Pool deck paving
Barefoot, wet, and still safe underfoot
A pool surround is the hardest working surface in a yard. People walk on it barefoot in the middle of summer, they walk on it soaking wet, and they walk on it fast. So it has to stay cool enough to stand on, hold grip when it is wet, and get water off the surface quickly instead of leaving puddles that never dry in the shade.
Pavers suit that better than almost anything else. They run cooler underfoot than a large unbroken slab because the units are smaller and the joints between them break up the heat. The face is textured, which is what gives you grip when the surface is wet. And the joints let surface water drain instead of sheeting across. It is the same surface we lay on the patio off the back of the house, working a good deal harder.
Every deck is built to ICPI specification, in interlocking pavers and natural stone only, with a 20 year warranty. We build them on the estate lots around Atherton and on tighter hillside yards right across the Peninsula.
What makes a pool deck different from a regular patio?
Three things. The first is water volume. A patio deals with rain, a pool deck deals with rain plus everything that comes out of the pool on people and towels, all year. The second is the coping at the water edge, which has to be set true and level and hold a clean line, because your eye follows it around the whole pool. The third is that the ground around a pool shell was excavated and backfilled when the pool went in, and backfilled ground settles. Those three get looked at first, the same way we start any other surface we are asked to build.
That last one is why we take the base seriously here. Four to six inches of compacted aggregate base is the pedestrian standard, and around a pool we often go deeper because the backfill ring is the least reliable soil on the property. Geotextile fabric goes over soft or disturbed subgrade so the base stone cannot work down into it. Then base rock in layers, compacted each time, exactly as we do on every paver surface we build.
Which way does a pool deck drain?
Away from the water, not into it. Every splash, every hose down and every winter storm should run off the outside edge of the deck and into the garden or a drain, because water running back toward the pool carries dirt, leaf litter and whatever is on the deck straight into the water and onto your filter. The fall we build in comes straight out of the industry specification for interlocking pavement.
So we hold about a quarter inch of fall per foot running outward from the coping, set in the subgrade and carried through the base and the sand. Where the yard rises on the far side there is nowhere for that water to go, and a channel drain along the back of the deck takes it instead. Any low corner that collects water is a corner that will grow algae and be slippery all winter. If a built in grill and counter is going in along one side, it sits on the same base and goes in at the same stage.
Get a free estimate on your pool deck
Cooler underfoot, drained away from the water, and backed by a 20 year warranty.
Call (650) 705-0628What happens if the deck settles later?
This is the honest advantage of laying a deck in pavers. A field laid dry on screeded sand can be taken apart and put back. If the pool backfill settles in one corner years from now, or a pipe under the deck needs attention, we lift the affected pavers by hand, repair or recompact what is underneath, re-screed the sand and set the same units back down. That dry laid method is also what makes open jointed paving that drains straight through possible.
On hillside yards it matters even more. Cut and fill ground moves at different rates on the two halves of the same deck, and our winters are wet enough that soil movement is a real thing here rather than a theory. We build in the drainage that keeps water out of the fill in the first place, and where the ground drops away sharply we build a segmental block wall with drainage stone behind it to hold the level the deck sits on.
Why choose Exterior Designs for your pool deck?
Because a pool deck punishes a sloppy base faster than any other surface, and because the coping line has to be right the first time. We are family owned and operated out of San Carlos. Our owner is an ICPI Certified Paver Installer, a Belgard Master Craftsman and an Allan Block Certified Installer, and we lay Belgard, Calstone and McNear.
Every deck is built to ICPI specification and carries a 20 year warranty, and we are rated 5.0 on Google. Estimates are free, and we will tell you where the water has to go before we tell you what the paving will look like. Call (650) 705-0628 or book a free estimate.
Ask a paver installer
Straight answers about paver installation on the Peninsula
Are pavers really cooler than a solid surface around a pool?
They run cooler than one large unbroken slab. The units are small and the joints break the surface up, so heat does not build across it. A light or mid tone paver stays far more comfortable barefoot.
Can you pave around an existing pool without touching the pool?
Usually yes. We work outside the coping and keep the pool covered while we cut and compact. If the existing coping is loose or sitting unevenly it has to be reset first, and we say so on the estimate.
Will pool chemicals damage the pavers?
Splash and normal pool water do not harm them. Concentrated chemicals spilled straight onto the surface can mark it, so store them off the deck. Rinsing the deck now and then keeps residue out of the joints.
What joint sand do you use around a pool?
Polymeric sand, because a deck gets hosed and splashed constantly and plain sand would wash out within a season. It is swept in, misted and left to set firm, and it holds tight against weeds and ants.
Can the deck be extended later for a spa or seating?
Yes. We build the new area on its own compacted base, lift the edge row of the existing deck so the two fields tie into each other, and keep the falls working as one. Keep spare pavers for the match.
Do you build pool decks outside San Carlos?
Yes. Atherton, Hillsborough, Menlo Park, Burlingame, San Mateo, Redwood City and Belmont are all in our normal working area, and our crew has worked on decks in Foster City, Los Altos, Pacifica and Fremont.