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Pool Rebuild, Vitex Deck & Porcelain — Meadowbank
A back yard in Meadowbank with several metres of fall, an old Roman-style concrete pool, and two failing decks sitting below pool level. The shell had fifty years left in it, so nothing was demolished. Ten weeks: new foundations throughout, a curved Vitex deck, and the pool retiled.
What was there before
A Roman-style concrete pool with terracotta copings, a deck at each end sitting lower than the pool, and an old paver patio gone slightly uneven. The layout split the surrounds into separate spaces, so reaching the far side meant stepping up and back down again. The deck was very old and failing, and the whole area was run down against a house that had been well looked after.
What the client wanted
To bring the yard up to the standard of the house. The clients were not sure what was possible out there, and the answer turned on one fact: a concrete pool shell lasts well over fifty years. Stripping it back to bare concrete and retiling it brings the pool back to life without demolishing anything, for a fraction of a replacement.
What made it hard
Several metres of fall, and a layout that had never connected. Resolving it took a fair amount of excavation and a retaining wall you cannot see, so the upper landing could be pushed back and the surrounds could finally run all the way around the pool. Then the patio: it could not be fallen away from the pool, which on a tiled surface is how you end up with water standing against the copings.
What we built, and where the time went
New foundations throughout — decks, stairs, sleeper edges and patio — on 125 × 125 H5 piles set in concrete. The slab is 25 MPa, 665 mesh reinforced with D12 borders, broom finished, and carries Italian Travertine porcelain at 1200 × 600. Decking is Vitex 140 × 19 smooth on 190 joists over double 190 bearers, cantilevered with a double boundary joist throughout, fixed with J Vice stainless steel systems from Glass Vice on every structural connection. Garden beds between the house and the patio are held by 200 × 100 premium grade Macrocarpa sleepers, upright on the same 125 × 125 piles with stainless coach screws, so the beds stand on the same foundations as the deck.
The curve is where the time went. The frame carries extra bearers so a joist lands each side of it, and every finishing board was cut on its own, some with three angles in one board. Both flights of stairs are Vitex, about 1.2 m, with wrapped detailing. The skimmer is framed into the deck under a Vitex cover flush with the deck and the copings, lifted by a recessed 316 stainless boat ring.
Consents, and who did what
No new consent was needed — the barrier consent from before the rebuild applied. The fencing and balustrade are new Aurora panels from Profit NZ. Artisan Stone and Tiles, led by Mario, did everything touching the water: copings, waterline mosaic, plaster, lights, pump and filtration. We did the foundations, slab and timber.
What made it hard
Several metres of fall, and a layout that had never connected. Resolving it took a fair amount of excavation and a retaining wall you cannot see, so the upper landing could be pushed back and the surrounds could finally run all the way around the pool. Then the patio: it could not be fallen away from the pool, which on a tiled surface is how you end up with water standing against the copings.
What we built, and where the time went
New foundations throughout — decks, stairs, sleeper edges and patio — on 125 × 125 H5 piles set in concrete. The slab is 25 MPa, 665 mesh reinforced with D12 borders, broom finished, and carries Italian Travertine porcelain at 1200 × 600. Decking is Vitex 140 × 19 smooth on 190 joists over double 190 bearers, cantilevered with a double boundary joist throughout, fixed with J Vice stainless steel systems from Glass Vice on every structural connection. Garden beds between the house and the patio are held by 200 × 100 premium grade Macrocarpa sleepers, upright on the same 125 × 125 piles with stainless coach screws, so the beds stand on the same foundations as the deck.
The curve is where the time went. The frame carries extra bearers so a joist lands each side of it, and every finishing board was cut on its own, some with three angles in one board. Both flights of stairs are Vitex, about 1.2 m, with wrapped detailing. The skimmer is framed into the deck under a Vitex cover flush with the deck and the copings, lifted by a recessed 316 stainless boat ring.
Consents, and who did what
No new consent was needed — the barrier consent from before the rebuild applied. The fencing and balustrade are new Aurora panels from Profit NZ. Artisan Stone and Tiles, led by Mario, did everything touching the water: copings, waterline mosaic, plaster, lights, pump and filtration. We did the foundations, slab and timber.
Why it cost what it cost
The deck is not one shape, it is several, and each one has to meet something already built: the pool copings, the tile edge, the stair wrapping. Every one of those transitions is a place a job can look wrong, and getting parallels and squares to read true across all of them is the difference between premium and nearly. That takes the right tools and a team that has done it before and knows exactly where it goes wrong.
What the client said
Wonderful working with Kevin and his team from Franc Landscapes. They had a great vision for how the project could progress and have transformed our outdoor area with a beautifully constructed new deck and swimming pool surround. The precision and attention to detail was amazing. They were so accommodating to our needs and ideas as the project moved forward and most of all loved our somewhat troublesome dog. We loved seeing the progress on Instagram. What a great team. Would highly recommend them for any outdoor project you may have.
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