How to Build Composite Deck Board Around a Swimming Pool?

Composite decks make a move from the yard to the pool more comfortable and give you a place to sit and relax by the pool. When you build a composite deck board around your pool, you increase its value, make it look better, and give it more uses.

After building your new pool deck, you can eat and sunbathe by the pool. This article will tell you about pool decks and how to build a composite deck around your pool.

Considerations for building pool decks

Watch out for bare feet

One thing to think about when building a pool deck is that people might walk on it barefoot and touch other people’s skin. Because of this, the surface of the pool deck needs to be kept clean and out of the hot sun. Don’t hurt people in any way.

Pool decks should be made of composite deck boards. Because composite decking doesn’t chip and can be held together with fasteners that are hard to see. This keeps people from getting hurt by exposed screws and also makes the pool deck look better.

Composite decking comes in many different colors as well. The sun will not heat up the lighter colors, so they will stay cooler. So, composite decking is good for most pool decks where people play or lay out in the sun.

Water and Moisture Resistant

Most outdoor decks are made out of natural wood because it is cheap and easy to find. Traditional wood decking, on the other hand, is not a good choice for a pool deck. In addition, the deck could be broken in a way that hurts people. Wood decking is not good at keeping water out. When you use wood decking for your pool deck, it not only takes a lot of time to maintain it every year, but it also costs more.

Wood decking, on the other hand, doesn’t have any advantages that composite decking does. A composite deck board works great for building pool decks. It looks and feels like natural wood and also looks and feels like natural wood. The fact that it is very resistant to water and moisture makes it almost maintenance-free. It not only lets you enjoy the time you spend taking care of your deck. And it will cost less to fix in the future. What an easy-to-care-for composite deck!

Safety and Security

Most of the time, it adds height to a patio pool deck. But if there are kids or animals in the house, a certain height could be dangerous. So, we might need to add a composite decking railing to make the area safer. We might also need to build a gate to keep kids from playing alone.

How to build a composite deck board pool

Layout the deck

1. Measure the pool. The pool’s diameter and height need to be written down correctly. We need these facts to figure out how big the deck should be.

2. Figure out how big the deck will be. Plan for enough space between the pool’s edge and the deck’s edge so that swimmers can walk easily.

3. Get a permit to build. Take your building plans to the building department in your town and get the right building permits.

4. Pick out materials for finishing. Most of the time, pressure-treated wood is good, but we like composite materials better.

Installing Posts and Piers

1. Put the precast concrete pier legs on top of the floor. Buy precast concrete piers with holes for 4′′ x 4′′ wood posts to support your deck. Use a level to check both sides of the pier. Adjust the floor in both directions until the foundation is level.

2. Place a 4-inch-by-4-inch post in the hole at the top of the concrete piers. Put a 4-foot level on top of the pool cover and use it to draw a line on each 4-inch-by-4-inch post.

3. Take the dock’s posts down. You just made a measurement and a line below the line. The space between the two lines should be equal to the width of the pool cover plus 1-1/2″ of the 2″ x 6″ deck.

To install the composite deck board frame

1. Put the treated 2″ x 6″ deck brackets around the pool outside. The deck brackets should be screwed into the pool-facing side of each interior dock.

Use 2-1/2-inch deck screws to fasten the brackets to the inside piers. Make sure the supports are level with a level. Also, use a square to make sure the supports are square at the corners.

2. Put in the second set of 2″ x 6″ deck braces to mark the deck’s outer edge. Attach the brackets to the outside of the outer piers with 2-1/2-inch deck screws. Check to see if the brackets are level and square, and make any necessary changes.

3. Use galvanized 3-1/2-inch nails to hold the toenail joist hangers in a straight line inside the bracket. Put a joist hanger on the inside of each deck support every 16 inches, so that the joists are perpendicular to the support. Each joist hanger’s middle point should be 16′′ in the center. So, the middle of the 2′′ x 6′′ joist plate is at the 16′′ mark.

4. Put the treated 2-by-6-inch deck floor joists into the joist hangers. Use galvanized nails to fasten the hangers to the joists.

5. If the height of the deck is more than 30 inches, put 2″x4″ diagonal bracing between the piers. Between the piers, there should be bracing that goes from the inside to the outside and runs parallel to the sides of the pool.

Laying the composite deck board

1. Put 2″ x 6″ decking on the outside of the pool’s supports. To allow for expansion, the decking should be about 1/2 inch from the edge of the pool.

Use spacers between the trim boards so that water can drain and the wood can grow. Most spacers are 1/4′′ or 3/8′′, but you can use 1/2′′ spacers if you need more room.

2. Look at the spot where the deck meets the outside edge of the perimeter support. Use a circular saw to cut down the trim board where it sticks out past the supports.

Install the composite railing

1. Set up the pre-cut 4″ x 4″ railing posts around the deck’s edge. Pre-cut posts should have a notch at the bottom so they can fit around the edge of the deck. They may also have a decorative top.

Use 3/8″ x 4-1/2″ square head screws to connect the posts to the brackets. At each place where the joists meet the supports, you should put in a post. Make sure there’s room for the stairs.

2. Slide the 2″ by 6″ plate between the posts. The top of the 2″ x 6″ should be even with the bottom of the decorative element. Drill a pilot hole at the angle you want, and then use 2-1/2′′ deck screws to hold the board in place.

You can start by putting up the 2″ x 6″ joist hangers, which will make it easier to put up the boards.

3. Cut a 2-inch-by-4-inch board to the same length as the board you just put between the posts. Put the 2″ x 4″ over the 2″ x 6″ and use the deck screws to attach it to the 2″ x 6″. The cover for the railing is a piece of 2″ x 4″ wood.

4. Put up the 2-inch-by-2-inch railing with the 45-degree-angled base to close off the guardrail.

Measure each railing with a level. The rails should hang in a straight line from the posts and be put every 4 inches. At the bottom, bevels should face outward.

In the top, screw the balusters into the 2″ x 6″ balusters. At the bottom, screw them into the floor joists.

Build the composite stairs

1. Place the bottom edge of the left and right stair runners, which have already been cut, on top of the concrete patio blocks. With these blocks, the beams won’t be able to soak up water from the ground.

2. Make sure the beams are all on the same level.

3. Attach the top ends of the long beams to the deck’s floor joists with screws.

4. Support your stair treads with long beams on the inside. For every 2 feet of the stair tread, you will need 1 stringer. Unless your stairs are wider than 4 feet, you will only need 2 exterior longitudinal and 1 intermediate longitudinal beam

5. Attach the 2″x12″ plate to the stringer with screws to finish the stairs.

6. Construct a door. If small children can get to the area with the pool, build a door to keep them from falling in. If children will be playing near the pool without being watched, put a lock on it.