Most people put good effort into keeping the pool in good shape, but they can forget about the deck — and a pool can only look as good as the deck that surrounds it.
After a few years of neglect, whether it’s concrete, wood or any other type of surface, the deck starts to show its age and the appeal of your beautiful pool, just like the stain of the deck, begins to fade. This gets worse when pool owners fear their only salvation lies in the replacement of the entire pool deck — which anyone knows is not cheap.
Fortunately, In The Swim has several affordable products that can help you rejuvenate and renovate your deck, without the stress of tearing out or busting up the existing one.
All you need to brighten up your pool deck is some good pool deck paint and a few supplies. The process of pool deck painting is not so complicated, it’s easier than painting a pool and maybe even easier than painting a room in your house.
Our pool deck coatings are easy to apply to concrete, stampcrete, Kool Deck and wood decks. It’s versatile!
Pool Deck Painting Preparation:
After the cracks have been repaired, you need to ready the surface for paint. This involves cleaning to remove oils and dirt and acid washing to etch the surface, or make it rougher.
Pool deck crack repair:
First off, nearly all of In The Swim’s pool deck paint and coatings can be used on concrete and wood, but if you have a concrete pool deck, it’s good to start off by locating any cracks or fissures. Hairline cracks don’t pose much of a problem and our pool deck coatings will fill them in fine.
Larger holes or deep fissures in your deck? Fill them with our Epoxy Patch. It’s easy to mix and spread, and is very thick so it has low slump. It can also be used for setting anchor sockets or diving board jigs. Poxy Patch has high tensile strength and sets up quickly so you can be ready quickly for painting.
Delaminated areas of your concrete should be cleaned with a wire brush or pressure washer and then filled with our Cement Patch. Trowel smooth and allow the patch to cure for a few weeks before painting.
Degreasing the pool deck
If you have a pressure washer, this can come in handy during the pool deck prep process. Using a mixture of TSP (Trisodium Phosphate), and warm water, scrub the pool deck with a stiff deck brush to loosen dirt and oil. Because pressure washers and acid won’t remove all of the oils, we need a degreaser like TSP.
Etching the pool deck
After we have degreased the pool deck and hosed it off thoroughly (be careful not to get the TSP in the pool water), we can acid etch the concrete and/or previous deck coatings. Carefully pour a diluted acid mixture onto wet concrete using a flower watering can. Use a soft push broom to move the mixture around. Hose thoroughly off the pool deck. If your deck is wood, you can skip this step, but you may consider sanding the wood with a pole sander or wood floor type rotary sanding machine.
We have Olympic Prep Magic that combines degreasing and descaling in a one-step process to make your supply shopping and pool paint prep a bit less complicated. Prep Magic is a VOC-compliant surface prep product that is low-odor, biodegradable, and versatile enough to be used for filter cleaning as well.
Note: The cleaning process could be harmful to delicate plants and shrubs that are off the deck, so use as little TSP and acid mixture as you can and dilute with lots of water. Acid can be neutralized by using a base (pH increaser), before rinsing. Or you can use Acid Magic, an easy-to-use product that has no fumes and is much safer to work with than muriatic acid.
Pool Deck Painting:
After the deck is clean and dry, paint without too much delay. There’s no need to wait for days, like with epoxy pool paint, because our pool deck paints are a water-based latex.
Primers for pool decks:
Concrete pool decks won’t need to use a primer coat, but two coats of our pool deck paint is recommended. If the pool deck surface is extremely rough and pitted, you may even want three coats, or a thick initial coating.
Wood pool decks should use an oil-based primer to improve the bond between the latex paint and the wood, and deck screws.
Painting your pool deck:
Supplies: Make sure to pick up a paint application kit, which has all the tools necessary for the job. You’ll need a roller frame and an extension pole. Use a low nap roller, 3/8 inch or less. Using a bucket with a paint grate is easier than moving a low paint tray around. Mixing the paint with a drill and a paddle bit is recommended for complete mixing.
Small brushes are useful for cutting in on areas of the deck that come close to poles or adjacent patios. You may want to use painter’s tape to tape up the coping stones around the pool edge, or other items to keep them paint-free.
Now comes the fun part: It’s time to select a pool deck paint. Choose the paint that best complements your pool area. Two coats is the standard treatment, so be sure to add up all of your square footage and order enough paint so that you won’t run out. It’s good to have a little bit leftover, in case you need to touch up an area in the near future.
Paint: The application might not be so fun (stretch out those lower backs), but the amount of money you’re saving could be. Just roll on the paint in smooth, even strokes. Keep an even amount of pressure, so that an even amount of paint is being rolled on.
Seal: To make sure you’re not doing this again in another two years, seal the entire deck after the paint has dried with our pool deck sealer. This step is crucial and the most often overlooked, but it preserves the color of the paint significantly longer. Stains that would normally ruin the appearance of your pool deck wash off easily, and our pool deck sealer protects the bright color of the pool deck against harsh UV rays, heavy traffic and chlorinated pool water.
Now you can sit back and enjoy your rejuvenated pool deck! A pool deck paint project can be done over a weekend, so all things considered, it’s not a bad investment of time and money. You will be amazed at the effect that a refinished pool deck has on your entire pool area.
One more tip: Be sure to wear clean (and old) shoes and lock up the dogs for the day!
How long will arepainted & sealed lanai surface last? How do you tell if it is time to repaint & seal the lanai surface around a pool?
Depends on your weather. Tends to last longer in mild temps without temps over 100 or under 50, and especially without freeze/snow/ice. Something between 3-5 years, although it could last longer. Repaint when it looks bad, or becomes thin and noticably … noticeable.
Hi, I have a 30 year old cool deck around half of our pool. The other half is wood decking. We have stained the wood decking many times and have resurfaced the pool 3 times, however never painted the cool deck. Now we are ready to try and spruce up this deck. Currently we have a color very close to your taupe but in has a barely perceptible glitter to it. Is there a way to have this in the paint?
Hi there, glitter sounds cool, you could mix it in with the paint. Paint stores or home stores sell glitter paint additives, just add to the paint, or for extra special sparkle, mix it into a clear sealer, and topcoat the paint job with a sealer (which will also make the paint last longer, and keep it cleaner).
Hello, I recently had my pool deck replaced with new concrete which was sealed when completed 2 years ago, do I need to etch the sealer before painting or can I paint over sealer?
Hi Joe, yes important to etch again before painting.
Hi, I have a very large concrete deck around my in ground pool that was here when I bought the house. I’ve been told it is ConcreteCool? Its very rough on the feet and porus looking and has I’m guessing, over the years not aged well in appearance. I’m currently having a new pool liner installed and want to give the concrete a face lift as I cannot afford to replace it now or unless I win the lottery! I’d like to keep it bright as the liner is dark and the other deck across from the pool surround concretecool deck is gray. The color now is best described as a dirty white!! Thank you for any suggestions you can give.
Hi Martina, easy to do – your deck is commonly called Kool Deck. We have several deck coatings, on called Cool Deck coating in the most popular buff tan color, and our other concrete paints, in other colors meant to approximate the colors of Kool Deck, by Mortex and Frontier. Just pressure wash the deck, then use some TSP to be sure that all grease/oil is removed. Fix any drainage issues that you may have in deck corners, etc. When dry, just paint on the deck coating with a roller on a pole, and let it dry. Good as new, for just $150-$300, depending on your deck size. https://www.intheswim.com/c/deck-coatings
I’m a bit confused about which paint you are recommending Martina uses. I have a similar situation around my pool and would like to freshen up what appears to be an old kool deck. It has that knocked down concrete look and is very cool to the touch. However, it’s very porous and rough on the feet, and gets extremely black and covered in algae over the summer. I have to pressure wash it twice a year to keep it nice. I am hoping that painting it with a nice water based acrylic stain or paint will help keep it looking nicer for longer. Do you agree and if so, which product would you recommend specifically for this job?
Hi Shireen, recoating it will keep it looking nicer for longer, because it will smooth out some of the small pockets that are trapping moisture and growing mildew. But only some, if you have standing water, or high humidity and lots of shade, it will return. The main issue here is low drainage and low sunshine, and perhaps some dirty water washing onto the deck during heavy rains. Consider improving drainage off of the deck, trimming bushes and trees to increase sunlight, and improving run-off during storms, and then re-coating the deck. It does not matter so much which coating is used, Cool! Deck, or our Patio & Deck Paints.
Hi, I have 24×24 concrete squares for my entire porch/pool deck. The surface of each square is not smooth and there are holes throughout making it look like a natural stone. It’s very uncomfortable to walk on with bare feet. It probably needs to be replaced entirely, but I’m wondering if the paint option will work. I believe there is sand/gravel in between each square. I often get weeds growing in between each square and just started using Roundup to prevent the weeds from continuing to pop up.
Will the paint option work on this type of deck? Will the weeds grow through the paint?
Thanks!
Hi Josh – the paint would be good for the pavers, but not for the gravel. For the weeds, just keep spraying them, even if you painted the gravel, it would not stop the weeds. A larger project could be to remove pavers and gravel and install a weed barrier, then put back the pavers and gravel.
CAn you paint over Cool Deck. And do you have a better sample of colors you can email me
Hi John, we have a product called Cool! that is meant to be used as a coating for Kool Deck. But our regular deck paints can also be used. For our deck paint, the color Buff Tan is the one that matches the most common Kool Deck color.
Hello, i painted my pool deck with “Cool deck” last year and the color is faded and ugly, i want to paint over it a darker color. What kind of paint can i paint over yhe “Cool” coating? I know i will lose some of the cooling capability, but I am willing to sacrifice this for a different color. Thankyou
Hi Ellen, not sure if the Cool Deck coating actually does anything for the temperature or not, but I doubt it. It’s the Kool Deck type of finish that can keep a pool deck at a cooler temperature, with the irregular surface of high and low spots. So, I wouldn’t worry about the that. You can use any one of our pool deck coatingspool deck coatings to go over the Cool Deck coating, we have a few darker colors, like Putty or Granite. Cool Deck is likely closest to our “Sand” color.
I would like to stain/paint over the original common color of concrete around my inground pool area. I may also lime to stamp the concrete color in certain areas around the pool. Would live some pictures of examples of this being done. I also know and would want to seal the paint with the BEST clear cost for chlorine pool water. Can you send me idea’s and picture’s of this already before and after pictures. We are already going to be paining the floor of our deck floor to the same color. A darker color is better than ANY shades if white on wood or whitish coloring on concrete. Looks awful after each year or two from painting the wood deck. We NEVER tackled the concrete. But we did add on a larger porch onto the front of our home and wanted to stamp concrete the surface. We also did the walkway up to the porch area. It came out just GORGEOUS!! I would love the same for the back of the house with the same design. But it’s the chlorine and wet deck I’m concerned about. Don t want anyone falling because of a slippery SURFACE! Any suggestions or help you can offer would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Tara C.
Hi Tara, a spray crete type of coating can be sprayed on prepped or new concrete areas, color and stamped into the shape of stones, bricks, pavers, or just knocked down with a trowel for a ‘kool deck’ finish. They usually are not slippery, but a top coat of fine sand can be broomed across the surface while still moist, then blown off with a leaf blower after a few hours.
Hello. Would this entire process be the same for a pool deck that has been painted in the past? We would like to go with a lighter color this time. Would this cover the existing paint? It was painted when we bought the house, so not sure what process was used initially.
Angel, sure you can paint over old deck paint, you just follow the standard prep procedure – pressure wash it first, then TSP wash the deck, using 1 lb of TSP added to 5 gals of hot water, use a scrub brush to brush the deck all over, the purpose is to remove any dirt, oil and grease that would affect the bond. Allow it to dry fully and then roll-on the new deck paint with rollers, or you could spray it, if you have a paint sprayer.
Hello, the only place my dog will relieve herself is on our concrete pool deck. What is recommended for this? What will keep the urine and feces from staining? Thanks for any information
Hi Tom, you can seal concrete with a clear sealer, that will resist most staining, with regular rain or hosing or bucketing the pool deck off every week or two. You could also maybe try to spray down a dog repellent spray over the concrete? Or perhaps some rigorous training is needed, to show and reward more appropriate places to do his business… Grasping here, not really my specialty! Good Luck Tom 🙂
I want to repaint my existing concrete pool deck. What do i need to buy?
Hi Mike, you’ll need some good pool deck paint, and a few supplies. If you find cracks, clean them out and then patch them up with this simple all-in-one Pool deck repair kit. If you have a pressure washer, this can come in handy during the pool deck prep process. Using a mixture of TSP (Tri Sodium Phosphate), and warm water, scrub the pool deck with a stiff deck brush to loosen dirt and oil. Pressure washers and acid won’t remove all of the oils, we need a degreaser like TSP. We have a Pool Paint Surface Prep Kit that contains TSP and Sulfamic Acid in one bucket to make your supply shopping simpler. Make sure to pick up a paint application kit which has all the tools necessary for the job. You’ll need a roller frame and an extension pole. Use a low nap roller, 3/8″ or less. Using a bucket with a paint grate is easier than moving a low paint tray around. Mixing the paint with a drill and a paddle bit is recommended for complete mixing. Small brushes are useful for cutting in on areas of the deck which come close to poles or adjacent patios. You may want to use painter’s tape to tape up the coping stones around the pool edge, or other items to keep them paint-free.
Can you use this paint over pea gravel deck.
Hi Cindy, no it would not adhere correctly to the resins. You can find some of the epoxy or acrylic sealers used for pebble decks and pebble floors and find one for outdoor use. They may have colors also. That would be the best thing. If your pebble deck is flaking up all over the place with large chunks coming out, they also sell repair kits, or if it’s too far gone, you can scrape up the old pebble surface and then put back something that is more durable for your climate. (pebble decks work best in arid, dry southern areas).
We have a salt water pool and last year we painted the concrete patio around the pool but the splashing water ate the paint. What is the best paint to prevent this from happening again?
Hi, all paint will be susceptible to issues from standing water, and especially salty water. Probably the best thing to do is to seal the deck after painting. There are many clear sealers for outdoor use that can be used (over paint), check with your local paint store, or research online. There are many good products you can use.
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