Hi Guys,

Firstly just wanted to say how good this forum is, so much awsome info on here it's not funny. Thanks to everyone that contributes, the info on here has helped me out a few times now.

For my next project I am looking at building a deck around one side of our inground pool. I have around 200mm to play with in terms of height from the ground to the top edge of the pool, so that means 200mm from the ground to the top of the deck as I want it to sit flush. I have sussed out a couple of methods for the construction from reading posts in these forums and also went and got a copy of Alan Staines book "Decks & Pergolas".

I will either use a similar method to Raff's Deck he built using cemented stirrups to hold the bearers off the ground or possibly even place the bearers directly onto the ground. I was leaning towards the first option using stirrups primarily because when it rains hard for a prolonged time (not that frequent in Townsville but during the wet season it can happen) the area tends to have shallow water sit there. The issue I guess with this is that if I use the cemented in stirrups the 90 x 90 H4 rated bearers will probably only be 10 mm off the ground if I want the deck to sit no higher than the top of the pool edging. To give myself a little more room I could possibly use 70 x 45 joists in H3 treated pine instead of the 90 x 45 but I am unsure if these are a viable option. Can anyone comment on these two options and let me know what they think?

The other big question I had was can anyone suggest a nice way to finish off the the deck side that is going to sit against the pool? I have attached a pic below that shows the rough shape of the pool edge. I assume that I will run the decking perpendicular to the edge of the pool so that its easier to trim the boards to shape. But I am not sure how I should go about constructing the support structure close to the pool. If I run the decking this way then I guess the bearers will be able to go right up to the egde of the pool and then I could cut the joists so that there are a few smaller ones fitting into the odd shapes of the pool edge to support the decking close to the pool edge. I am concerned about there being some spaces where the decking isnt optimally supported.

Any feedback or suggestions are welcome guys, I'm new at the deck building thing and want to get the details right before I start. Damn odd shaped pools.

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