The contractor who looked at pool/lanai deck today said that pavers were best long term solution-- said that taking the current surface off wasn't really necessary that they would lay a sand base and could level that to give even patio surface even if current surface is not level... Said that if you took it off you didn't know condition of the original surface under it Price including labor, new coping, taking out the bottom aluminum strip of screen cage to lay pavers and then replacing it and screen, and all pavers was just over 6K-- Also said pool itself looked in good shape--didn't really need resurfacing (which it doesn't) so didn't push for that... which was positive indicator to me that maybe he isn't out to gouge us... He has good recommendations on Angie's List and I can ask for other recommendations if we want them Also have couple of other people going to look at the patio Any suggestions for what type of pavers work best for pool decking... Most of the pavers I have seen for patios have been pretty rough and don't think they would be very comfortable for walking on in bare feet...but know we don't want something slick and dangerous... can they be treated with something to "cool" them down so they don't retain heat? These are questions I will email back to the contractor-- didn't think he would call back so quickly with his price so wasn't quite prepared... anyone have umbrella holes in a paver deck? are they worth the extra cost? there is no spa in this pool--and no sun/tanning ledge--so don't know if they would be that useful... appreciate info and if there are good pool designs posted here using pavers would appreciate knowing about them so can get some pictures...

Hi Racket - I think it's unfortunate because having a SWG and swimming in a salt pool are wonderful! I think it's a great benefit to have chlorine being generated steadily and being able to maintain a steady chlorine level. Moreoever, at least for me, I have never had any combined chlorine which means I have never needed to shock. On the other hand, I do hate dealing with acid and having to dump some into my water over 5-6 days or so. I think it's unfortunate that some pool builders are starting to move away from SWG because it keeps potential pool owners from being able to experience this way of chlorinating a pool. With all due respect, I think it's much too simplistic to say that because one notices a certain type of corrosion or damage only on salt pools that the salt itself is to blame. How can one say that it is NOT because the pool owner was running their pump too long, or setting their chlorinator at too high a level which caused their chlorine level to rise much too high becoming a much more active corrosive agent? (I personally know of people that run their pumps 24 hours a day, for example.) Here's a personal story. I have my SWG set at 35% which allows me to keep my chlorine level at 5-6ppm. I was away on a trip for about a week. When I came back, I was shocked to find out when I checked my water that my chlorine level was up to 11ppm! Well, up until a couple weeks ago, we had about 3 straight weeks of rainy weather here in the Dallas-area. I concluded that it was the lack of sun exposure that caused my chlorine to creep up that much (not as much chlorine burn off from the sun.) I happen to check my water very regularly. Can you imagine the typical pool owner that doesn't, or just takes their water to Leslie's once a month? Or how about pool owners that allow their stabilizer levels to get so low that they aren't able to hold a good chlorine residual and they think the solution is to increase their chlorinator setting to compensate, not realizing that the chlorine they're generating has now become 30x more corrosive because of the low CYA level? I have read stories of salt pools being blamed for corrosion on structures made out of 316L Marine-grade stainless steel. If these stories are true, then salt pools with salt content at 3000ppm is somehow more corrosive than ocean water with salt content 35000ppm? Perhaps. But chlorine at high levels is easily corrosive enough to eat through 316L stainless steel. I'm not ready to blame salt quite yet. Mind you, I'm watching my pool very closely to see if I start to see any ill-effects, but so far, nothing yet. Having said all of this, I do think that SWG manufacturers need to be more upfront with the true care and maintenance aspects of owning a salt pool. It isn't as "care and maintenance free" as they would like the consumers to think!

We've had our pool for 8 years and used pavers. A big reason for our choice was drainage. They did a great job and we've had no settling issues, there was even a leak that required repairs under part of the decking so that turned out to be a good choice. We did experience some mold in the wetter sections and weeds growing between pavers after a while. We recently hired a highly rated, professional paver company to redo the sand between the pavers which requires a good powerwash cleaning, replacement of the joint sand, machine-tamping it all, and a sealant. Unfortunately after a couple strong rains the sand was partially washed out in some areas. They came back and redid the entire job again only to have the issue repeat itself and now we're discussing next moves.

I would remove any furniture that is between the house and pool. This just accentuates that the space is small. I would add 5 matching pots with plants in either black or turquoise in between each of the windows/doors. This will cause your eye to follow them around. Also add rugs outside the doors. For around the pool deck maybe add a 12" bed of tumbled rocks. Can you post a photo standing at the back door looking out? You want to draw your eye out so you might need to add something with height on the back side but I can't tell from these angles. If I was dreaming I'd build a bridge across part of the pool. I'll see if I can find some photos.