[titan7]

We were planning to put in Belgard interlocking pavers but PB, decking sub, and city inspector said on very expansive soil that not a good idea. They said water will get down to the soil and you don't want it near the pool shell, oh, yeah, we just had the shotcrete done 3 wks ago in the new pool.

I thought pavers would be better, sure they are double the price of concrete?

So we are thinking of just a broom finished grey concrete, 4" slab over 3" of roadfill. Contractor said they will have 3000PSI with some fibersomething added and also place rebar 24"OC. Now I am hearing that we should not use rebar that it's not going to prevent cracking and I would be better served with 4" of roadbase, no rebar, and properly placed joints??

Help!!

Are the tool made joints (at time of pour) better than saw cut? They said they can saw cut the next day but told me the slab may already have cracked?

Is a 6" slab going to be better? This is a 2,500sf deck pour.

 

[Canarywood1]

Well 4 inches of road base won't keep water out, you may need to do an exchange of soil, or the existing soil can possibly be stabilized, but you'll need a soils engineer for what your proposing, that is if you only want to do this once.

 

[titan7]

What's the best option for installing a concrete pool deck. Won't compacting the soil and placing 4" of road base down then a 4-6" slab?

 

[ddawg16]

If you are not worried about money.....concrete with pavers on top.

Yes...we have expansive soil.

Pavers can be made to work.....if done right.

I would go down to your local concrete supply and talk to them. They know who does good work

 

[Windows on Wash]

If you are not worried about money.....concrete with pavers on top.

Yes...we have expansive soil.

Pavers can be made to work.....if done right.

I would go down to your local concrete supply and talk to them. They know who does good work

Big +1.

Pavers, even when done perfectly, can move and create less than desirable looking results.

Concrete base with pavers on top is the most secure way to go.

 

[Msradell]

I definitely would go whatever route the Pool Builder is comfortable with or else if anything happens down the road you may have a problem with warranty through them. If you do something that they say if a good idea the quite likely won't honor any warranty because they will say that it failed because of the pavers.

 

[titan7]

Thanks for the input. We gave a budget, can't swing pavers on top of concrete. Either pavers or concrete. I am going to talk to s soils/geo engineer about what they suggest for concrete or pavers.

 

[tarak8180]

Curious if you found a resolution to your expansive soil problem? Did you talk to geo/soils expert? We had a concrete pool deck installed about 18 months ago and are already having significant heave. Looking for recommendations for replacing it.

Thanks.

 

[stadry]

80, where are you ? where is YOUR 'where' ? this site asks you to list your 'where' for a reason

 

[Tscarborough]

Concrete pavers are not considered permeable paving. The amount of water penetrating the joints is trivial, especially when using polymeric sand, which you definitely should use around a pool.

The beauty of pavers is that they are considered to be a flexible pavement. That means that while you may have to pull them up and re-lay them in 10 years, you can reuse them as opposed to living with cracked up un-level concrete that would have to be removed and replaced to fix.

Pavers should not be twice the price of PIP concrete, you must have selected a premium paver style, like tumbled or white.

 

[titan7]

We ended up going with concrete decking. i just like the look and feel of concrete vs pavers.