Our stock tank pool {part two}

The loooonnnnggggg awaited part two of our stock tank pool is about to happen. I’ve seriously been meaning to write this, well, for at least a year, oops. Better late than never right? Ok, let’s do this! Deck time!

When my husband and I decided to put a stock tank pool in our backyard, I immediately knew I wanted a deck around it because I’m not one to always want to be in water. I do, however, like putting my feet in it, so a deck was mostly for me haha. I just pictured the kids playing in the pool and me sitting on the edge. So what did I do, I started sketching the vision I had for the space. I wanted this deck to have a modern aesthetic to fit with our overall style. I also knew that having a deck around the pool would give it a grounding presence especially since our pool was just sitting on our concrete.

From there I started calculating the size we wanted the deck to be. This will be different for everyone based on your allotted space; we didn’t have much room, so we worked with what we had. We had never done this before, so like many of our projects, we adapt as we go…as you can see from my gibberish calculations below.

For the actual deck base structure we used 4×4’s that we had left over from a previous project.

We cut the 4x4s to a height that once the 2x4s and 1x3s are layered on top of them, they’ll equal the finished height we wanted the deck to be at. Be sure to watch my saved Instagram “backyard” highlights where I show this more in depth. Using long wood screws we attached the two verticals to a smaller horizontal piece creating these “U” shapes. In the corner surrounding the pump, we did some stand alone pieces. (They’ll later be attached to the “U” shapes with 2x4s.)

I’ll let those images above speak for themselves on how we placed the 2x4s. At this point the structure was super sturdy, pretty sure I have a boomerang video of me standing on it.

Next we built the steps using more of our 4x4s and then 3/4″ plywood.

You want to build the steps before placing any of your 1×3 planks because the length of your planks need to take into account the thickness of the plywood and then the thickness of the vertical 1×3 facings of the steps, as you can see below…

We were sure to hold up that little scrap 1×3 to the front of the step every time to measure deck plank length because we knew there may have been a bit of a discrepancy due to us not being pro’s and the structure not being perfectly square. So, yes, some of the deck planks were cut at slightly different lengths, but visually it all looks square.

To cut the circle, we came up with the technique of, we’d put a plank down (not screwed in), I would use a pencil to draw on the under side of the plank the curve, then Geoff would use his jigsaw to cut along that pencil line. Then we’d place that plank down and screw it into the structure. This worked great. Geoff went over the entire curve with the palm sander after all pieces were placed, just to eliminate any rough spots.

Next step was to start wrapping the steps. This is just more measuring, cutting and attaching. Once the steps were complete, all that was left was to stain it. This part made me a bit nervous, stain colors are hard. We decided to leave the right side of the steps just the plywood and painted it black to blend in with the stock tank.

I went with this stain after having a major fail with my first one that was way too orange. Definitely always test your stain on a scrap piece first so you are confident in the color you have chosen.

And then the best part….fill that pool up and enjoy!!!

The end!