What is the best kind of pool deck?

by Julie
(Cumming, GA)

I am about to have a back yard in ground pool put in at our Georgia home. I am trying to decide on the most cost effective but functional kind of deck to put around it, as we have a large family and will have many square feet of decking. I have been warned off of stamped concrete because it is too slippery, but I am seeing mixed reviews about this online. Our pool builder recommends concrete pavers. They are both about the same price, but I am wondering which is the lowest maintenance, lasts the longest, and is the most user friendly. Any insight you have would be very appreciated!

Dear Julie,
I do like both stamped concrete and concrete pavers and have used them both alot around pools. I have had no problem with stamped concrete being hot or slippery. Concrete does not get hot in dark colors like other materials. Some things to think about when making this decision are: 1. Concrete is going to crack. It's the nature of the material. Are you dealing with having to fill under the pool deck in order to get it to the correct grade around the pool. If so, I would not use stamped concrete. Any settling of the base could make the conctete crack. Stamped concrete is hard to repair once it has cracked. The repair is hard to disguise. The fact that pavers are dried laid and easy to repair is one of their benefits. 2. Concrete pavers do get weeds between the joints. Regular maintenance of spraying the small weeds with weed killer before they grow too large is a concern to some people.
3. Are you trying to acheive a certain design that is better done with pavers instead of stamped concrete. Both can resemble real stone, for example. Visit some pools with these two decks and see how they look after being installed for a few years. That my help you a lot.
4. Stamped concrete does have expansion joints that lets the concrete slab have some room to move. Some contractors are better at hiding these joints than others. Again, I highly recommend going to visit some jobs that the contractor has done. The expansion joints can be obtrusive to the overall design of the pool deck, if not done correctly.
How exciting that you are building a pool. I hope these comments help you with your decision. Please contact me again, if you need my help.

Nancy