How To Pick A Diving Rock

[Easto]

I had some good success with my thread looking for assistance with our pool liner, thanks!

We were told by our pool contractor to go to the local stone stores and select a diving room in lieu of a diving board.

So we wander off to check out the stones and we really don't know what we are supposed to look for. Is there a type of stone that make for a good or bad diving rock around a pool?

We are doing a 18x36' pool, so what size diving rock should we be looking for?

How much of the rock should overhang into the pool?

 

[dmanb2b]

I have seen a few, including this monster at my bud's house last w/e...it over hangs about 1.5 ft and is about 5 ft long by a 1.5 ft thick...I have no clue what type of stone it is though, although i understand a lot of it is being sourced from the demo at the meatpacking district in NYC...the boulder on the left, next to the ladder sticking out of the deep end is what he chose...he's going for the natural look...no ladders, railing, etc.

 

[Easto]

Can you try posting the picture again, it's not showing up on my end

 

[dmanb2b]

...fixed...the stone is all the way on the left and meant to blend in with the water feature...kind of a diving rock that does not stand out as a diving rock.

 

[Easto]

My God that's a sweet setup. Ours is going to be a little more budget friendly. Our buddy has a nice backyard!

 

[geekgranny]

I really can't advise, sorry but a friend of mine has a long shear decent on most of the one side of the pool. Ever since I've known her she has had several big round white, poured concrete stepping stones (stamped with a big angels on each; each different, "stones" not secured to decking but weight held them in place and they did not hang out over edge) near that edge of pool. They looked good but got in my way when I was helping her with the pool. She just had some cool decking work done and didn't put them back. I just found out that when her grand kids were young they loved jumping off of them. 1) That's one reason she kept them all those years despite many adults complaining about them and 2) little kids can make anything into a "diving rock".

gg=alice

 

[Guest]

How 'bout when the Dive Rocks pick you? This pool is 10' deep, and we dug down 10'9" to achieve the water depth; the big rock on the right never stopped going! The homeowner (and the kids!) jump off of this rock all the time, and it is about an 8' drop

 

[geekgranny]

That is VERY IMPRESSIVE!!!! Love it.

gg=alice

 

[flagirl]

How 'bout when the Dive Rocks pick you? This pool is 10' deep, and we dug down 10'9" to achieve the water depth; the big rock on the right never stopped going! The homeowner (and the kids!) jump off of this rock all the time, and it is about a 8' drop

Talk about form following function! Creative design! Those are some big scary rocks! We don't have rocks like that in Florida!

 

[Beez]

Talk about form following function! Creative design! Those are some big scary rocks! We don't have rocks like that in Florida!

Or would that be function following form? Either way that would be loads of fun or plain scary depending on perspective. I sure would be careful about who I invited over...I cringe when I think of a small child falling off that big rock down onto the tanning ledge!

Great looking pool though!

 

[Guest]

I think the first time off (I haven't done it!) would be pretty scary, but it would be a blast after that We dug it extra deep to make it safe, and actually had some thick pads built for the ledge, just in case someone came up short I haven't heard of any accidents to date!

 

[mart242]

We dug it extra deep to make it safe, and actually had some thick pads built for the ledge, just in case someone came up short I haven't heard of any accidents to date!

Hopefully not "thick pad" as in "we made the concrete pad surrounding the rock extra thick, we don't want it to break". :lol:

 

[Guest]

We dug it extra deep to make it safe, and actually had some thick pads built for the ledge, just in case someone came up short I haven't heard of any accidents to date!

Hopefully not "thick pad" as in "we made the concrete pad surrounding the rock extra thick, we don't want it to break". :lol:

:lol: :lol: :lol:

There might have been a little bit of that, but we let structural take care of the "don't want it to break" part

 

[Guest]

That is VERY IMPRESSIVE!!!! Love it.

gg=alice

Thanks, gg! I don't build many pools anymore, but some of them look a little more challenging than others, and I can't seem to say no This was one of those!

 

[anonapersona]

Try to find a rock that will not decay. Some of my rocks (sandstone) are slowly sanding away. Both in the waterfall and a few that are in the coping of the pool. One I noticed today was only decaying on the underside where water slaps it when we swim -- I will need to keep an eye on it lest it decay enough to leak.

 

[JMarch]

How 'bout when the Dive Rocks pick you? This pool is 10' deep, and we dug down 10'9" to achieve the water depth; the big rock on the right never stopped going! The homeowner (and the kids!) jump off of this rock all the time, and it is about a 8' drop

oh that's freakin awesome!!!

 

[Guest]

Good point Flagstone (Sandstone) is very soft, and does have a tendency to "dissolve" and/or flake. We seem to see an accelerated rate of this on SWCG pools as well. Quartz, or denser rocks, holds up much better (but can still flake occasionally).