Designing your own swimming pool is not just about your dream pool nor the fancy water slides and diving boards and all the accessories of a personal splash resort. Before you even begin planning about your own personal backyard getaway more basic factors must be considered. One of these is the pool paving surrounding your pool.
There are plenty of choices for pool paving depending on one’s budget, timeline and most important, aesthetic sensibilities. Here are three most basic and popular pool paving materials and their advantages and disadvantages.
Stone
Stone is a natural material formed over periods of several years. They are nature’s perfect quarried materials that come in countless astonishing shades and colors. Stones’ natural texture, irregular size, shape and color hue add character to your pool. The main advantage of using this material is that stone does not crack easily as concrete does. Its resilience to time and pounding is simply commendable. With proper sealers, stone pavers can be made slip-free, and chlorine or salt-water resistant. Using stone for the entire pool deck will cost you tremendously so consider limiting its usage around the pool coping. A properly installed and sealed natural stone paving will last for a very long time.
Brick
Bricks are man-made materials baked at high temperature, making them resilient to sun’s heat and chlorine. Bricks’ texture is smooth and slip-free which is important, as family safety is perhaps one of the most important concerns concerning the pool and the area surrounding it. Bricks come in fairly regular sizes with different color shades and hues, adding a bit of ‘non-monotonous” character to your pool. Bricks are cost-effective and can give great value to your investment. The bricks’ biggest disadvantage is that they absorb heat and if exposed to full sunlight, might burn the feet of anyone stepping on them.
Concrete
Durable, versatile and affordable, concrete pavers are the most commonly used material for pool decks. Concrete’s texture is smooth, an important factor for pool pavement. Concrete is by far the most budget-friendly material for pool paving. Depending on your budget and timeline, you can make a concrete paver based on practically any design that suits you. The only downside of concrete is that it cracks. Concrete also needs to be sealed every two to three years. A major disadvantage though is that concrete tends to be slippery when wet, depending on the grading and texture and finish. You might want to consider this factor if kids are going to be running around the pool.