I have a client who wants me to rebuild the rather large deck between the back patio and the swimming pool. Before I order a truck load of ipe decking, I am wondering if anyone has installed this decking next to a pool, and has seen what effect chlorinated pool water has on the ipe. This deck would be finished to bring out the colour, and the concern is that over time the water dripping would create splotches of discolouration. Any experience with this scenario?
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You're wise to be concerned about this. I've read about problems with ipe near pools... mostly splintering. I've read and heard MANY times about problems with finish sticking to ipe.
Ipe finishing is a challenge.Ii use TWP products, needs to be done every year or so to look nice, no splinter concern but a bleach out concern w/ pool chemicals, make sure you warn in writing not responsible for chemicals affectimg finish
thinkin aloud & my knee jerk would be
I have seen a number ( small ) of pools w/ wood surrounds and they can look smashing but man wet wood you talking slip & slide no?
I installed ipe right to the rim of my pool 2yrs ago and so far
no issues, but, I left it natural. No splintering and it has
taken on what I think is a beautiful silver patina. Really worth
the investment.
I like the look of naturally weathered exterior wood, and I imagine that ipe resembles teak in it's natural state. This client however is EXTREMELY concerned with keeping the beautiful rich colour of finished ipe...naturally an ongoing process! There is about 3 feet of aggregate flatwork between the pool and the deck which might help. I would like to be as informed as possible at the next meeting.
Thenks!
I don't understand why people think pool chemicals are so destructive at the concentrations they should exist in the pool. In the bottle they are pretty nasty stuff but your pool should test about the same as most municipal water systems deliver. I know, when I lived there, the water in the Washington DC area tested right in the middle of the scale on a 2 bottle pool water tester. Do you water the grass with a hose using "city" water? Then the pool should be the same thing.
in this day and age, if some dope spills full strength pool chemicals and damages the finish, they WILL call you, sad, but true
I can't think of much of anything that will stand up to 20% hypochlorite or 31% hydrochloric acid. (what they sell at the pool store)
Either of those will screw up your pool coping or a concrete deck if you let them sit there.
down here in Texas, the city water has an unusually high salinity; it has a fatal effect on the oak trees which are surrounded by sprinkler systems. It occurs to me that high salinity and moderate chlorine levels might eventually bleach out places on the deck or cause the finish to "come off" where people come out of the pool and sit down to dry off. Just thinking of "worst case scenarios".
Thanks!
Our water is about 800 PPM salt and I have not heard of it hurting the live oaks. For that matter they grow right down to the water line in our brackish river (up to about 18,000 PPM in the dry season) What kind of "oak" are you talking about?
I imagine upland yankee trees like pin oak and white oak may not be all that salt tolerant.
mostly post oaks and live oaks. They do beautifully when left alone. I am surrounded by 150 year old post oaks....I prefer to respect their habitat than have green grass in a drought ridden central Texas area.
I don't know anything about post oaks but the live oaks should be fairly salt tolerant if they are the same ones we have here.
I do agree squirting your drinking water on the grass is silly.
Lawns are probably the worst waste of resources we have in the US.