Which Deck?? Full wrap around, partial wrap around, or end deck only??

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fearthisinc

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Nov 29, 2014
15
North Bergen, NJ
Just wanted to get some input.. We are talking with a few deck guys and pricing things out but figured I would get some outside opinions.. We are on the fence about what type of deck to do around the pool.. We always figured we would do a full wrap around but are now starting to think that it would be nice to have a "direct" view into the pool versus having to look through a railing.. It would be especially nice during a party or gathering to be able to see and communicate with people inside the pool.. The pool will be an 18 x 33 semi inground.. At this point we are figuring that it will be anywhere from 27-36 inches above ground at most.. The three options we are considering are:

1. 3/4 wrap around with 8 or 10ft x 21ft lounge deck on one end and rest being 3ft. This would leave the front open with no railing..

2. Full wrap around with 8 or 10ft x 24ft lounge deck on one end with the rest being 3ft.. This would have a full railing all the way around..

3. Just an end deck being 8 or 10ft x 24ft.. No decking on any other sides..

Below are some quick pictures I drew up to give an idea on what we are talking about.. Not to scale or anything like that.. Appreciate any input.. Also, on a side note, I apologize in advance if this is not the correct space for this type of question but thought it would be part of the "build" section.. Thanks


deckoptions.jpg
 
Full deck or 3/4 deck NOT the just the end deck.

Full deck------how many people do you really think will be at your pool some days? That will give a lot of walking (or running if they are kids) room. It will make cleaning the pool nice as you will be able to walk all the way around the pool and not have to get in on those days.

3/4 deck-----if you have a lot of people this MIGHT work but there could be come traffic congestion with this one. Again it will help with the cleaning if your pole is long enough to reach the other side. It will be harder than the full deck

NO just end deck as the cleaning will be MUCH harder because you will have to be leaning over the sides of the pool to brush the walls.

Kim
 
I have a 24' round pool. I did the middle pic. 3' on 3 sides and 12' on the long end.

We love it. Still under construction, but its super nice to have lots of room. and good choice going with 3' on the 3 sides. I almost went with 2' and SO SO SO glad somebody here talked me into going 3' instead.
 
I am currently doing the same with my 18x45 above ground pool. I would say first check with your building codes. With the pool being only that high off the ground you may end up having to place a fence around the pool if you decide to do either the 3/4 or end deck. If this would be the case you would end up loosing the view you want and I would rather imo have the deck to look at instead of a fence. However if you would only need the fence around the yard you can do whatever you want.

I am with the others though the full deck is great and makes cleaning the pool easy. I am doing the full deck and have not regretted it as it gets used a lot. I also am currently building benches instead of railing that doubles as storage for all the kids toys. And planters for my wife's flowers to make it more inviting. Just an idea and a quick search of the Internet can give you more ideas to add to the beauty of the deck and pool.

Mike.


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I have a 18x33 Oval Above Ground pool we had installed 2 summers ago. We did a 18x24 deck on just the end, I would have LOVED to put it up more, however, we went with trex, and it was VERY EXPENSIVE, the materials alone cost us I think a little over $4,000 and that was not including the install !!! we are just a family 3, so it suits us just fine, but when we do have a pool party I wish I had it larger, however we have lower deck with a hot tub, a high deck (back of our house is not under ground), so this was our 3rd deck being built, no way I could convince my husband to spend more $$ on decks! I don't blame him though.20130915_171855.jpg

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sorry I meant 10x20 deck
 
Thanks for all the input...

MikeTinnelle: The ordinance in our area is that the yard has to be closed in by a 6ft fence and have a latching/locking gate.. As long as that is done (which we already planned on doing) then we do not need any gate around the pool itself..

Fitness4Life: Any more pics? We had a family friend that does small projects take a look at our ideas.. I know he said one of the big things is that we are going to need A LOT of posts/footings if we do the full wrap around.. We told him we wanted to do a composite material and he was estimating he could probably get all the material, and just material, for about 7k to do the job.. That didn't include any kind of install price which around here is probably at least equal to the materials cost.. We are waiting for an "official" estimate but we are figuring it will be about 15-18k just for the deck for a professional company to come in.. Obviously we could just do a wood deck and the price would probably be cut in half, however we prefer the composite material..
 
Depends on how tall you are.

My deck is around about a quarter of my 27' round. I have no problem cleaning the pool from the out side where there is no deck - but I am 6'4". My wife an kids say they cannot reach from the outside. I am beginning to think that is just an excuse not to clean the pool.

While I would like a walkway all the way around my pool, I don't think I would like the way it would look. My pool is on the ground, so it is 48" high. adding a deck railing to that height all the way around would not look good.

-dave
 

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Here are some more pics...as you can see we didn't attach our lower deck, I wish we did, however, I want to say our deck cost between 7,000-8,000 (I can't remember) and that is with composite material, and little did we know that we had to build a retaining wall when we put the pool in which we added to our costs, otherwise I think we would have connected the hot tub deck to the pool deck. We are in MA so the guy put in 6 sonar tubes 5 feet down protect against frost heave, we left a little space (as recommended by pool company in case repairs, etc. need to be made). These photos will give you a good Idea of what your pool will look like with just end.
deck.jpg
 
Won't you need to have an enclosed stair with self closing gate for entry to the deck if you go full. I had to get one down here. I have MFG fencing all around the pool with a 10x5 side deck. (Wish I did the end deck but would have cut into the yard too much.) How high can you be above grade and not require railings?

I'm half 2' below grade and at grade on the long sides. We got the fence to prevent anyone (little ones) from pulling something up to the side and climbing in.

When I vacuum and brush I just walk on the top rail around the pool.

I like the full deck. My brother has a round ABG with a huge L shape deck and I love it. Room for table w/ umbrella and loungers.
 
If you go with the end deck, you might end up wishing later that you had a larger deck. I doubt that will happen if you go full deck. Every time you use the wrap around portion for cleaning, jumping in or retrieving items from the pool, you'll be glad you have it.
 
If you can go all the way around, I'd do it (but it's expensive with all the footings!). We are about 3/4 the way around (maybe? maybe a bit less?) and while we love it, I have 2 big pet peeves...1. When stuff floats to the far side where the deck isn't, I can't get it (I'm short, our pole sucks) and 2. The kids are forever shooting toys over the edge. Drives me nuts (as I'm usually the one retrieving them).

Eventually we will probably go all the way around.
 
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