Pool Next to Deck

by Mike Raine
(Wichita, KS)

I bought an above ground pool complete with a wooden deck. My question is this:
Should I put the deck up first, or the pool? One other thing that I did not mention - I have an existing deck that I want to tie the new deck into. I understand that the pool will swell after water is added. I would really rather put the deck up first. Can I compensate for the amount of swelling that the pool will do? If I do put the pool up first, I will have to be pretty precise with it in order to fit the new deck in between it and the old deck. Any insight you can offer would be appreciated. Thank you.
Mike



Hi Mike. It is just about impossible to set up a pool next to a deck. The pool should always go up first. You can try to guess the proper location as best possible, but some modification to the deck might be necessary.

Wood is much easier to cut and modify than setting up an above ground pool up against a pre-existing deck.

The two big problems you would have are not being able to walk around the pool as you install it. This is very important. The second problem would be installing the liner. Most liner installations require draping the liner over the pool frame and doing the majority of the installation from outside the pool. This becomes impossible if the pool is next to a deck.

If the pool is a soft side, it might be possible to set it up and then slide it up next to the deck. The only problem would be keeping the base fairly smooth as you did it. Guessing for the correct amount of swell should be easy enough just by pushing out on the sides of the pool.