200m² Decking Replacement & Pool Surround

One of our biggest projects of the year so far - a full replacement of an aging deck wrapped around a swimming pool, with a small gazebo at the back of the plot. The original deck covered close to 200 square metres and had reached the end of its life: soft boards, sunken corners, splitting timber and a frame that was no longer safe to walk on in places. The brief was simple - strip the lot, rebuild it properly, and turn the whole area back into a usable summer space.

The Starting Point

The existing deck had clearly served the family well for years, but Devon weather had taken its toll. Boards had cupped and split, the substructure was rotten in patches, and the ground beneath had settled in different ways across such a large footprint. With the pool sitting in the middle of it, anything we built had to be square, level and properly supported - no shortcuts.

Stage 1: Strip Out

The first job was lifting the lot. We worked methodically, section by section, pulling boards, cutting back the old joists and removing the rotten posts. Anything salvageable was set aside; everything else was sorted for proper disposal. The volume of waste from a deck this size is significant - several full loads.

Once the timber was off, we could properly assess the ground, the levels, and where new posts needed to land. The pool itself stays put, so every measurement keys back to its edge.

Stage 2: New Posts & Framework

With the area cleared, we set in a fresh run of treated timber posts on concrete bases, getting everything plumb and at the right height to meet the pool surround. Spacing was kept tight enough to give the new joists plenty of support - on a deck this size, a sagging board years down the line is the last thing you want.

From there, the framework went up: bearers across the posts, then joists running over the top. The pool sits in the middle, so the whole structure had to wrap around it cleanly while still tying back to the existing house and gazebo levels.

It's the bit nobody sees once the boards go on, but it's where the whole job lives or dies. A flat, square, well-supported frame means the finished deck will stay flat, square and well-supported.

Stage 3: Boards Going Down

With the structure signed off, we started laying the new deck boards. At nearly 200m² this is a long phase - lots of cutting, lots of fixing, lots of measuring twice. Boards are being run consistently across the space so the finished surface reads as one large, deliberate area rather than a patchwork of zones.

That's where the project stands as we write this - the deck is almost finished, with the bulk of the boards down and just the final detailing to complete.

Still To Come

This isn't a "lay the boards and walk away" job. There's still a fair list of work to bring the whole space back to life:

• Gazebo — finishing and tying it back into the new deck cleanly.
• Furniture — setting out and finishing garden furniture for dining and lounging.
• Fittings — pool surround trims, edge details and any built-in bench or storage features.
• Rails & balustrade — new timber rails to the open edges for safety around the raised sections.
• Planting — softening the boundary with shrubs, ornamental grasses and cottage-style border planting to take the hard edge off all that timber.

The planting in particular is what will turn this from a deck-around-a-pool into a proper garden space. We'll be drawing on the kind of cottage-style mix we love using across South Devon - something we've written about in our piece on favourite cottage-style plants and our notes on planting in Devon and the South West.

Why This Build Matters

A deck this big is a real focal point of a garden - it's where the family will spend their summers, eat outside, and have people round. Doing it properly first time means it'll still look good in ten years' time, not in two. We've taken the time to get the structure right, source decent timber, and build it as if it were our own back garden.

We'll update this post when the rails, planting and finishing touches are in. If you've got a tired deck, a pool surround that needs replacing, or a similar large outdoor build you've been putting off, we cover Torbay, the South Hams and across South Devon - get in touch and we'll come and have a look.