Help-small problem turning into big headache. Pool a bit higher than deck

[Jbourne]

Hello,
I just had my above ground pool replaced as a tree fell on my old one over the winter. I have a trex deck that is in front of the pool on one end that was here when we bought the house last year. The new pool is about 2-3" higher than the deck. The installer ripped me off by charging me 500.00 to "work with my existing deck", and they never hooked up the stairs or did anything to work with the deck. So the round cuts from the old pool show up as a small space between those couple of boards and the deck, which I can live with or just replace 3 boards. But I first got the "Mighty Steps" and as most probably know there's these plastic parts you have to screw onto your deck that's supposed to be higher than the pool.

Now I've got the "Wedding Cake Stairs" and they will mount fine, but that doesn't solve the issue that first I have to trim the deck boards back a bit because the contractor left it so the rail is sitting on the deck at a slight angle because the deck is close to the rail height, enough so it pushes the rail up about 1". Once I cut the boards so the rail sits free as the rest of the rail on the pool and as it should, then I'll be fine there. But I want to stop the kids from sitting on the rail or stepping on it to get in and out of the pool. It's literally about 2-3" higher than the deck, so I'm trying to figure
Out how to make some
Step that would sit over the rail,
Ideally I would do it for the whole length of the rail, but if I can do it just for the part where the stairs
Go in that would be fine. I asked the pool store and they don't have any ladders that would solve this, but it looks like they do have ladders that would fix this issue as they have a platform you first step on. The store I got the pool from only has ladders that don't have a platform and also are made to go on a deck.

What's the best solution?

Thank you all in advance! And will having the railing sitting on the deck like this for about 2 weeks
Hurt the pool at all? He cut the caps and then put some stupid screw in them to hold them to the rail, luckily he didn't put the screw into the rail though. So the stor
Is giving me new caps. I'll cut the deck boards to fit correctly. But now my step
Problem exists.

[Watermom]

Pictures would probably help. Use Flickr, Picasa, Photobucket, etc and then use this button to link them into this thread: http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/images/editor/insertimage.png

Welcome to the Pool Forum!

[Jbourne]

Hi,
Thank You! I've been working night & day, so sorry for the late reply, it's really appreciated to get some help!

I've looked into this just a bit, but came here because no one I've talked to has any ideas, not even the pool stores.

I've uploaded the pics to Photobucket.

"Ideally", I would like to somehow "protect" the rail. I know that where the "wedding cake" stairs are, that putting something there will be a challenge. So it's easier to get the kids to learn to step over there, but it's the rest of the rail as well. It would be nice to not have to worry about the kids friends or even adults who haven't been told and don't know not to step on the rail.

I've read people have built "over hangs" or something like that. In the pics you can see that the pool rail is close to the deck boards. In one of them you can see how there is a circular cut in one board which was from the old pool. This pool sits about 2-3" higher than the decking boards. I saw on here that someone posted a nice pic of their deck and then they had a piece of trim that covered the small space they had, so that would be helpful, just because it doesn't look great with the space. I also had to trim the boards back because the installer left it so the rail was sitting on the deck boards in some spots and it wasn't level...
If I could make something so even the kids could step on it that would be great! Letting them jump off of it as well. I let them jump off the deck, so they just stand in front of the rail and step back once or twice and then jump in. But their friends don't know better and I also don't want them to trip or something.
http://s1377.photobucket.com/user/virtuallywarped/library/Mobile%20Uploads

Thanks again!
Jay

[Jbourne]

Hi,
Thank you! I apologize for the late reply! I've had to work 18-20 hour days :)

I appreciate the help as it's hard to find good forums these days and this site is great! I did some searching and I can't find anything that is like what I'm trying to do, there's posts but no info or pics.

I had to get the pool replaced when a tree fell, so the other people that had the house put up the pool and deck. The deck was cut to fit the supports of the old pool, so that it fit tight.

But the installer I used screwed me by charging a fee to "work" with the deck for this pool, and all he did was put it close, then left it so the rail sat on the deck boards in "some spots", which was wrong because the rail wasn't sitting level. Then the caps weren't put on right, so I got new ones.
I had to trim back the deck boards and I did it as carefully as possible. It came out pretty good, but of course the boards aren't perfect, and then as you'll see there's a few that have a cut where the old rail was. I want to at least make that "edge" or area where the deck boards meet the pool look nicer, I've read people put a piece of trim along that space?
"Ideally" I want to protect the railing, my kids are being good, stepping over the rail to get in the pool, I got the "wedding cake stairs". But they do jump off the deck "always supervised", and feet first, nothing with running or whatever. But their friends come over or even adults that don't know or don't listen, I don't want the rail getting ruined or worse. I've read people do an overhang or something. It would be great if the wife could sit on it or the kids, or even just if it will keep them from hurting themselves or the rail. They stand in front of it now and then jump in sometimes.
http://s1377.photobucket.com/user/virtuallywarped/library/Mobile%20Uploads
Any ideas are very much appreciated!

Thank You!

[Watermom]

Pictures? See post #2.

[Jbourne]

Pictures? See post #2.

Thanks, sorry about that, I tried to post the URL to photobucket the last time, hopefully this works. I'm under the gun now, have the kids party coming up and the wife isn't giving me a "honey do list", the word isn't Honey!

http://s1377.photobucket.com/user/virtuallywarped/library/

http://i1377.photobucket.com/albums/ah55/virtuallywarped/7A9D59FE-9610-4B47-964B-20C16A96CF88_zpssnvmyjbi.jpg

http://i1377.photobucket.com/albums/ah55/virtuallywarped/CE36C079-046E-4106-AF25-CF1C215BDDD9_zpsxxbb3vey.jpg

http://i1377.photobucket.com/albums/ah55/virtuallywarped/BE2C760D-DFCA-4D04-9687-937D64F12234_zpsnn5sucxx.jpg

[Watermom]

When new members post, their post goes into a moderation queue and doesn't appear until one of us reads it and mods it in. We are on and off the forum all day long and try and clear the queue multiple times each day so usually it doesn't take too long before it appears.

[PoolDoc]

Wow.

If it was me, I'd leave it alone. *LOTS* of pools are intentionally build pretty much that way.

Trying to lower the pool 2", or raise the deck that much, seems to me to be a huge amount of work with no particular benefit.

. . . . membership updated.

[Jbourne]

Ok, thanks. So originally the installer (in my humble opinion), did a hack job. The reason I say that is because he didn't trim back the boards the way they are now. He left them and put the rail on top of the deck which put it at a slight angle and it was resting on the deck boards. At first I thought "that's good", because then the deck would support the rail and if anyone stood on it.

Then after reading, researching, and talking to the pool store, it seemed like that was bad as it was tilted a bit higher on the back edge, and also there would have been no way of getting the cable for the cover back there.

I'm not worried about making it level, it's more "keeping people off". I know FOLLOW THE RULES!. But my kids are very, very good, but when they have friends over or for instance a party coming up, I'm worried about the other kids. They are always supervised, but there's only so much you can control and I'm worried about it given it's brand new, I don't want anyone getting hurt, and ideally it would be good to have some sort of step there. Also stepping over the railing to get into the pool isn't "ideal", when little kids go in, they have a big step to get in.

I've read people make something that goes over the rail or overhangs, is there anything like that which would work?

[PoolDoc]

Also stepping over the railing to get into the pool isn't "ideal", when little kids go in, they have a big step to get in.


It's not visible in the pictures, but I assume that there's no gate onto the deck area? If so, that's a genuine hazard that probably needs to be fixed.


I've read people make something that goes over the rail or overhangs, is there anything like that which would work?
Again, I'm not really sure what you're referring to, but I assume it's something NOT visible in the pictures.

[Jbourne]

If you see the railings for the steps, they are screwed to the deck. To get into the pool you step off the deck, over the pool rail, and onto the 1st step. I thought that would be easy to see, but I can post a pic, thank you!

Then for the rest, I trimmed the deck boards back a bit so now you should see in the pictures that the boards are about 1-2" from the pool. Then there's a couple that have a bigger space, they were cut to fit the old pool.

I can't find any pics of a "platform" or something to keep the kids from standing on the rail.
But there are posts people have posted saying they have done it, but no pics or even replies.

[Pappy]

It wouldn't be pretty (I'n not sure a pretty way exists), but maybe you could use plastic paver or landscape edging to border the pool. That would make you have to stand completely on the pool edge or step all the way over. Also, a red stripe along the top of the rail would be a visual incentive to stay off.

Pappy

[DennisP]

Why not just build a brace that goes underneath to support the rail from below the deck?

That way it is supported by the deck and it doesn't matter if anyone steps on it.

Build one for the area by the steps to begin with and if that works, then just build more for the rest of the deck area. Sure, without it being perfectly level between the deck and the rails it is a slightly more complex solution, but in the end it is the same.

And you cannot blame the installer of the replacement pool, since unless you replaced the pool with the exact same model you had previously there is no way to get it all to "match" without 4x the time and effort. You are talking about test fitting, tearing it down, re-leveling, fit it again, etc...

I would say they did a hell of a job getting it that good. And the extra expense was for them to get it to match exactly like they did. That is a huge effort in itself to get it that good.