Best Options For Your Pool Surround – 8 Options

Choose Your Pool Surround With Care

The materials used for your pool surround will affect not only what the pool area as a whole looks like, but also how the area may be used. For instance, if you plan to entertain around the pool, you will want a hard surface which is large enough for chairs and tables. If not, you may decide to combine hard and soft landscaping materials to create an aesthetically pleasing visual ambiance.

A Host Of Options

There are a host of options for your pool surround or for any pool, from timber to marble, tiles to brick, each of which should be carefully considered before the pool is built. In many instances, the surround incorporates the coping around the edge of the pool, with brick paving, tiles and wooden decking extending right to the water’s edge. However, standard precast concrete and terrazzo coping is still available and some brick and simulated stone manufactures also make copings.

Many professional pool builders will include a surround for your pool of brick or some other type of paving in their quotation. If you want a paved or tiled area that is bigger than this, it is best to budget for it when you build. Adding on hard surfaces later often looks like an afterthought.

Important Considerations

Important considerations include the need for your pool surround to be non-slip and for materials to complement those that have been used to build the house or landscape the garden. Also bear in mind that pale colors will tend to create a glare, while dark colors will absorb the heat.

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Timber

Most commonly used in the form of decking (see the main picture above), wood is practical and looks attractive. It is particularly useful when building on a slope. When building on flat ground, it is essential to leave a gap between the decking and the earth so that air may circulate.

Various timber types are suitable for decking, although your choice is likely to be determined by availability and possibly by cost. Pine is reasonably priced and widely available, but it is a soft wood and long lengths tend to warp. Balau, a fine-textured wood noted for its strength and durability in hot, humid countries; karri, a tough Australian eucalyptus; and meranti, a versatile Malaysian wood, are all more expensive than pine but well suited for decking. In the USA redwood and Douglas fir are also used, along with a variety of tropical hardwoods. Composite decking (which is of course fake) is becoming increasingly popular.

Wooden railway sleepers may also be used as a pool surround alongside pools to create an on-ground deck, although they are becoming increasingly scarce.

More on timber decking can be found on Wikipedia here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timber_decking

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Timber Decking Is An All-Time Favorite Around Pools and For Decking

As we have said above Timber Decking is very durable and these Timber Decking Pavers are a “Best Seller”.

Here is our Pick for Timber Decking
Click pic for more info:

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Grass

A natural effect can be created if grass is allowed to grow right up to the edge of the pool, especially around a beach pool. A popular pool surround trend is to use a single row of tiles or slabs as a coping around the perimeter and then grow grass from this point. This will prevent sand and mud from washing into the water and make it easier to maintain the pool.

Grass around a pool should be mowed regularly and any grass cuttings which blow into the water should be skimmed off the surface before they sink to the bottom.

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Here Is the Answer If You Decide to Have Grass Around Your Pool.

Many people say that while paving around the pool looks really neat and tidy there are complaints from their kids, and a few older folk, that when they run barefoot around the pool their feet get burnt. Yes, that is a problem when the sun gets really hot in the middle of the day and the pool surround heats up. But that is the time when most of us, and the kids, want to jump in the pool to cool off.

The answer is to have grass as your pool surround. Here are two solutions for you. The first is to plant real grass, and the other option is artificial grass. Below are links to the best and the highest rated products available.

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See below for our choice of artificial grass:

This artificial make is one of the best and is really easy to lay according to many of the feedback comments.

“Wes” says that: “I did a lot of research and found this to be the best value and am very happy with the the quality of this product.“
Others have found that after a full season the grass has weathered well through the winter. There are a number of people who have purchased this product and “I would definitely recommend this product.“

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Brick paving

A practical hard wearing and good looking surface, brick paving has established itself as a popular material that can be used for your pool surround. Experts recommend that the ground is thoroughly compacted in 150 mm/6 in layers prior to paving and that the bricks are laid on a base with a minimum of six parts river sand to one part cement. Both concrete and clay bricks may be used, but make sure the color chosen blends well with existing surfaces including walls, paths and the walls of your house.

Expansion joints should be incorporated where paving exceeds one meter or where it butts up against an existing structure or wall. It is recommended that an expansion joint be provided between the paving and the coping.

Simulated Stone Slabs

There is a wide range of tiles, flagstones and even kerb stones available for your pool surround. Popular around natural pools with rockeries and waterfalls, they are manufactured in various colors and finishes from unpolished grey granite to yellow mountain sandstone. They are all manufactured in molds taken from stone, so have the texture and finish of the real material.

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Make Your Own Pavers For Around Your Pool.

We have had a few pools in our time and laid various surrounds such as bricks, concrete slabs and non-slip tiles. As a DIYer this formwork for making your own stepping stones for your pool surround really appeals to me as I know the satisfaction of getting something like this done.
The ratings and comments that have been posted should give you the assurance that this Mold will do the job and give you a sense of satisfaction for a job well done.

SEE BELOW

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Tiles

The options in this category are vast and varied and may be used to create just about any effect required, from rural and rustic to sleek and sophisticated. The only issue is that tiles used around a swimming pool should not be glazed or polished or they will become highly dangerous when wet.

Popular types include terracotta quarry tiles made from baked clay; natural slate tiles; fine concrete tiles made to look like terracotta; and marble tiles which, although expensive, are exceptionally hard-wearing and can look magnificent.

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