Stamped concrete vs Kool Deck

[jdoom]

I am building a pool deck with an unobstructed view in the hot south Texas sun and am struggling with what is the best product for my application. When I say hot, I meant HOT. We had a wood deck with semi-transparent stain and the wood got too hot to walk on with bare feet. I then painted it with Deck-Kote (plasticizer) which drastically cooled the deck. But the deck is gone and we are installing a pool with a concrete deck.

My struggle is that I am not sure what would be a better solution: a lightly colored stamped concrete or a Mortex Kool Deck (not a knock off).

My concerns with concrete are that it will get too hot, you have to seal it every year, and that I hear the pigment fades
My concerns with Kool Deck are that it chips and cracks.

Your input is of great value to me. Thank you in advance.

 

[jblizzle]

Welcome to TFP!!!

The stamped concrete will be hot ... the Kool Deck will be a little less hot.

 

[pushin glass]

If you use regular concrete it will not be that hot at all as the color is very light. It sounds like you are wanting to tint it a darker color. That will likely get hot. I have heard that Kool Deck doesn't last that long in full sun but do not have first hand experience.

 

[jblizzle]

I think the seal put on the colored concrete makes it hotter also from what I have felt.

 

[proavia]

I have acrylic deck. It looks like KoolDeck, but is a sprayed on lattice with a top coat. The lattice is appied to cured concrete using an applicator gun similar to a drywall texture gun. The sprayed on lattice is then "knocked down" and allowed to dry. The top coat (Xcel deck coating in my instance) is then applied over it. Mine is almost 19 years old and needs a new top coat - no peeling, but a few areas where water has pooled on top are looking a bit worn.

It is a few degrees hotter than KoolDeck - and in the Arizona summer heat, everything is hot.

Acrylic deck can also be made to look like flagstone, brick, etc. Google "acrylic pool deck" and look at the images for ideas. Of course, these would probavly be hotter (and more expensive) than the standard lattice KoolDeck look.

 

[angela123go]

We have kooldeck around our pool and stamped concrete everywhere else. You definitely want the kooldeck. It’s so awesome. I’ll be running for my toes life to make it to the kooldeck. It’s so cool. Really amazing. It can be 110 outside here in Oklahoma and I can walk around barefoot all day in the kooldeck.

 

[tstex]

If you are going to be in a pool/deck in S Tx. which I personally know is very hot, you might want to reconsider your thinking a bit.

Since the sun is brutal in that part of texas, any "stationary/set" type product you apply is going to crack and have severe wear and tear. It's more expensive, but to keep the whole thing from shifting, cracking and breaking, install a paver stone on top of 10" if compacted aggregate, sand.portland cement, then stone. This will definitely not get hot, will not shift and crack, and if you ever had to access something below, you take out the pavers you need, then reinstall. a lot better then cutting/jack hammering concrete, then patching it and you see the patch forever...

Here's about 1400 sqft of travertine...as always, you have to pay more for what you really want. if you do go w concrete/et el, MAKE SURE they put in A LOT of expansion joints..

 

[rphpool]

I also have travertine and it does not get hot like tstex said!!