Let's talk depth

[Sunbaby]

My pool is still under construction - so I am not coming from a place of experience - but when the PB talked to us about depth - the idea of not having a deep end was so foreign. I had NEVER even been in a pool that didn't have a deep end. It took a lot of research, talking, going back and forth to make a decision. What I did - I asked all of my friends (who had also never seen a sports pool) a series of questions - based on the scenario that would be our typical get-together to see what they thought. Pretty much we came up with this. Our pool is about socializing, relaxing, keeping cool, cocktails and occasionally exercising. Diving never came up, laps never came up, we don't have kids and our friends that do - were more excited about the baja shelf and the spa. For us - even though it was a LONG discussion, it was a clear decision.

We went with 3.6-5-4.6 with a large baja step - and lots of rocks and waterfalls - we wanted our own little oasis to relax and enjoy.

 

[Sseaman]

We have really enjoyed our sports depth, it has been great when large groups of middle and high schoolers are over, they can play volley ball or just lounge around without a lot of worry about diving.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[macdee]

Hi Spool- did you ask if I had any pics- like only a few hundred LOL! Here's a few to give you idea. Also one of last pool. BTW, srsmith.com has all the specs you need for diving boards, very helpful

 

[pooldv]

Exactly what I said, I think the ideal depth is 4,5,4 with an 18 inch deep sun shelf and bench.

Yeah, I'm still a little jealous of your deep sun shelf. I just finished re-testing the 5' part of my pool and it is still awesome!

 

[doobs41378]

Hi Spool- did you ask if I had any pics- like only a few hundred LOL! Here's a few to give you idea. Also one of last pool. BTW, srsmith.com has all the specs you need for diving boards, very helpful

WOW! Both are beautiful, awesome slide.....

 

[macdee]

Thanks doobs- hopefully I can finally test out the water this weekend

 

[vitzar]

If I were to do an inground (hopefully 5 to 7 years

I am really liking a "sports" pool type where the deep is the middle of the pool.. like a 4 to 7 to 4 feet

BUT, I am also liking the "lagoon" type kind of the same way 1 part 3.5 feet, 1 at 5 and 1 at 7 or 8

The lagoon pool you're describing is possibly what we are building right now. 17 x 38, 3.5' to 7.5'. I like diving and swimming under water, so deep end was a must. We are very family oriented so I have to consider my father who is in his late 60s that likes to do the same thing. My 5 year old just learned to swim, and looking at his swimming style, most of the time he is under water. So maybe it's in the genes . However, we will also have a large enough shallow area with benches along the end to relax and socialize. We and the builder reviewed slop in detail and it is far from minimum requirement in all areas.

 

[pacman777]

No joke! Not sure where you are located, but that builder wouldn't last long around here as a majority of the IG pools are of the "sports pool" design in these parts. I'm one of the rarities with a deep end.

As for the design to go with, it's really a personal preference. I do mostly lap swimming and rarely do I use the diving board, so all that water in the deep end rarely gets touched. I'm very happy with my pool and, over time, a pool with a deep end will likely become a bit of a rarity around here which will make mine stand out, so I'm sure not gonna mess with it.

With that said, if I were building one from scratch, I would go with the sports pool design that would also include a sun ledge. The other advantage of this design is that it will warm up faster in the spring and, given the same footprint of a deep-end pool, it will require smaller doses of chems to maintain. On my current deep-end pool, when we get those first few really warm days of spring, the surface of the water warms up. But when I start swimming laps, that churns up the cooler waters from beneath - sort of a mini-thermocline effect.

Hi BoD- I'm in the stage of finalizing my pool layout and currently my depth is layed out at 6' to 4' to 3.5' for a geometric pool that is 45' in length and about 23' wide at its widest part and 14.5' at the narrowest. The big difference in width is due to a fairly large sunshelf. I too like swimming laps and was wondering if I should just eliminate the 3.5' depth and go with 4' all the way up to the 6' deep end. I was wondering what the length of your pool is for swimming laps? Are you happy with the 3.5' depth or would you go with 4'? Thanks!

 

[Big Will]

4ft all day everyday! Grab a tape measure and put up 3.5ft and 4ft next to you and I'm sure you will decide 4ft is the way to go. Even short people can still stand no problem
Hope this helps

 

[Brentr]

Our pool is 3.5 ft in the shallow end and 4ft 10 inches - 5ft in the deep end. We wanted to be able to stand at any part of our pool with a drink in our hands

 

[jstephens24tx]

as of now we are thinking 3ft to 6.5ft. The PB said the tanning ledge around 8". im now thinking 3.5 ft. Would yall go deeper on tanning ledge?

 

[chiefwej]

My ledge is at 18 inches. It's the second step down into the pool. We love the depth. Put a lounger there and the seat just comes to the water level. Kids love to play on the shelf although to deep for the baby's, it's deep enough that the other little ones seem to be less tempted to get off. We also have a bench at that same level all along one side the entire length of the pool. You can sit on the bench and set your beverage on the deck, with the water coming up to your chest. We wouldn't want it any shallower.

 

[ctrav]

We are raising our two granddaughters (2&3) and just finished our first pool. We went 4-5.5-4 but as it turned out its more like 4.5-5.8-4.5...go figure. In the end we love it because the girls will grow int the pool. We considered 3.5 depth but like things just as they are.

 

[schatz]

Ours is 10 ft. and our last pool was 8 ft. Love going deep. And besides, when your old enough to care about your lymph nodes there is nothing better for them than going from 10 ft to the surface real fast. Except maybe trampolining.

 

[Marlahoutex]

Our shallow end is 3.5 and it's fine. I think 4' would have also been okay, even though I'm short. Our deep end is 5' and for me that plenty deep. But, you have to do what's best for your family and how you'll use the pool.

 

[ellsian]

Definitely a deep pool I have 2 kids and grew up with a deep pool, so I enjoy most of my time in the deep end. But I noticed the older adults like to stay in the shallows. If you ever imagine your kids wanting to attempt any sort of diving or jump experimenting, its probably safer to have a deep end. Like was said before, if you have the room and can afford to get an L shape you get to have the best of both!

 

[Brianf60]

Currently building mine with a 9 foot deep end. I have 3 kids and kids love to jump...

 

[SpringPool]

After much debate in the house and research here. We went with 4-6.5-4 and it turned out well so far. The gunite levels out each end and once the plaster is done I'll post more profile pictures. https://www.troublefreepool.com/thr...ing-TX-by-PB?p=1287510&viewfull=1#post1287510

 

[PoolGate]

We originally designed ours as a 8.5' deep end with diving board but have reconsidered and are having our builder go to 10 feet in the deep end. This will make the shallow end a bit deeper as well. If I had my druthers I'd go 15 foot deep end but don't have the cash as it would necessitate a much larger pool. Also I like deep end drop-offs rather than slopes. So maybe 25ft of 3-5' then a sheer dropoff to 10 feet. We won't get this with this pool as it isn't long enough.