Spa - raised or in pool with kids

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spool

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Jul 12, 2014
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New England - MA
As we finalize our pool design I'm torn between a spa that sits inside the pool vs a raised spa. We'll be adding an autocover and the integrated spa option gets covered as well. My wife is concerned the children (we have 3) will get hurt on a sharp corner if the spa is in the pool.

Any one have the spa in the pool with kids? Would love to hear your feedback.

Example of what in talking about.

9350F313-42E8-4ABE-B164-5BFA13E9C004.png_zpskdx14j6q.jpeg
 
Yeah, I could see someone trying to make a diving catch into that corner. Doing a radius around that corner ought to solve that and should be easy enough for the PB.
 
We used that exact picture as inspiration for our pool build. After much discussion with the builder and family, we decided to raise the spa 18" with a standard overflow. The area next to the spa we did a tanning ledge for the kids rather than just steps as in that picture. Safety and aesthetics were the reasons for raising the spa and I am happy with our decision. Looking at that picture again I think we would of been happy either way, and I have already had a kid "seal dive" from the spa overflow into the pool so Im not sold on one being safer than the other. A cover was not part of our decision and I can see how that would be a big factor.
pool.jpg
pool2.jpg
This is a bad picture but an idea of our layout which we are really enjoying. The kids love the tanning ledge and steps, and the adults love the spa and bench in deep end.
 
Though I see they have an autocover in the picture, I would not recommend having that sharp corner which the cover will have to drag over each time it opens and closes. Not to mention when it rains and you forgot to put the cover pump on, the weight of the water pulling the cover down will surely stress that area more quickly, and lead to a premature tear. Ideally, I'd find a design way to round off the outside edge of the entire spa. Perhaps a stone mason with real talent could do it with some thick PA bluestone, which is what the picture appears to be show. Any raised spa will also impact the cover operation though they can certainly be done.

As a side note, the bluestone coping on that pool is fairly thin, probably 1 - 1 1/4" thick (the same as mine). Though at first glance you may want thicker (and give consideration to if you want the thermal treated surface variety), the downside to thicker with an autocover is that the deck level becomes much higher than the water level. The integrated autocover rail adds about 1" above the tile, then 1/2" or more of grout then the coping. If you want to see some closeups of this scenario, see our build thread, the link to which is in my signature.

Best of luck with your project. With that as an inspiration photo, I'm sure it will be great!

Also feel free to document your build, continuing right in this thread, so information all remains in one place. We'd all love to follow your experience - and we love pictures!
 
We also used that pic for inspiration but due to our flat lot we wanted to add some elevation with an 18" raised spa. Makes the autocover easier to manage, and allowed for a larger bench. Besides my wife wanted the extra benefit of a water feature we can run with the cover on for sound.



 
Our spa is "in" but our 1988 pool is freeform with the spa "attached". We are getting ready to renovate our pool and looked at having the whole spa raised (to add water feature and focal point). Our kids are 9 and 12. I can also see safety issues either way. We always have kids "walking" on the wall between the pool and spa which isn't very safe either even though there aren't sharp edges. Kids just do dumb things around a pool! See pics here:

http://www.troublefreepool.com/thre...reeform-Pool-in-Dallas-TX?p=758044#post758044
 
We have a slightly raised spa with a small spill over next to our rectangular pool. We have the auto cover that covers the rectangular pool and use a three piece spa cover for the spa. There is a small cut out that still allows the spa spill over when the auto cover is closed. We can close/winterize the pool in the beginning of October and still keep the spa open. We usually close the spa in December since I don't like running pumps in freeze protection once the temp stays below 32 degrees. I see you are in a colder climate so you may want to consider a setup such as this.
 
Thank you all, lots of great suggestions.

The diving football catch into the corner is exactly what my wife is worried about. Perhaps rounding the corner can maintain the look and add a bit of safety. I've seen v-cap glass tiles that could potentially serve to round up the edge enough to prevent tearing someone open.

Great point on the cover wear from the sharp edge and rain weight. If I go in pool, I'm now considering a design that would have the edge close to pool water level. I read about methods of reducing pool water height when spa is activated so spa edge is 1/8" higher than water level. When spa gets turned off - pool autofills. I imagine that could potentially just make it more difficult to balance chemical levels with all that dumping and adding of water...

I could go either way at this point, my architect likes the clean lines of the spa in pool. Haven't priced out the different options to see how they compare. Will speak to PB and definitely report back and add lots of pictures.
 
Water chemistry shouldn't be an issue as you will be mixing the water daily so chemicals will be kept mostly the same. You will not be maintaining two separate bodies of water. To note also, the spa in this setup is not designed to be kept hot all the time but heated on demand. At least that's my understanding...I don't have a spa. Others can confirm.
 

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spool said:
Great point on the cover wear from the sharp edge and rain weight. If I go in pool, I'm now considering a design that would have the edge close to pool water level.
Click to expand...

We went with a spa just barely above water level and so far (short so far: we got water last week) we love it. We have an autocover as well and it never hits the spa coming across. It looks beautiful when the filter is running and water spills gently from spa to pool.

We considered a raised spa with separate cover but I knew the separate cover would add inconvenience and I could see scenarios where it was left open "just for now" and became a hazard.

Our pool:
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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
My spa is at the same height as the pool. I like it that way. The spillway is a few inches above the normal surface of the pool, so there is that waterfall effect. But never ever have I posted one of the numerous "My spa is draining into the pool" threads. Keep the pool square for the auto cover, but make a gentle S-curve so the spa has rounded sides. Fewer sharp corners that are a pain to brush that way, too.
 
Do you have any problems with the pool water flowing into the spa and preventing the spa from getting hot. We have a new pool with the spa similar to yours. They built it with no overflow mechanism and only 1 pump. What did they do for your pool to ensure that you don't have this problem and have to keep back washing the pool every time you want to use the spa after it rains.
 
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