First Time Pool Owner Just Getting Started

Jump to latest Follow Reply
T

terenas1

Silver Supporter
Jul 29, 2019
4
Gulfport, Mississippi
Hello everyone!

We're in the early stages of planning a new pool for our backyard in South Mississippi (roughly 75 miles from New Orleans). Our house is raised roughly 5' above the backyard and there's an 80' tall Magnolia tree directly behind the living room windows that we definitely want to keep. This makes the design phase somewhat challenging. We spoke with several pool builders at this point, but none of them really gave us a suggested design that we liked - most of them were too small for what we're after (10' x 10' style).

At another member's suggestion, I downloaded SweetHome 3d and sketched out a design to scale. Before we start asking pool builders to quote on this design (or something similar), I've love the input from the experts here. Neither my wife nor I have ever lived in a house that had a pool so we're struggling a bit imagining what it would be like once built.

The pool from farthest point to the stairs is 35' long, 14.5' wide at the far (deep) end, and 27' wide at the widest. Depth is 4' to 8', but we're considering whether 4' to 7' makes more sense for us.

Any thoughts or feedback welcome!

Thanks everyone!
Caleb
 

Attachments

  • overhead.JPG
    overhead.JPG
    105.1 KB · Views: 26
  • angle 1.JPG
    angle 1.JPG
    40.6 KB · Views: 25
  • angle 2.JPG
    angle 2.JPG
    47.1 KB · Views: 20
Welcome to TFP.

Tell us more who is going to use the pool? Kids, adults?

That spa circle looks small to me.

@kimkats loves working on designs.
 
Thanks!

We have two kids: 4 and 7. When we visit pools we typically end up spending most of the time in the shallow end, but still some in the deep end.

Spa circle is 7' diameter. Good point though. I can increase to an 8' circle.

I tried a non-elevated version that's below the house elevation. It's less visible from the house (and loses the very cool aspect of walking out the back door to a flat pool deck) but is much more flexible with the pool decking as we can go right to the property line.

113192
113194
 
What a neat design! I like it flat better. The reason being you and I both know there will be many balls and toys that over the wall if the pool is elevated!!! So much easier to hop out of the pool to get the toys back with it flat.

I would put a bench around the pool side of the spa for chatting and cooling off.

Kim:kim:
 
Consider the slopes of your property and the surrounding land. You don't want water runoff into your clean pool water. Site your pool so that water runoff goes around the pool and not in it.
 
So we met with another pool builder today who said he could build the pool right up to the side of the house (well, except for a 12" coping). Is there any concern on getting that close to the house?

Based on that I sketched out a version that's much closer to what we wanted to begin with. The lower deck is 18" below the top of the pool wall, which is bench height and provides a lengthy seating area.

Shallow is 4', deep end reduced to 7' to give more non-sloped floor. The shallow area is now roughly 16' x 12' and the deep is 16' by 9'.

Added a bench around the spa - thank you for the idea!

Also a great point about drainage. Currently there aren't any gutters on the house - all the water runs off the roof onto the existing wooden deck. I imagine all that water running into the pool might be problematic... I hadn't considered that dilemma.

113239
 
This going to be a liner or gunite pool?

You have a basement? Your house built on a slab? You have a crawl space?

Pools leak water. Pipes run along the side of pools and can crack and need to be dug up. The sides of pools need to be accessible for repairs. The pool tucked close into the house looks nice but can be a big problem if problems occur in the pool. I would want to look at the plans and how accessible things are for future repairs. Where will the pool equipment be placed? Where will the pipes be run?

And if things leak where does the water go so that it does not damage or undermine your house?
 
terenas1 said:
Also a great point about drainage. Currently there aren't any gutters on the house - all the water runs off the roof onto the existing wooden deck. I imagine all that water running into the pool might be problematic... I hadn't considered that dilemma.
Click to expand...

Rainwater can be a benefit or a problem. Depends on the quality of your fill water. Some people have fill water that is very acid or contains minerals or iron that is not desirable for pool chemistry. Using rain water to replace evaporated water can help maintain the proper water chemistry.

On the other side if you have good water chemistry and fill water then you can be working after every storm to fix your water chemistry that rain water diluted. Also depending on the materials in your roof rainwater can wash dirt, grit and other stuff into the pool water that will need to get cleaned out.

If you can get your hands on a water test kit that tests pH, Total Alkalinity, and Calcium it would be helpful to know the quality of your pool water. Or you can take your tap water into a pool store and ask them to test it.
 
Phew thanks!

Likely a gunite pool. No basement or crawl space in the house - it's build on a flat slab, with fill underneath. Pool plumbing would run along the left side of the pool (spa side) not the side against the house.

Also, I really appreciate your information on rain water! Definitely more research for me in both of those areas. Thank you for your time!
 
terenas1 said:
Pool plumbing would run along the left side of the pool (spa side) not the side against the house.
Click to expand...

Don’t be so sure until you show where all of your skimmers, returns, and lights will be.

In that design your skimmers need to be on the house side of the pool and there will be pipes running to it.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply