Pool coping options and what lasts in Ohio

Coping caps the top edge of the pool where the shell or wall meets the deck. It gives swimmers something to hold, it covers the structure underneath, it sheds splash water away from the pool edge, and on many pools it hides the track for an automatic cover. It is also the line your eye follows around the pool, so it does a lot of the visual work.

Because it sits right at the water, coping stays wet more than any other surface on the deck. In Ohio that means it is the first place freeze-thaw damage, loose pieces and salt damage show up. Choosing coping here is mostly about choosing something that can take that.

The pool type matters too. A fiberglass shell has its own finished top edge that the coping sits over, which is why cantilevered concrete and paver coping are so common on fiberglass. An ICF concrete pool has a solid concrete top to its walls, so it can carry heavier stone coping in almost any shape. Vinyl liner pools often use aluminum coping that also holds the liner or cover track.

Color is worth a thought as well. Dark stone and dark concrete get noticeably hotter under bare feet on a sunny July afternoon than light, textured surfaces, and the coping is where people sit with their legs in the water.

Brick and precast concrete coping stones are also out there. They follow the same rules as pavers and stone: judge them by how much water they absorb and how well they are set.

It is the most common choice on fiberglass pools, and it can be a very good one. River Pools describes it as one continuous pour made by forming concrete around the pool edge, which blends straight into the deck with no separate pieces to come loose. It is also the least expensive option by a wide margin: River Pools puts it at roughly $12 to $25 or more per linear foot, against $40 to $60 or more for paver coping.

The weakness is the other side of the same coin. Because coping and deck are one piece, River Pools notes that if the deck cracks, the crack may run through the coping. In a climate with this many freeze-thaw cycles, that makes the concrete itself and the base under the deck matter even more.

The National Ready Mixed Concrete Association says concrete exposed to freezing and thawing must be air-entrained, calls for 6 to 7 percent air in severe exposures, and recommends a breathable silane or siloxane sealer to keep water and salt out. Coping at a pool edge is about as wet as concrete gets, so those are not optional details here.

Paver coping uses concrete units made with a rounded bullnose edge, usually from the same manufacturers that make patio pavers. You get a uniform, factory-made finish, and many owners match the coping to a paver patio or use it as a contrasting border around stamped or broom-finished concrete.

The practical advantage in Ohio is repair. River Pools points out that individual pieces can be replaced if needed. If one piece cracks or loosens after a hard winter, you fix that piece instead of cutting out a section of deck. The trade-off is more joints, which need a little more maintenance, and a higher price per foot.

Ask for pavers made to ASTM C936, the U.S. paver standard, which includes freeze-thaw durability requirements. It is the same thing you would ask for in a paver patio.

Natural stone ranges from very dense to quite porous, and porosity is what freeze-thaw punishes. Water soaks in, freezes, expands and pops the surface. So the question is less which stone looks best and more which stone absorbs the least water.

Ohio sandstone. Northeast Ohio has its own well-known coping stone. Cleveland Quarries quarries Berea Sandstone at its Amherst quarries in Lorain County and describes it as durable and strong for landscape and architectural work, and it is sold as pool coping. A local stone has the advantage of a long track record in this climate.

Travertine. It is popular in warm states for staying cool underfoot, and some installations do fine in the north. But ASTM C1527, the standard specification for travertine dimension stone, notes that some travertines may not be suitable for exterior use in areas subject to frequent freeze-thaw cycles. If you love the look, ask for the specific product's absorption data and any freeze-thaw testing before committing.

Bluestone, limestone and granite. All are used as coping. Performance depends on the specific quarry and finish, so the same advice applies: dense stone, sealed, set on a sound base.

If an automatic safety cover is on your list, and for heat retention and safety in Ohio it often is, decide before the coping is chosen. The cover runs in tracks along the sides of the pool, and the track has to go somewhere.

Latham describes three setups. Under-track systems are embedded in the pool wall or hidden on the underside of a rectangular pool's coping, for the most integrated look. Recessed top-track systems are installed flush with the deck during construction. Standard top-track systems mount on the existing deck and suit freeform or existing pools. Latham also makes aluminum coping that works with its covers, in P-shaped, inclined and rounded profiles for vinyl liner pools, with the rounded profile available for fiberglass. The cover box at one end gets a lid, and Latham offers stone or concrete lids that match the deck.

In plain terms: an under-track cover shapes the coping design, and it is made for rectangular pools. That is a conversation for the design stage, not after the concrete is poured.

• No room to move. The coping, the deck and the pool all move a little with temperature and moisture. The NRMCA recommends isolation joints wherever a slab meets another part of the structure. At the pool, that means a flexible, sealed joint between the coping and the deck. When it is left out or filled with hard mortar, something eventually cracks.
• Water getting underneath. A failed joint sealant lets water into the gap behind the coping, where it freezes and lifts pieces. Checking and resealing that joint is cheap maintenance.
• Salt. The NRMCA says not to use calcium or sodium chloride deicers on concrete in its first year and never to use ammonium sulfate or ammonium nitrate. Keep deicers off coping entirely, and keep salted walks away from the pool edge.
• Chipping ice. Shovels and ice picks chip bullnose edges. Let ice melt on its own.
• A weak base. If the deck settles, the coping goes with it. The compaction and drainage under the deck protect the coping as much as anything on top.

There is no single right answer, but here is how we think about it for Northeast Ohio yards.

• For value and a clean, continuous look, cantilevered concrete poured with a well-built deck is hard to beat, as long as the concrete is air-entrained and sealed.
• For easy repairs and a finished border, paver coping earns its higher price.
• For the most upscale look, natural stone is worth it if you choose a dense stone with a local track record, and Ohio sandstone is the obvious place to start.
• If you want an under-track automatic cover, pick the coping with the cover, not before it.

Coping and extra decking are priced as part of the deck work around the pool. Our fiberglass packages start at $68,400 installed with a 4 ft concrete wrap deck, and upgrades to paver or stone coping are quoted on top. We show the coping in the 3D design next to your deck material and pool color, so you can see the combination before anything is set.