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Due to impervious surface limitations in our new house here in NC, we can't do a concrete deck around a planned inground pool. Just looking to see if anyone can offer any advice on materials and the pros and cons.
We were kind of leaning towards using trex or something similar to keep splintering down but I'm sure it's going to be very hot in the sun. Any other good materials that will allow water to drain through?
If you have the room onsite and the drainage pattern will work, you -might- be able to make the argument for your own onsite retention pond. The pond itself probably won't be that difficult, the engineering and their time making the case to the board of adjustment will probably cost more than the pond itself. But this way you might be able to use concrete for the deck.
TW
hmm, thanks TW. The town here is very strict with the impervious surface limitations and it has to do with ground water replenishment and containing runoff. Good thought though, thanks.
Just for conversation I was searching and came across pervious concrete, the ideal solution for all but doesn't look like it's an approved material here yet.
Mark
Yup, worked in development many years in Austin, Texas and we have some of the most stringent runoff rules there are. You can either retain the water onsite, or pay into a fund to build and maintain larger 'community' retention ponds. You might also look into that. There's always the board of adjustment/planning commission route, but you should hire a consultant even for that to run the politics of it.
I am a civil engineer in NJ and we have some strict regs enforced by the state regarding infiltration and impervious coverage. How about brick pavers? Here in NJ you can usually argue with the Township that the sand is a pervious material (if thick enough) and allows ground recharge.
It also depends on your soils. If you need a pretty thick layer of gravel under the sand they may see this as preventing infiltration.
Just my $.02
Amazingly enough a gravel bed is considered an impervious surface. Looks like we're just going to go with a trex deck. Thanks all for the advice.Quote:
Originally Posted by Timmy
Mark
At the price of Trex, have you considered Ipe wood? Personal preference, but I like the look of real wood over the synthetics.
I have Trex on my back deck, the original gray stuff (origins it is called). It DOES NOT get hot, at least in New York, despite what every lumber store person will tell you. I have Timbertech on my front porch, which is a tongue and groove composite, I wouldn't recommend it for a pool deck due to less than stellar drainage.
We are currently putting an Oasis deck around our IG pool. This is another composite, it is thinner than Trex, a bit heavier. But, it has to be pre-drilled or attached using another hidden fastener (not Tiger Claws though)). It does get hot, but not too bad, I would guess it would down south. One of the nicer things about Trex is that it is a bit softer, so you can use small trim head screws and you can sink them right into the Trex without predrilling. They basically disappear.
For our deck, which is at grade with the concrete pool collar, we dug down about 9", put a pressure treated form around the outside of our deck footprint, filled with gravel, then built a 2x6 frame resting directly on the gravel to support the deck. I went with 15" OC, with the boards running perpendicular to the pool (no seams that way). I actually built 3 "boxes", then postioned them in the gravel, leveled them then lag screwed them all together. I also sunk about 4 galvanized fence posts inside the frame and cut them off below the top of the frame (just to make sure the deck didn't creep away from the pool).
We don't have any of the water standards, our issue with the inspector was the construction itself - he had never heard of it. But, since it was on-grade, he couldn't do anything about it except insist on a frame inspection. The construction is very similar to how railroad tracks are laid (in fact, my brother is a RR construction engineer and he thought it was a great way to go). Should the deck sink at all, we can just use a bottle jack to lift it a little and the gravel fill will fall in and self level.
I am still in the middle of putting the decking on. Although it sounds like you can't use the gravel, you can still do the 2x6 on ground. I would be happy to shoot a few pictures if you are interested. My neighbor has a smaller Trex pool deck built on a frame directly on the ground (again, at pool grade). He has had it for about 7 years with no movement at all (in NY!!).
As for composites, they are great! (I have 3 different ones now, I think I like Trex the best). I think you either like them, or you don't. IPE is a good alternative, but I know of more than one person that had to return a whole truckload due to getting junk. That really isn't a problem with composites. Plus, I'm not sure that IPE would hold up that well to the constant wet/dry exposure of a pool deck, PLUS, you have to seal the IPE (I believe) and you don't with a composite (so no runoff into your pool).
An on grade deck is a lot of work, but ours is really turning out nicely. BTW, I am doing the work myself because all of the contractors wanted huge bucks to do this, even though material costs are less. It isn't what they are used to doing.