Pool Deck Pavers

Surface temperature is the thing people underestimate. Dense dark pavers store heat and become unusable barefoot by midday. Travertine stays noticeably cooler than concrete, which is why it ends up around so many South Florida pools.

Chlorine and salt systems both attack the joints over time. Polymeric sand holds up far better than plain sand, and it stops the joints washing out every time the deck gets hosed down.

On jobs closer to the Intracoastal, salt air is a real factor in how the surface weathers. It changes what we recommend sealing with, and how often.

A pool deck also has to drain away from the shell. Water sitting at the coping is what eventually undermines it, and it is the most common thing we find wrong on decks we are asked to replace.

Pool pavers have one requirement the rest of a hardscape does not: they get walked on barefoot in August. That rules out dense dark units before anything else is discussed. Travertine is the usual answer here because it stays measurably cooler than concrete, and a light concrete paver is the next best thing if the budget will not stretch. Whatever goes down, the joints want polymeric sand rather than plain, because chlorine and a salt system both work at them every time the deck gets hosed.