Watertight hatch for the pool pump room

[Bjarven]

Hello,
I have a pump room that is buried next to our pool. 1*2 m in size.
Not really sensitive to water, but it's good to have a tight hatch that looks nice and can be walked on.
I have paving around the pool and initially thought of breaking it up with a hatch in decking wood.
Then I've considered checker plate - what's its durability? Easy to lacquer?
Formplywood is water-resistant and stable but oh so ugly.

Btw: I was thinking of a hatch within the hatch for daily inspection.

I'm not completely satisfied with either decking or checker plate. Does anyone have suggestions for other materials?

Let loose your creativity and help me get this right.
Best regards,
Bjarven

 

[pappaM]

Curious, how did it turn out?
I want to make a waterproof and soundproof hatch in the decking to my pool room, so I would also gladly take some inspiration.

 

[Thyro89]

I want to know too! Feel free to take some pictures as well

 

[pappaM]

It ended like this for me.

The hatch is soundproofed with styrofoam and waterproofed using leftover liner.

Since there's decking on top, it became quite heavy, but I solved it with gas springs from Jula and Biltema. (I have 2 hatches, pump room, and jet swim.)

Curious, how did it turn out?
I want to make a waterproof and soundproof hatch in the decking to my pool room, so I'd love some inspiration too.

 

[Andre_]

How did you make sure the hinges wouldn't let the decking hit each other when you open the hatch? ‍♂️

It ended up like this for me.

The hatch is soundproofed with foam and waterproofed using leftover liner.

Since there's decking on top, it became quite heavy but I solved that with gas springs from Jula and Biltema. (I have 2 hatches, pump room and jetswim.)

 

[pappaM]

How did you manage the hinges so that the decking boards wouldn't touch each other when you open the hatch? ‍♂️

I made two hatches. One ends at the edge, making it easy.

The other I've redone, and the new solution was piano hinges that run the entire length of the hatch. It turned out great!

I should also issue a warning!
If the hatch is near the pool, like the machine room for the jetswim in my case, position the hinges so you don't have handles facing towards the pool... That was one reason I redid it... the other was that I chose too flimsy hinges in solution 1...

I've also planed off a little, just a bit, on the front edge to handle the hatch swelling slightly. (Planed at an angle, so the top edge looks intact.)

 

[Andre_]

I made two hatches. One ends at the edge and that's easy.

The other I redid and the new solution was piano hinges that run the entire length of the hatch. It worked great!

I also want to give a warning!
If the hatch is near the pool, like the machine room for jetswim for me, place the hinges so you don’t have handles facing the pool... That was one reason I redid it... the other was that I chose too weak hinges in solution 1...

I also slightly planed the front edge to handle the hatch swelling a little bit. (Planed at an angle, so the top edge looks intact. )

That's how I did it... not sure how it will be with the decking though...

 

[Andre_]

That's what I did... though I wonder how it will be with the decking...

But the decking will be affected when it opens, won't it...?

 

[pappaM]

But won't the decking take it when it's opened...?

Partly, you probably have a little gap? Then you plane off a bit on the underside of the last board if needed.

 

[Andre_]

Partly, you probably have a little gap? Then you plane a bit on the underside of the last board if needed.

The gap will be about 3cm...?

 

[pappaM]

The gap becomes about 3cm...?

Aha!! Now I see!

I attached the hinges to the decking!! Now I understand your problem!!

 

[Petter Wikberg]

I made two hatches. One ends at the edge and then it's easy.

The other I redid, and the new solution was piano hinges that run the entire length of the hatch. It turned out great!

I'll take the opportunity to issue a warning too!
If the hatch is close to the pool, like the engine room for jetswim in my case, set the hinges so you do not have handles facing the pool... That was one reason why I redid it... the other was that I chose hinges that were too weak in solution 1...

I've also planed a little bit off the front edge to ensure the hatch can handle a little swelling. (Planed at an angle, so the top edge looks intact.)

Why not have the handle toward the pool and the hinges away from the pool? Curious as I'm about to build.

 

[pappaM]

Why not have the handle facing the pool and the hinges away from the pool? Curious as I'm about to build.

Then you have to "stand in the water" to lift the lid... i.e., it becomes a bit cramped when you open it... I think you'd want at least 70-80 cm of wobble room between the lid to stand on when opening.

 

[Petter Wikberg]

Ah, that's how you're thinking! Thanks for the tip.