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

[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.

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/vi...arped/library/

[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.