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Flagstone Coping

14 years ago

We are having coping installed on our free form pool (norcal) we are doing OK brown, stone looks good, PB put a couple pieces on the edge of the pool so we could see it.

However, it looks like it's 1.5" stone, the other piece was closer to 2". At one point in the "justification of cost" he mentioned that for coping you can't use 1" and since we are doing the patio in the same stone, it would double the material costs vs. doing 1" patio select flag.

Should flag coping be a certain thickness? The guy spent a long time picking through the pallats to find the "smoothest" pieces for the coping (not sure that matters).

Also, i know the pool deck should be pitched away from the pool, but that means towards the house...should he be pitching the patio away from the house and the pool towards the house and have some kind of V groove in the patio pitch??

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Comments (3)

phoenixlandscaper
14 years ago
Flagstone pool coping should be a minimum of 1.5", but the larger pieces are probably better in the long term (2" & up). They are a little more expensive to install, but since flagstone is sold by the ton, not much more expensive for your installer. My company does charge more for flagstone that is 3", but we consider anything from 1.5" to 2" as standard pool coping.

You are correct, 1" would not be advised. Too thin, and will break easily.

Also, drainage is CRITICAL around pools and houses. You are absolutely correct that you should drain away from both your pool and your house. In Phoenix, we deal with drainage issues all the time, and some landscaping and pool projects actually have the pool within feet of the house. In these situations, we use a DECO DRAIN, or CHANNEL DRAIN. It's not a V-groove as you describe, but similar. It's usually a plastic drain, 2" wide, and allows water to actually drop into the patio, and run out at least 1 side.

My company website probably has some examples of this DECO drain - not sure how to link to a picture, but you can probably view some of my Arizona Backyard patio portfolio pics.

If you need any more help, i can figure out a way to upload a picture of this CHANNEL DRAIN.... Hope this helps!
casman
Original Author
14 years ago
thanks much!! so basically have him do a visible drain and not try and pitch away to a hidden drain (he kept harping on how he hates visible drains) -- while I hate standing water or muck in the pool!

thanks again
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casman
Original Author
14 years ago
update -- pb came over yesterday after the boys had laid out the coping, he walked around and kicked pieces off that he deemed too thin or not right.

He asked me if i minded seeing a channel drain, I said no so he said he would do a small deco drain near the bar, and a channel drain as well, so crisis averted!will post up some pics once i get home.

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