A fiberglass shell MUST have at least a two foot and preferably a 3 foot concrete collar. This provides added weight and rigidity, especially if the pool needs to be emptied for service needs. Concrete crack formation can be minimized by using certain techniques that may add to the up front cost. Some masons cut these corners to come in on a job at a lower cost. Cut corners may include improper soil prep, fewer expansion joints, cheap mix, thin spots, and a litany of other potential variables. While it's true that even with the extra steps taken, concrete may still form a crack, it creates a surface that will last decades and will be unaffected by a salt cell's use. A swimming pool salt water chlorine generator won't create cracks or make them worse. Someone is swinging the FUD bat. FWIW, pavers are usually made of concrete, just in smaller pieces. Some regions actually pour a concrete bed first. Sea water is a different animal than water in a pool. It's a different salt and in a different concentration plus there are a lot of other factors that are different. What the ocean does to concrete and steel vs. what pool water does is comparing apple to oranges. Scott

They did use a 4 inch travertine as the waterline. I almost did too, because when we ripped out our coping we used a 1 1/4" thick bullnose travertine. My previous coping was that hiddious white shiney cap "bathroom" tile....at least that is what it reminded me of:) My tile line now had to be 8 inches instead of the standard 6. We went with a 6 inch tile and ran it on the diagonal...its beautiful. Our pool guy had suggested doing the 2 rows of 4 inch travertine to get the 8 inches we needed to cover. I read a lot on this forum that you had to be careful with travertine inside the pool because of the chemicals....especially if you have a salt system. We dont have the salt system and I didnt want to rule out ever getting it. Another neighbor did the travertine, one row and the waterline is just at the bottom of the row. Hers has been in for a few years and she tells me she has had NO problems with it, never brushes it, etc. It looks beautiful too. Personally, I was a little nervous about putting a porous stone inside the pool and decided to do tile. Several tile places were leary of it when I would mention what I wanted to do.

golfgeek, why do you say that Kool Deck is not an option for cured concrete? I think there are other products Sun Deck that are very similair to Kool Deck (can't tell them apart after installation)that can be used on cured concrete. I have a 10 yr old patio and sidewalk that joins my newly installed pool deck. I have a quote to install SunDeck over both the old and the new. I think they do prep the old concrete first somehow prior to application as it is more $/sqft than newly installed concrete. Am I missing something here that I should now about?

We had a similar problem when building our pool and installing new paver deck -- which is close to but not attached to existing concrete. My husband loves the look of your Deco Drain, but I didn't think it would work with our house and style. Fortunately we had already installed underground pvc pipes/drain openings to take the water away from the house (in the space between the pool and existing house concrete). My pool builder recommended step pavers with smooth pebble rock. This solution works very well; the grade is still towards the house but the new paver deck just drain to the hidden drains in the pebble rock. So you can keep the existing grade as long as you provide some kind of way for the water to escape so it never reaches your house. It really helps to go out in the rain and see what is going on with drainage!