Direction overlooked?

[grumpiebk]

We have a pie shaped lot with the far back corner pointing NW. We have gone back and forth on whether we should angle the pool and sun shelf based on the house or based on the direction of the sun. Most of the research I have done is silent to this topic. Any advice? We are in south Florida if that helps.

If we go based on house, the free form pool will go across the backyard from NE to SW with the sun shelf facing directly NW. If we rotate for maximum direct sun, it will go be on an angle more N to SW with the sun shelf facing almost due west where most of the afternoon sunlight comes from.

 

[pooldv]

I haven't seen much discussion on this subject. My first thought is put the pool where it will get some shade, especially in the afternoon, if you have that option. I would want the pool to be oriented north/south. Mine is mostly north/south, but not on purpose. But this way people can play volleyball or chat across the pool with no sun in their eyes.

 

[kimkats]

Take and share a shot or two of your yard...........think about the yard as a whole.........do you want to be able to this or that in the yard? How will the pool being here or there affect that?

 

[grumpiebk]

View attachment 53110 Here is an overhead from google maps. The rear of the house faces slightly NW while the far corner of the lot is closer to due W. The far back yard and side yard is plenty large where the pool will not obstruct other desired uses. We are building a 15x40 covered patio along the rear of the house while may lend itself better to have the pool more parallel to house. Currently we have the pool design on an almost 45 degree angle from the house, closer to the house on the left and far from the house on the right, with the sun shelf angled toward the back corner of the yard.

 

[grumpiebk]

Here is a picture from our backyard patio entrance View attachment 53111

 

[cbink]

We have similar lots in our neighborhood and faced this dilemma with our own pool build. In the end we went freeform rather than geometric which made it less of an issue in our case though we had decided to align it with the house, not the lot in either case.

All the pools in our neighborhood appear to be parallel to the house though there is one that's triangular to follow the lot shape.

If you follow the lot, make sure it doesn't adversely affect the effective use of your decking by the house.

I think given the photos and the planned covered patio I'd be tempted to put it parallel to the house.

 

[grumpiebk]

thanks, cbink. We are doing free form as well. Almost all of the pools in our community are also aligned with the house, but there are very few lots that face a similar direction as ours. Your comment on decking is very relevant. As you can see in my overhead shot, we have a zero lot line to the right of our property. We were hoping to use 12 feet or so of that space for decking loungers, tables, etc. Given that faces west, it would be the ideal location for tanning and would also make the otherwise dead corner space usable. I just dont know if i love the end of the pool being so far away from the house, especially if we are going to have a large covered patio for entertaining. But if i rotate the pool more parallel to the house, i may lose some of that decking space and start to bump up the far side decking to our landscape barrier.

 

[bmoreswim]

I'd really like the look of it parallel with the landscaping/property line. Leaving you with a large pie shaped area for your deck dove between it and the pool. That orientation will make your back yard seem the biggest I think.
As for shade, I'm not in FL so I like my pool in full sun. You may too for spring and fall.

 

[grumpiebk]

here is our current design. View attachment 53123

 

[bmoreswim]

Your pool shape ends up being freeform but almost a square-ish. I don't see how you could do a bad placement. Just don't skimp on the deck space.

 

[cbink]

So I think that absolutely works.

Our lot doesn't have as much of an angle as yours, but here's what we ended up doing to counter the angle, not dissimilar to what you're proposing. It's actually wrapped more than I recall it being, just goes to show I don't notice it:

 

[grumpiebk]

thanks. and agree on decking. its misleading in the design pic, but that rectangle closest to the pool is 600sqft of covered patio space. In all, we will have about 2,000 sqft of travertine.

 

[kimkats]

Grumpie, You do not need me You have it all figured out! The design you shared is IT in my eyes! I really do not see how it could get any better than that.

 

[Foosman]

here is our current design. View attachment 53123

Did a builder do your plans or did you hire someone? These look really detailed and well done.

 

[grumpiebk]

our pool builder provided them once we signed contract prior to submitting for permitting.

 

[grumpiebk]

Hi guys. Even after your validation, I'm still not in love with my current design. I don't like how far back the right side of the pool is set, but do like the overall location of the pool and direction of the sun shelf. I've since scrapped 100 peices of paper trying to get it right. Ideally I would have a free form design that is almost a semi-dog leg where the pool bends around the sun shelf and the right side is pulled in closer to the covered patio. Any designers here want to lend a hand and give me some creative ideas to solve my problem? I am flexible with moving the spa and sun shelf to the left or right so long as the overall direction is similar. Thanks for the help!

 

[bdavis466]

Hopefully this is similar what you were looking for. I knocked this out on a plane flight home and had my wife looking it over...I guess this is more her design than mine;-)

I wasn't clear on the patio or addition. You called it a patio and the plans showed an addition? I gave you a little of both then

 

[grumpiebk]

Brian, you are really good! or your wife is! it even looks like my house! many thanks! Youve got me willing to completely change my design and spend my money. Dangerous. And yes, it is a covered patio addition. It will run 15 feet out and 40 feet across very similar to how you have it captured, but with only 3 posts. It actually works out better that way because our sliders are over to the right side of where you currently have it. What are the approximate distances from patio columns to pool?

Can i ask for some modifications? Where would you put a sunshelf/baja shelf? We had originally designed 12' across by 9' from the pool shelf. Ideally we would like it facing as close to west as possible (like you have the loungers now). Also, we were actually thinking of having the fire pit on the opposite side (the side in your first picture) because there is a zero lot line neighboring house (solid wall, no windows) on that side that we often do large projection movies and sport games on. Maybe you can show me a version with the pool moved over and the fire pit relocated? Also, you can remove the landscape wall and replace with landscape beds or accent palms? We likely will not be doing a wall.

In my next 100 sketches, i came up with two other options of my own which are attached. I dont like either of them as much as yours, they just dont come to life on paper for me. But it may give you an idea of how i was thinking. Although, i dont want to skew your designs. Clearly i need different inspiration.

IMG_5735 | fsubk | Flickr

IMG_5736 | fsubk | Flickr

 

[bdavis466]

Here are the contours of the pool:



Here you can see the location from the patio:



Keep in mind on your posted plan, the patio scaled out to 16' from the house and thats what I went with. That being considered, add 1' to the pool location from the patio, somewhere between 7'and 8'. There really isn't any rhyme or reason on where I put it.

I like your #3 better than #2. Neither look like a dogleg which is what I thought you were asking for originally? I had trouble locating your property line(s) from your original posted plan and Google Earth but admittedly, I didn't spend much time looking.

If I have some time tomorrow I'll draw the #3 design since I like it more

 

[grumpiebk]

Thanks, Brian. I liked 3 the best as well. I just couldnt get my hand to do the sweeping free form curves that make it a little less cookie cutter. I like your design and how it maximized poolside deck space. All of my designs have been a little cramped.