Using pressure-treated deck boards was the most cost-effective way at that time. There were some man-made products on the market, but they were very costly. Now you can find a variety of types and colors of decking at your home improvement stores for a decent price. I was not going to use the one-inch thick deck boards. I had the issue of the cantilevered deck by the pool and I needed the extra thickness of a 2 x 6 to get it to work.
I finally came up with a plan to address the decking over the pool rail. I needed a board wide enough to span the 5-inch rail plus have enough width to mount to the joists. I needed to use 2 x 12’s. I would attach a 2 x 4 edge to the side of the board so it could nicely hide the unlevel pool rails. I went to the home improvement store and purchased pressure- treated 2 x 12’s and 2 x4’s, and 10-inch-long 1/2 inch carriage bolts.
Starting from the front of the deck, I screwed down the 2 x 6 decking using galvanized screws. I got the sequence down: measure, cut and screw down, repeat. I made sure to keep a screw thickness gap between each board. I soon was at the edge of the joists near the pool. Now it was time to install the 2 x 12 edging.
The spacing of the deck boards provided me with the 2 x 12’s overhanging the pool’s top rail about 1/2 inch. Close enough. Before I could drill two 1/2-inch holes through the 2 x 6 joists, I had to remove some 2 x 6 decking that I just screwed down. I had no way to access the bottom of the joists. I put the long ½ inch carriage bolts through the 2 x 12 and joists and bolted down the 2 x 12’s. I did not screw the 2 x4 edging to the 2 x 12’s yet. I first wanted to test the sturdiness of the 2 x 12. There was an 1/2-inch gap between the 2 x 12 and the top rail. The 2 x 12 flexed but did not hit the rail as I walked on it. I did not like the amount of movement of the 2 x 12. Keep in mind that the pool wall was 2 inches lower by the deep end. That would also result in about a 2-inch gap on that end of the deck.
To minimize the flexing of the 2 x 12’s, I would use 4-inch square 1/8-inch rubber sheets to sit under the 2 x 12’s where the wall posts of the pool were located. Some areas needed only the rubber; other areas would need a spacer with wood sandwiched with rubber. I could stuff these spacers as I was standing in the pool and pushing up the 2 x 12’s. I did not attach the spacers with any glue or fasteners. The tight fit appeared to hold the spacers in place. I screwed the 2 x 4 edging to the 2 x 12’s.
From the top, the deck looked great. From the pool you could see the underside of the deck, but you had to contort your body to see it. The front part of the deck was done. The kids now had a place where they could jump into the pool. Now there was even a greater chance I would get splashed as I worked on the deck.