Good Morning Wonderful Friends! You are life-savers!
Our pool was dug last week and is 25 x 60. The first 10 feet is a sunshelf, 20 feet of it at 18 inches for those who want to lounge and 5 feet of it just 9 inches deep for the little ones. We have a bench that is 18 inches wide and runs along the 23 feet of shallow (3 - 4.5 deep) and the 27 feet of deep (lost 2 feet of our shallow end at the last minute because it was needed for slope to 10 feet deep - didn't want to have safety issues for a diving board). The bench extends from the sunshelf at 9 inches and gradually deepens to 20 inches deep in the far corner next to the diving board.
Questions:
1. Our PB said 14 inches was standard for a bench and I asked for 18 inches to be more comfortable. After it was dug, my husband woke up in the middle of the night concerned that it will be too wide for children to safely jump or dive over from the side. Is the 4 extra inches a safety hazard? What are your experiences? I plan to put a glow-in-the dark one inch tile along the edge so it can be seen night or day. It wouldn't be easy, but I think the bulldozer could still take 4 inches off if it were absolutely necessary.
2. We want to make the two deep end corners both swimouts (no ladders) and a place for two people to sit facing the shallow - or at least have one side like that. We can't do the swimouts outside the perimeter because we are going to have an automatic cover and so need to stick to a rectangle. I want to balance the swimouts size and comfort issue with the fact that they will take up some of the side that kids will hold on to and start races to the other end.
The swimout at one at the end of the bench will be 20 inches under the waterline, so we will need one or two steps up so people can get out of the pool. But I also want 2 people to be able to sit there looking toward the shallow. My thought was to make the step in the corner - maybe 12 inches wide? - and then extend the bench around the side of the pool where the diving board is. Or should the steps be farther down the bench from the corner so swimmers can use the entire width to sit against?
I need help with dimensions. Does anyone have pictures and dimensions of their swimouts? I was thinking of making the swimout to the right of the diving board extend 5 feet toward the diving board and 4 feet from the back wall so two people could sit with their back against the wall, extending their legs out - like a cuddle cove. Is that too much? But then, where would I put the extra one or two steps to get out?
I read on some thread that someone had done their corner swimouts at two levels so swimmers would have 2 choices of how to get out. What dimensions do you recommend for the other corner?
Are my questions clear or should I upload a drawing and if so, exactly how do I do that? Tried once and it didn't work.
Also, can't afford a slide this year, but I read somewhere that we should have a swimout near it. Could I make the slide over the 18 inch best so swimmers could use the bench to get out?
PB needs to know this weekend! Thanks for any help you can provide. Pictures would be especially helpful of course.
Our pool was dug last week and is 25 x 60. The first 10 feet is a sunshelf, 20 feet of it at 18 inches for those who want to lounge and 5 feet of it just 9 inches deep for the little ones. We have a bench that is 18 inches wide and runs along the 23 feet of shallow (3 - 4.5 deep) and the 27 feet of deep (lost 2 feet of our shallow end at the last minute because it was needed for slope to 10 feet deep - didn't want to have safety issues for a diving board). The bench extends from the sunshelf at 9 inches and gradually deepens to 20 inches deep in the far corner next to the diving board.
Questions:
1. Our PB said 14 inches was standard for a bench and I asked for 18 inches to be more comfortable. After it was dug, my husband woke up in the middle of the night concerned that it will be too wide for children to safely jump or dive over from the side. Is the 4 extra inches a safety hazard? What are your experiences? I plan to put a glow-in-the dark one inch tile along the edge so it can be seen night or day. It wouldn't be easy, but I think the bulldozer could still take 4 inches off if it were absolutely necessary.
2. We want to make the two deep end corners both swimouts (no ladders) and a place for two people to sit facing the shallow - or at least have one side like that. We can't do the swimouts outside the perimeter because we are going to have an automatic cover and so need to stick to a rectangle. I want to balance the swimouts size and comfort issue with the fact that they will take up some of the side that kids will hold on to and start races to the other end.
The swimout at one at the end of the bench will be 20 inches under the waterline, so we will need one or two steps up so people can get out of the pool. But I also want 2 people to be able to sit there looking toward the shallow. My thought was to make the step in the corner - maybe 12 inches wide? - and then extend the bench around the side of the pool where the diving board is. Or should the steps be farther down the bench from the corner so swimmers can use the entire width to sit against?
I need help with dimensions. Does anyone have pictures and dimensions of their swimouts? I was thinking of making the swimout to the right of the diving board extend 5 feet toward the diving board and 4 feet from the back wall so two people could sit with their back against the wall, extending their legs out - like a cuddle cove. Is that too much? But then, where would I put the extra one or two steps to get out?
I read on some thread that someone had done their corner swimouts at two levels so swimmers would have 2 choices of how to get out. What dimensions do you recommend for the other corner?
Are my questions clear or should I upload a drawing and if so, exactly how do I do that? Tried once and it didn't work.
Also, can't afford a slide this year, but I read somewhere that we should have a swimout near it. Could I make the slide over the 18 inch best so swimmers could use the bench to get out?
PB needs to know this weekend! Thanks for any help you can provide. Pictures would be especially helpful of course.
