Clients, I've found, often make requests that force us to think outside the box. In the project shown on these pages, for example, a concrete deck surrounding the homeowners' in-ground pool had caused their barefoot grandchildren too many stubbed toes and skinned knees. To gain a friendlier walking surface, they wanted to extend their house deck — which had Trex fiber-composite decking — so that it completely surrounded the pool area. Curves would be a big part of the design.

I initially proposed pulling up the existing concrete, which had its share of cracks and other tripping hazards, and installing new footings, beams, and framing to support the new Trex deck. But the cost was impractical, so we elected to fasten PT sleepers to the existing concrete instead, and then attach the new decking to the sleepers.

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