The cuts should not penetrate all the way but should be shallower near the pool to allow water to be drained away to the edge of the deck. Cutting all the way will allow rain to penetrate under the deck. This can cause settlement of the underlying ground, which near a pool, is usually uncompacted fill with gravel. I like to see footers set here but many don't take this step. Five years down the road, the concrete deck can and does crack from the lack of support. The decks I've seen sealed were done using a roller near the pool and a sprayer after the first foot to 18" out. Near the pool, the roller is well soaked and the cuts get a little extra to soak down. The sprayer handles everything else. When anti-slip material is added, it's all roller . Sprayers usually clog. If the cuts do go all the way through, then polymetric sand would be a good way to keep the ants from marching but next to nothing to keep the moisture from penetrating. Scott

That would be very difficult and costly to try and seal all those joints and when you get into joints that wide it makes matters worse. I wish I had some good advice to give you, but I am stumped. The water is no doubt flowing down that slope and infiltrating the expansion joints, washing out the soil under the boards. I'm not sure why it was constructed like that, I would think a continuous slab with contraction joints would of been the way to go. I'm pretty sure this is not the direction you are wanting to go, but I'll throw it out there just the same. I have seen people plant grass or some sort of vegetation between the joints, but this is a very distinct look and involves maintenace. Here is a link of something similar. http://www.troublefreepools.com/viewtopic.php?t=826&postdays=0amp;postorder=asc&start=60 I just thought of something else. You could pull out the board, level the soil in the bottom of the joint as best you can, then fill half the depth of the joint with a concrete or mortar mix (making sure to put a piece of fiber board in the side to allow for some expansion), then rip the expansion board to the remaining depth and replace it. This should offer some stabilization to the soil in the joint and keep it from washing out. You could probably fill the entire joint this way, but I think it might look better to keep the expansion boards visible. See the sketch below.

Laura, It sounds like you are dealing with contraction joints, not expansion joints. These joints are just meant to control cracking. The self-leveling sealer should work fine, however, I have to be honest I have limited experience with concrete patios. I design large concrete pavements for runways and airports. The applications are a little different. We seal our contraction joints with self-leveling silicone. My only fear is that your expectations might be a little overreaching. Your concrete is always going expand and contract, it's the nature of the beast. The sealer is really meant to eliminate water infiltration, not to provide a completely smooth surface. The troweled joints that you have may be very shallow as well, which might lend to the potential for the sealant to be pulled out due to the lack of vertical surfaces to adhere to. You might want to check with someone who pours concrete patio's or driveways and get their feedback. I don't think it could hurt to try it on a small area though to see if it meets your expectations. Let me know if I can be of any more assistance. Riles

We have a large front veranda that is over a storage/tornado room in the basement garage. The veranda floor/room ceiling was built using steel beams, then corrugated metal with rebar before pouring the concrete. The basement/lower level walls are poured concrete, so there is no wood touching the concrete pads.