Pool Safety and Security: Protecting Family and Thwarting Vandals

Choosing the right material for your custom designer pool deck

Custom designer pools bring an added luxury to any home where they are installed. Getting a custom designer pool means you will be able to pick and choose every single detail about the pool to have it fit your garden, your house, and your lifestyle. One of the most important decisions to make sure your pool's aesthetics fit with your house and the surroundings is choosing the right material for the pool deck. There are a number of materials that are commonly used for pool decking, and knowing a little bit about their properties, apart from how they look, can make the choice of pool decking simpler.

Concrete

This is a very common material for pool decking, as it is a cheap material that you can design almost any way you want. If you want a pattern stamped in your concrete deck, you should be careful and make sure that the pattern is deep enough to prevent you from slipping. The downside with concrete is that it is prone to cracking, meaning that you might have to pay more than you originally set out to do just to repair your deck. It's also hard to get a precise match when adding newer concrete to the already existing concrete deck if you wish to build extensions at a later time.

Natural stone

This is a beautiful and durable option for your pool deck. It's more long lasting than poured concrete, as the stones are placed individually. This means that the whole deck isn't ruined if one stone were to crack. To give it a more natural look, you can also opt for keeping the natural soil around your pool as the base material for the stone deck. Just make sure the deck is angled slightly away from the pool to prevent dirty water mixed with dirt from running into the pool and forcing you to clean it.

Wood

Wood is a material that goes well together with many different houses and areas. It's also the material easiest to manage if you have a pool above ground. This flexible material can allow you to build extensions to your deck; like stairs and bridges. The downside is, however, that wood can become quite slippery when wet. It's also a downside that it isn't very resistant against moisture. This means you will have to perform more maintenance than on other materials, as the wood needs to be cleaned and sealed at least a couple of times per season to keep it in top condition.

For more information about deck options for custom designer pools, contact a local pool contractor.