If you have never seen a nice above ground pool completed with a solidly built wrap around deck then you will be amazed when you finally do. This is because, a modern semi-submerged above ground pool with a deep and that has a deck surrounding it looks and functions just like a standard built in pool.
Even when you are standing right up next to it on the deck it is difficult to tell the difference. There is one huge difference between an above ground and a built in pool however and that is the cost of the two. Even with a complete wrap around deck and landscaping, an above ground pool is going to only cost a fraction of what a basic built in pool will.
This is why most people that have an above ground pool installed in their yard end up having a nice deck installed a quarter, half or all the way around the pool. As far as decks go, above ground pool decks are the easiest decks to build for a number of reasons.
To begin with, if they are low they don’t require any railing unlike a deck that is attached to a home. Also, a deck built onto a home will also have to match up to the home and have a set of stairs and an entranceway to the home that has to also match the home.
Also on an above ground pool deck you are free to use far cheaper decking material such a Douglas Fir. You don’t need to be an expert carpenter to build the deck around your above ground pool but you will need some basic tools and a good book on deck building.
If you are going to go the “Douglas Fir” route for your decking material, try to select out the best boards that you can at the lumber supply store. One trick is to bribe the fork lift operator with ten or twenty dollars to go in back and bring out the fresh stack of lumber, so you can pick out the straightest and most knot free specimens for your project.