Thank you, we have belabored every single detail as, I am sure, everyone does. No, we still have the deck to be laid, sprinkler re-route, cleanup and then plaster last. I am right outside of Dallas, so we are still having spring showers and it might be a bit. Plus, the travertine we ordered for the deck is honed and the decking place only carries tumbled, so I am not sure how we figure that out.

This is definitely possible. We used to do a lot of large commercial pools with a poured concrete floor, and then poured concrete walls. The transition steel was into both the floor and wall base. There was a cold joint all the way around the base of the walls where they met the floor. One big thing going for us was that we have a very non-expansive soil. I suggest South Shore Gunite Pools. I believe they're headquartered in Boston. You won't find a better company in your area to handle a project like this. See ya, Kelly I'd also like to see some pics of what you currently have.

sabbath7, your pool and fireplace is very pretty! Are those real rocks under the hot tub area? I like how the water flows over the stones. Mtn, that second picture you posted is one I've come across before and I believe it was a natural pool, AKA there is no pool cleaning system and the vegetation keeps the water clean. I briefly entertained the idea of doing something that b/c I love that picture, but gave up quickly b/c it seemed like too much hassle, impractical for us, and possibly kind of gross. These are very helpful suggestions, thanks! I have to be careful what I do around the pool's edging as far as vegetation b/c the dogs like to run circles around the pool when they swim in FL and they also like to roll around in grassy/plant areas when they are wet so I need to make sure they don't have garden areas where they can roll around and get filthy as they run around the pool. Garden/greenery has to be incorporated where they cannot get into it to make a mess. Our PB has us sourced to use PA Bluestone irregular slab pool coping and decking so we're good on that! I think he'll be good at picking out the rocks that look right b/c he knows we were very fanatical about the rocks for our water falls (like I said, we insisted on only rock sourced directly from our land for those... unfortunately, we don't have enough big rocks left on our land to do the pool). I will stress no orange-ish rocks and minimal or no rounded stone! I don't like round stones, they don't look as natural/rustic to me. We're trying to get the pool water color to be kind of like my first picture, do you think that was done w/ grey interior? I told PB I wanted water similar to that color, not sure what is planed for that yet. I'm not sure DH will go for rocks with lichen, he tends not to like mossy rocks and rejected the mossy once which were found when we did the water features. Don't know why he doesn't like b/c I think they look natural and add interest, but must compromise :)

The big issue would be "is the concrete done settling" The surface water and water from the roof needs to diverted away from the patio, if not then the problem gets worse. The deterioration is caused by trapped surface water which freezes and expands therefore breaking the brick. I saw just 1 crack in the photos and it looks like a settling crack. The pool and patio looks like it's been there for a good amount of time therefore I would think the compaction was done right and the settling would be done. The space where the plantings are next to the house would be a collection space for surface water to get in under he patio. I believe this is also the space you're planning to install a hard surface which is good. The concrete overlay is a good idea. I suggest looking at an installer with a lot of experience. I'm not familiar with the breathable stone. I will research it if you would share the company and stone name. My thinking is you need a non porous stone that would divert the water.