2014-05-30 Deck Day-5 -- Pool Steps & Upper Deck

Finally, we got the pool-level platform installed.  I called The Pool Store guys back out to install the pool steps.


After lowering the 300 lb. steps into the water, they secured the steps to the platform with stainless steel screws.


The steps came with the pool as a package.  The Pool Store was only waiting on me to complete the platform seen below.


When I asked, "How sturdy are they", one of the men bounced on them several times before they
took them off the truck and said, "I weigh 300 lbs.  See!  If they'll hold me, they'll hold anything!"


By the time they came to install the steps, we had already put down a lot of decking.  The deck was beginning to look pretty good.


Here's a better look at the platform.  Dimensions of the deck 20 ft. by 16 ft., lower level, 20 ft. by 8 ft., upper
level.  The platform which is at pool level is  a quadrangle about 18 inches deep on one side and 4 ft. on the
other with a 6 ft. arc surrounding the pool.


Here the decking is almost completed.  We used 2" X 6" instead of 5/4 (called "five quarter") board decking to give us a sturdier deck.


As promised on a previous page, here's a photo of the back stairs which are one step higher than the front.


By extending the decking over the last joist to where it almost touched the house it looks like the deck
is attached to the house.  It acutally is not.  I did not attach it because attached decks attract termites
and rot.  Also, we hope some day to replace this old siding with vinyl.


Though it looks like the decking is finished from the above photo, you can tell from this one it is far from finished.
Notice how we curved the joists around the pool.  I got that smart idea from a neighbor.  Thanks, neighbor!


From the above photo and this one below, you can see how the deck surrounds part of the pool.


Here's what it looked like from the other side.  Notice the "bottom step" up to the pool platform is actually the upper deck level.


We completed the rest of the decking just in time for Cousin Camp.  The kids enjoyed swimming.  We
have 30 grandchildren, 4 great-grandchildren, and soon to have more.  Not all participate in Cousin Camp
but there are so many they can't all swim in one pool.  This year the smaller ones swam in my
son-in-law's pool while Linda and I invited the big kids to come swim at the "construction site."



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