Stone pool coping

Our pools

Two pools in our projects, one with travertine coping and a glass fence, one with beige stone paving up to the water. Lots of second homes round the Forêt d'Orient lakes and the Côte des Bar have one. The stone has to get through freezing winters there.

The edge

The coping overhangs the pool by a few centimetres so splashes run back in and swimmers have something to hold. The front is rounded, smooth for bare arms. Pieces are usually 3 to 5 cm thick and 30 to 40 cm deep. For a thicker look we glue a strip under the front, giving 6 to 10 cm.

Corners and curves

A rectangular pool needs four mitred corners. On a curved or kidney pool every piece is cut on a radius from a template taken on site and numbered. Roman steps and benches get their own shaped pieces.

Frost and salt

It freezes most winters here, so the batch needs a passing frost test, see the frost guide. In a salt pool, salt crystallises in porous stone and can make soft limestone and some travertine flake. Dense granite and quartzite are safer there, and any stone gets a sealer made for salt pools.

Dark stone gets hot under bare feet in July. Light travertine, limestone and sandstone stay cooler.

Travertine

People like it round pools because it stays fairly cool underfoot. For coping it's sold filled, with a tumbled or brushed face for grip. Unfilled holds water that freezes, so we don't advise it in the Aube. It's softer than granite and marks more easily.

Laying

On a mortar bed on the pool's ring beam, with a movement joint between coping and terrace. The pool builder and we agree on the height against the water line and skimmers.

See terraces, resin-bound stone and Dekton for an outdoor kitchen. Call +33 7 45 20 76 39.