YES! Those are two VERY different questions. Notice the emphasis on certain words.

I got asked this question recently, CAN I ……
The answer is, SURE! Ya, Go Ahead and try it.
Let your nosey neighbor be the first to test it out and see if anything unexpected happens.

I’m sorry, my cynicism comes through sometimes. When I see some of the things that I have seen, I start doubting people’s communication skills.

WHY DOUBT COMMUNICATION SKILLS?

It had to all start with “Ya, I can do that” or “Yes ma’am, I have built a hundred of those”.
The person receiving those comments did not understand what the person giving those comments really meant.
From the local handyman: “Ya, I can do that” really means… I saw something like that 14 years ago, but I don’t remember how they……
Or from the overly confident DIY’er. They just saw a TV star building a huge deck in an hour. Now they can too. “Hey, can you rewind to the part……”

IF YOU ONLY REMEMBER ONE THING FROM THIS INFORMATION, REMEMBER THIS PART.

Poor workmanship and design don’t show up right away. It might take a month or a year or more to be able to see the problems. It usually shows up when it’s too late to do anything about it.

PREMATURE SAGGING OF THE IN-POOL DECK:

This is not about old folks or skin problems, etc. This is a common problem for inadequately built decks. It happens when either or both the structure or the deck planks are not strong enough to support their own weight. It does NOT happen right away but happens over time. It will not show up immediately. The deck or
structure looks great upon completion but does not stay that way. It SAGS.

Around 2008, The Trex company hired our little company to do some warranty work.  We went all over the valley and worked on all kinds of different decks, repairing and replacing decks.  Very few of the dozens of decks that we worked on were built in a way that held up.  I am purty shuare that most of those decks looked good enough for the homeowner to write the final check that paid for that work.  The structures on almost all of these were in terrible condition because of inadequate designs.  We had to rebuild most of those decks because they were not built correctly in the first place.  There was a lot of sagging going on that wasn’t from one producer.  It was everywhere.

Occasionally we get calls to look at something built by others who did not know what they were doing.  Every carpenter claims to have built a deck before and even a deck over a pool.  Inexperienced deck builders create havoc for unsuspecting homeowners whether it be over a pool or not.  They all claim to know exactly what needs to be done.  Its hard to imagine how all those expert deck builders could screw something up so badly. It’s awful to think about.  Now the homeowner has to rip out the travesty and rebuild a deck or put in a good In-Pool Deck.  I have seen this too many times.

WHAT WE DO IS ODD. 

People don’t think of building inside of something that is great for something else. 

It messes up the thing that it was good for. 

It’s just not done… until recently. 

When we started building In-Pool Decks we were very conservative in our designs because many of these pools are deep enough and a fall to the bottom could be deadly.   I hate to say it, but we copied another design for a few years that had been tested and worked but it was ugly and inefficient to build.  As we built more of the In-Pool Decks, we morphed to a much better design which has been verified and stamped by a local engineer.  We do not stray from an engineered design because I know that materials weaken over time.  A floor structure that is undersized will start out straight and flat, long enough for the homeowner to write the final check.  Inadequate designs will at least sag or worse completely fail.

I have had the opportunity to talk to several licensed contractors over the past few years about possibly representing us in other parts of the country.  None of the people I have spoken to over the years have ever seen a design like ours, nor could they imagine it until they saw what we do.  All of them were licensed experienced carpenters.  I’m a little surprised at this but it keeps happening. 

Can a licensed contractor build what we build?  There are a few good reasons why even a licensed contractor probably won’t be able to build an In-Pool Deck as good as the one we build.

We are building inside of a swimming pool.

NOTHING is specifically designed to build a structure inside of a swimming pool.  We have looked for years, but to this point, there has been no reason to build inside of a swimming pool.  We have solved all of those problems and now we are in the “improvement phase” of those solutions.  Until you build something for a decade, you cannot make this claim.

1. Last count, we had 5 patents full of solutions and are working on the 6^th. There is no better builder of In-Pool Decks, PERIOD.
2. The cost of entry into this business is high because of the engineering and problem-solving solutions that are needed.  All of the costs to get into this business have gone up dramatically over the past few years.  It makes development and testing much more expensive.
3. We have found that we must manufacture items specifically designed for this type of structure that are not available anywhere else.  Regulations and restrictions by manufacturers have changed in the recent past making previous components unusable.
4. There are many pitfalls to building on the inside of a swimming pool that won’t be discovered until later after it’s too late.
5. Liability has become a higher priority than it was a few years ago.  Where a contractor would venture out into something new and take a chance, it seems like contractors and manufacturers have become much more liability conscious.

Be very careful about picking someone to do the work for you who has a good salesman.  I have seen too many decks that are a total waste of the customer’s money.  Don’t mention that they can be a good place to get injured. We have had to tear out and discard the old work and start over again, at a higher price than the first time.

There are lots of parts of the construction on an “In Pool Deck” that are not obvious to even a licensed trained builder.
A high price is not a guarantee that work is done right. Hopefully, you find someone that isn’t making a huge profit at your expense. There’s a lot that goes on below deck.

I’m afraid to open this subject up to other people who might attempt to build an In-Pool Deck.  I know that there are a lot of people who need this and I’m extremely frustrated that we can’t be there for them yet.  I have seen too many self-made disasters in the past and want to help avoid those problems.
I may be an odd duck, but we never build something that we don’t first try out before it goes to the market.  I had my own pool several years ago and had the opportunity to test designs and structures before we released them.  Some of those ideas failed and they never made it to the production stage.  We are very conservative when it comes to my customers’ safety as I believe all builders should be.

We are committed to continuing improvement and development which can be difficult and is more expensive as time goes on. Since we have a foundation to build on, it is easier for us than others who have no foundation.

Every change we make is approved by a licensed engineer so that we get an expert set of eyes to critically assess the plan.
Because of the uniqueness of this business, we have patented many aspects of it and continue to develop better systems that are stronger, more efficient, and better.

This continues today and forever.

If you are interested in retiring YOUR pool, give us a call.  We would be happy to answer any questions you may have to make sure the job is done properly by professionals. 

Call 602-331-1835 today!