Type of caulk between coping and deck?

[billhev]

Hi all,
Great site and I've learned a lot from reading the posts here. Can anyone recommend the type of caulk to use between the coping and the pool deck? During the pour, the contractors installed a type of foam between the deck and the flagstone coping. I was told that after letting things cure, to pull out the foam (it is perforated about 1/2 down so that only the top edge will come out). Then seal/fill this space with some type of waterproof caulk that should remain very flexible as the deck will expand and contract with the seasons.
Bill

[duraleigh]

Bill,

Polyurethane is the best. (Vulkem 911 is a brand I have used, but there are several available) It is not very easy to work with, but if you'll mask off both sides of the joint with tape and be careful, you'll do a nice job. Overfill the joint slightly and then, using a putty knife held at a very low angle, smooth the surface flush with both sides. (while the tape is still there).

Takes a while to cure and not easy to clean up, but, taped carefully, you can do a very professional job.

[mickey4paws]

Hi Bill,
We used a really great caulk, made by Dow Corning. If you can wait until this evening, I will check what the tube says when I get home from work. It's been 3 years since the caulking and it still looks great. We actually had snakes living between the coping and the deck, so we thought best to caulk it :D

[mbar]

I used a caulk that is supposed to be a cross between a polyurethane and silicone, here is a link, it is by DAP called side winder


http://www.dap.com/product_details.aspx?product_id=342

[rlanthony@excite.com]

When we remodeled our pool the company use Decoseal. It comes in a large caulk tube. They used backer rod, a foam like tubing to fill most of the space. Then the decoseal. The decoseal self levels, they then pushed fine sand on top of the decoseal so that the finish is like sand. Looks real good actually. The decoseal comes in different colors. You will se it very often in comercial concrete jobs. Next time your at a convience store look at the concrete the grey caulk in between the concrete joints is decoseal.

[billhev]

Thanks everyone for the quick replies, I wanted to caulk before we closed down for the season.
Bill

[StevenHB]

I realize that this thread is old.

There are a number of different caulks that you all talk about. Dec-o-seal, polyurethane, etc.

At http://www.poolcenter.com/service_supplies_pool_caulking_supplies.htm, they list self-levelling, semi-self-leveling, and gun-grade caulks. What are the pros and cons? My caulking has cracked and come out of the joint in a number of places and needs to be replaced. Is it sigficantly easier to get a good-looking outcome with one versus the next? Does one last longer than the other? Do all require that you mask the joint with tape? Use the backer rod?