Please note that the price information in this article was based on data from 2019 and may now be outdated.
The concreting of your new pool deck will cost you around $60 per square metre. This is the average price of pouring plain concrete around your pool creating a nice area for placing your sunbeds and preventing the dirt from getting directly into the pool.
Additionally, this is the area where you will be spending most of your time. Generally, people are relaxing by the pool much more than in the pool. Your concrete pool deck is where you will be having drinks with your friends, a nice poolside dinner or just an afternoon reading in the sun, occasionally soaking in the water.
Therefore, your pool deck needs to be just right so you can enjoy your pool together with your family and friends. The price of your pool deck depends on the dimensions, the type of concrete you want to use and the labour price of your concreters.
The average size of pool decks is between 65 m2 and 85 m2, but they can be much larger. It all depends on the size of your pool and the space you want to turn into the deck. Therefore, let’s start with the necessary items and move on to the additional space that you can use.
Image from elitecreteaustralia.com.au
First of all, you need at least a metre of deck around your pool, and this is also a minimum width for your pathways and similar navigating surfaces. This is a bare minimum, but if there is any kind of possibility, don’t stop there. Again, you will be spending the most time around your pool, so make it perfect. Also, there must be at least 75 cm of space between your furniture and the pool edge
For two sunbeds and a small table, you will need at least a concrete slab of 2 m x 2 m. If you want regular chairs and a table, that will probably fit into 1.5 m x 1.5 m. A dining table for four people should at least have 3.5 m x 3.5 m. If you want an outdoor shower, be prepared to pour a concrete slab of at least 1.5 m x 1.5 m.
Let’s make a calculation of the surface you need to pour with concrete. For example, let’s say you have a pool that is 10 m x 3 m. That is 30 m2. This means you need concrete slabs that frame your pool and which are at least one metre wide.
To calculate this concrete frame surface, add one metre to each of the pool sides, and you’ll get 12 m x 5m. That is 60 m2. Now take away the surface of the pool: 60 m2 – 30 m2, and you’ll get 30 m2. That’s the surface of your concrete slab.
If you add an outdoor shower and a small area for two sunbeds, that means adding 6.25 m2 to this surface. As you can see, your concrete pool deck adds up to 70 m2 easily. If you want a dining area or a BBQ, count on having at least 100 m2 of concrete to pour.
An ordinary grey concrete is what you will get for those $60 per square metre. However, there are other types of concrete that can make your pool deck much more decorative and truly interesting.
First of all, you can add some colour to your concrete slab. You can get this done by premixing the colour into the concrete or colouring the already poured concrete.
If you want to add a bit of texture to your pool deck, at least visually, you should opt for stencilling or stamping. Stencilling can be done in many colours. It basically means that your concrete slab will be painted according to the patterns that you choose.
Stamping means that the shapes will be pressed into the concrete slab and leave ‘marks’ in the shape that you want. For example, you don’t have to go through the entire bother of paving your pool patio, you can just get your concreters to pour the concrete slab and then stamp the shape of tiles on them. The difference will be barely visible, and nobody will notice.
Image from elitecreteaustralia.com.au
These options and their prices depend on your concreter, but you can expect anything from $20 to $150 per square metre.
Besides the decorative finishes, you need to make sure that your concrete is waterproof since it is sensitive to water in its standard form. You can make sure your concrete is more resilient to water by applying different types of sealers.
There are penetrating sealers, and there are film sealers. As you can probably guess, the penetrating sealers enter the concrete, and they protect it from water by different reactions with concrete.
On the other hand, film sealers do not enter the structure of the concrete itself but create a cover that prevents the water from touching it in the first place. The sealers are, in most cases, acrylic or epoxy, but there are other variants, as well.
Sometimes, your pool deck will be done by the contractors that do your pool. Other times, you will want to create your pool deck on your own, and that is when you will need a good and reliable concreter to help you with your project.
Other times, your old pool deck may be cracked and damaged, and you want it repaired or entirely resurfaced. That is the perfect time to add some new features to your pool area, like a concrete BBQ area or an outdoor shower. Create different versions of your project and then calculate your budget.
Ask for quotes for different versions of your concrete pool deck from amazing concreters in your area and ask them for their opinion, as well. In that way, you will definitely have the most cost-effective, practical and durable concrete pool deck you can imagine.