Advice needed to fix mid-construction pool

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PZF

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Apr 20, 2024
10
New Orleans
We are building a small pool in New Orleans between our main home and existing guest house. Based on the pool builder’s guidance, we have 3 feet of space between the pool and guesthouse. After returning to see the pool construction, which has not yet been plastered, I’m really worried about how tight the pool is in the space (a 4 foot walkway between the pool house and water and a 2 foot walkway between the water and main house back porch) as the unusable pool ledge that was created - only 3x5 feet (not what we thought). The final layout occurred with an onsite spray paint and is definitely off from the plan we discussed that day. I consulted an architect who told me I should add fencing to prevent pool house guests from falling into the pool when entering/exiting the house. Is it better to resize now to provide more deck and reduce the pool size or live with it? I’m really worried about long-term resale and safety. My builder tells me it’s to code and not to “overthink” it. Advice?

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Hey PZF and Welcome !!!

Replace the pool house door (6X9 pic) to open the other way. It will naturally keep folks from the narrow corner.

The porch screen door is already swinging the right way on the other side. The coping on that side will add up to a foot of walkway to the 2 ft you labeled, and nobody has any business over there 99% of the time anyway.

Or move the door to the side.

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New Orleans… drinking… guests… dark stormy nights… wet walkway… narrow entrance to guest house… what can go wrong?

I think guest safety has to be a concern around that pool.

The guest house door needs to be relocated to the side and open in. Where it is there is not enough space for a person to step back from the door swinging open and not risk falling into the pool. Even build out the screen area a bit further so the door naturally routes a person to the side of the pool walkway and not into the corner of the pool.

And what if a guest is running out of the house for some reason and forgets the pool is two steps from the door?

Is that the only door to the guest house?

I agree with the architect that a railing along the edge of the pool would be wise.

And be careful that there are no tripping hazards along the sides of the pool between the coping, whatever decking material, and walkways. And it needs to not be slippery when wet.
 
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Newdude said:
Hey PZF and Welcome !!!

Replace the pool house door (6X9 pic) to open the other way. It will naturally keep folks from the narrow corner.

The porch screen door is already swinging the right way on the other side. The coping on that side will add up to a foot of walkway to the 2 ft you labeled, and nobody has any business over there 99% of the time anyway.

Or move the door to the side.

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Thank you for this. I should have mentioned we are planning to remove the screening altogether on the back porch as this is the one space we have for lounge furniture. Does that seem like it will provide the safety factor for the main house side? For the pool house door, we are seriously thinking of installing a french door patio slider to avoid issues, but still pretty worried we’ve cut it too close. Thoughts?
 
ajw22 said:
New Orleans… drinking… guests… dark stormy nights… wet walkway… narrow entrance to guest house… what can go wrong?

I think guest safety has to be a concern around that pool.

The guest house door needs to be relocated to the side and open in. Where it is there is not enough space for a person to step back from the door swinging open and not risk falling into the pool. Even build out the screen area a bit further so the door naturally routes a person to the side of the pool walkway and not into the corner of the pool.

And what if a guest is running out of the house for some reason and forgets the pool is two steps from the door?

Is that the only door to the guest house?

I agree with the architect that a railing along the edge of the pool would be wise.

And be careful that there are no tripping hazards along the sides of the pool between the coping, whatever decking material, and walkways. And it needs to not be slippery when wet.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for this. We only have one door to the pool house. We have thought hard about relocating the door. We’re also thinking about replacing the pool house door with a sliding french patio door. We’ve chosen a marble decking that has a high rating for slip protection. Still nervous though!
 
kimkats said:
So you are thinking of having them fill in some of the pool to make the deck bigger. Am I correct?

What do your printed plans say?

I agree with the changing of the door swing on the guest house.
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I am wondering of I need to fill in some of the pool now to make a bigger deck, yes. This contractor is a bit of draw it on paper type, and my design plan doesn’t really show dimensions, just shape, etc. We discussed at length the code requirements…5 feet from fence line, minimum 3 feet from pool house and went with 4 feet. My failing was placing so much trust in their experience without accounting for human nature (a misstep with a suitcase, someone rushing out without paying attention, etc.)
 
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PZF said:
Thank you for this. I should have mentioned we are planning to remove the screening altogether on the back porch as this is the one space we have for lounge furniture. Does that seem like it will provide the safety factor for the main house side? For the pool house door, we are seriously thinking of installing a french door patio slider to avoid issues, but still pretty worried we’ve cut it too close. Thoughts?
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I am going to be critical that the process you used that got you into this mess you are now repeating in not fully analyzing what you will do next.

What is the floor plan of the "Pool House/Guest House", whatever you call it? With dimensions. How much space do you have from the real wall and door through the porch to the pool?

Now you are going to remove the screening on the back porch. Where is the real door to the pool house?

I think removing the screen wall can make the pool more dangerous to a guest with more opportunities to accidentally walk from the porch into the pool.

You need to consider ADA safety standards even though you are a residence where they do not formally apply. They give good guidelines for guest safety. Your guests may be disabled in some way and need to be able to find a safe path from the guest house without risk of falling in the pool.

Consider the smoke alarm going off at 4AM on a moonless rainy night. Your guest was out drinking. They can't find their glasses. And now they need to stumble their way to safety through an unfamiliar house and not fall into the pool.

The house, doors, and paths need to give them a natural safe path with tactile and visual clues to safety. Your design needs to guide them from the doorway of the pool house with safe passage around the dangers of the pool to exit the property.

Show us the complete picture if you want specific design advice.
 

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PZF said:
remove the screening altogether on the back porch as this is the one space we have for lounge furniture. Does that seem like it will provide the safety factor for the main house side?
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To me it does.
PZF said:
For the pool house door, we are seriously thinking of installing a french door patio slider to avoid issues, but still pretty worried we’ve cut it too close. Thoughts?
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If the left pane was the slider (looking at it) that would give you 9ft in front of the 'open' door.

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If you're worried about guests seeing in the dark, install a motion activated spotlight back there somewhere. Preferably on a switch so you can turn it off if you'd like to enjoy an evening out there without it being obnoxiously lit.

If somebody still happens to fall into the pool, it's water, not lava. You'll owe them a new cellphone.

*small children needing supervision is a hard rule which always applies no matter who/what/where you are.
 
Is this the main house or the pool house?

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A low wooden deck with railing would be nice in the area by the door and provide some safety. If that is the only outside water tap you have you might consider relocating it. The less reason people have to walk in that gap the safer it will be.
 
Newdude said:
Its the pool house. OP mentions the screened area on the 'back porch'. That would be the front porch of the pool house. Lol.
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I am confused.

It looked to me like the screened porch was the entrance to the pool house.

The white vinyl siding wall is the back door from the main house leading to the pool.

We need to see a survey of the property with dimensions.
 
Hopefully PZF will confirm, but I believe the wall with siding is the pool house and the screen room is attached to the main house. If this is true removing the screen room and converting it to a patio would add a safe margin to approach the pool.
 
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ajw22 said:
The white vinyl siding wall is the back door from the main house leading to the pool.
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Not according to this 👇
PZF said:
we are planning to remove the screening altogether on the back porch
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With 2 porches, one is front and one is back. The back porch is on the front house. The front porch is on the back house.
 
Thanks for the feedback. The main residence has a front and back porch. The back porch is 240 square feet, 20 feet wide x 12 feet length. That means we have 12 feet from the backdoor to the edge of the porch pad that will flow directly to 2 feet of decking and coping to the water’s edge.

The pool design shown is an earlier version of the design, before the cutouts were included to create extra walkway space.

The 27’ wide building is the pool/guest house. The original design shows 5’ 6” of deck area between the guest house and the water’s edge. The actual measure is approximately 4 feet, inclusive of coping. I don’t have an exact measure of the current door from the left corner of the pool house. It will be replaced, likely with sliding french patio doors. We will be aiming to align the opening to the larger walkway area created by the cutout. I’ve included the survey of the property, several photos of the spaces around the pool and a picture taken with a drone prior to the pool work.


Newdude said:
Not according to this 👇

With 2 porches, one is front and one is back. The back porch is on the front house. The front porch is on the back house.
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zea3 said:
Hopefully PZF will confirm, but I believe the wall with siding is the pool house and the screen room is attached to the main house. If this is true removing the screen room and converting it to a patio would add a safe margin to approach the pool.
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Thank you for this. You are correct - wall with siding is pool house. Screen room is attached to main house.
 

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