Brick coping

[TheLowerBack]

*not sure if this is the proper section for this.

Has anyone used brick bullnose pool coping for for a ramp? Does it hold up? I’ve definitely seen and skated at it a couple of  parks. Not sure if the park builder’s made it, or if it’s what you can get from a pool supplier
Working on my backyard project and weighing out the options for grindage.

[Dong Hanglo]

I used repurposed bricks from a library that was updated into a glass and steel suspension building. The bricks from the windows were flat on the back and roughly a two inch round radius on the front. I used construction adhesive to glue them to the deck(wood mini ramp. 5 ft with 5.5ft transition radius.) additional sheets of wood were added onto the deck to get it level with the bricks. Here’s where mistakes were made. I used standard bags of mortar to fill the gaps between the bricks. It’s not strong enough for grinding and chips out in little pebble sized pieces that will damage the wood surface, flat spots wheels and worse case a hipper into the wall that you’re skating towards. I chiseled all that out and mixed my own ratios of sand, lime, Portland cement, concrete hardener and concrete bonding adhesive. Lots of concrete sealer and wax are key. It was awesome for about a year until bricks started breaking and you can’t replace just one without basically knobbing the coping from grinding them out of level. so you would have to replace the whole section or do some sculpting with ardex or some other material.
The guy that we built the ramp for ended up going to grad school in another city and we tore it down.
Take what you will from this long boring tale.

[WashingtonNECKTIE]

I've never used brick on wood ramps, but I have an idea for an alternative.

In the newest Thrasher DIY vid they have a plywood ramp that the poured a concrete/cement lip on. Basically they formed it like a concrete flatbar on top of the ramp. Might be a more effective solution than trying to work with bricks. Could be worth checking out.

You could even get a concrete groover

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-6-in-x-3-in-Stainless-Steel-Hand-Groover-57503/300960486#overlay

and cut in blocks for a similar effect to pool/brick coping. And personally, I think it would be a lot less of a headache than trying to lay bricks on wood and get them mortared in all tidy.

[LebowskisRug]

Yes I bought high strength pool coping and made a box. The stuff used in parks is usually made specially for parks. Most commercial suppliers will have different types of coping and you can ask what strengths they offer. Mine was custom poured in the highest strength that was offered. I poured concrete densifier onto it when I got it and not sure if that did much of anything. It still did chip a bit.

[Ray C. Usery]

Helped a friend build a wooden bowl and he screwed in pool coping on the deck

[Plan9Customs]

Just going on brick ledges around here, I’d say no it probably wouldn’t hold up. It’s pretty easy to make a mold for pool coping and mix some concrete to make your own. Then, as others have stated, screw it or glue it.

[sharkin]

Bricks are pretty brittle. You might find a high strength brick coping at a pool/tile supply shop but fuck that shit
build a mold and pour your own with some good cement mix then toss those bad boys in big plastic tubs of water to harden. Skate diy on instagram has a guide from years ago and I’m sure many others on dimension for the mold

[TheLowerBack]

I might just do an extension with it.
Seems problematic in a lot of ways-cost, longevity, and having to lay 60 bricks (15 feet of it) level and even with 0 experience.
I mainly wanted it for looks and the feeling of grinding through seems every 4inches. But even using high strength cement instead of grout seems like it would chip quickly.

The problem with doing a mold is the amount of molds I would have to make being that I want it brick sized and again, lack of experience.
So yeah, pour in place or buy pool block from the homie that makes it for parks out here. I got 18 feet of radius block off him for my clamshell. 

[Plan9Customs]

You could always go the beer can coping route. Forms are cheap, concrete is cheap, there’s a bunch of videos on how to do it. You get concrete at a fraction of the cost of brick and it’ll last. Go check YouTube for the how to videos. Or you can just take an angle grinder to steel coping and make your own ‘diamond grind’.

[modern life is war]

Fyi, the gaps between the bricks or pieces of pool coping that get filled with mortar are called 'joints'. Not trying to sound like a know-it-all but if you go to a masonry supply yard they might give you a little bit more respect if you use the right terms which is always nice at those places.

You could buy pieces of pool coping and then cut slits into them every 4" with either an angle grinder or a circular saw with a masonry blade. Don't even cut it all the way, just cut 3/16" (or whatever size you want) slits into it to resemble a joint without actually having to cut the whole thing up. That would save you a lot of time and be way easier to lay/attach the pool coping to your mini ramp than 15ft of 4" pieces, which would be super difficult if you haven't done it before.