go completely out for this very reason. And sometimes the cuts on a freeform pool might be more risky with the straight edge. We also considered using the Portofino from techo bloc bc it's a manufactured product and seems to me to be smoother. My hesitation on that was I've seen it discolor a bit. I could be wrong on that but probably mute point if you were going with travertine. Anyhow...I hear your concern and will follow! GL!! Here is a link to another thread on here that may help if you haven't decide yet....
www.troublefreepool.com
Travertine pool deck question
Anyone have any thoughts on having travertine pool deck without bullnose? our PB currently has our build with travertine straight to edge of pool without bullnose. Do you feel this is a big deal with leaving the edges sharper? Our pool will be rectangle shape without corners, but still has us...
www.troublefreepool.com
Last edited:
thewolf56
Bronze Supporter
- Aug 3, 2015
- 239
- Pool Size
- 15900
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
My father-in-law's pool has eased edge travertine coping (12" x 12" coping size) on a freeform pool and the coping size makes the curves look not as smooth and leaning against the edges on the sun shelf or the benches is not very comfortable. We went with 6" x 12" bullnose travertine for our coping on our freeform pool mainly for those 2 reasons. I personally do not feel that travertine bullnose coping looks as dated as other bullnose coping materials, but that's just a personal preference.
Last edited:
Toxophilite
Silver Supporter
I think bricks are dated. Not bullnose. Or, at least I thought my travertine bullnose was the latest!!!
Here are some pics of our travertine deck and coping. The coping is 6x12, cut (of course) to fit the curves of the pool. 
We also thought we wanted an eased edge until we saw how the cuts might look sloppy on a freeform pool. I would have loved a chiseled edge but no go from a safety and comfort perspective. Ironically though, I agree with thewolf56 that for some reason travertine bullnose doesn't seem as dated as other materials.
Toxophilite
Silver Supporter
Same coping here on my freeform. We actually got to see it both ways. The spa originally coped with cut edge, as the pool coping didn't come double bullnosed, and I guess they didn't bring such, so the mason just cut straights for the spa. Looked horrible, blocky, with sharp points at every grout line. I had them take a bullnose grinder to inside and outside edge, round it all out, and it came out perfect.
This is SO BEAUTIFUL!!! What travertine is this (pavers)? We are looking at one very similar for our coping! Thank you for sharing - the bullnose looks really nice!!
The light color is called Cascade Blend, the darker coping is Walnut (or Noche). Here is the vendor/supplier.
www.stonesnature.com
Cascade Blend Travertine Filled / Brushed Pavers – Stone Nature
www.stonesnature.com
Hi, this discussion has been so helpful. The Travertine looks lovely! I'm getting bids to have my flaking slate coping replaced with Travertine too. One contractor said he needs to drain entire pool because construction debris will cause water to be extremely dirty. Another contractor said draining pool is a very bad idea because that can ruin the plaster. His bid includes $1,500 to scoop out debris from water and vacuum. I live in Northern California..everything more expensive. Did any of you have experience with drain or no drain? What do you recommend?