pool renovation/what do you like best about your pool

[zlinda]

I live in Missouri City, TX and have a 30 year old free form pool in dire need of renovation. I would like to know what people like best about their pool so I can get some good ideas for the renovation. I am working on getting a quote from Pool Pro who has been taking care of my pool for 15 years. I am still in the deciding process of what I want. They have also remodeled many pools in my area and people seem to be happy with their work.
I plan on adding 2 new sections of decking and resurfacing the new and old deck with stamped concrete. The pool will get new plaster and tiles. I would like to raise the sides of the hot tub so the water will flow forming a little waterfall. I would like to add a long weeping wall to one side and have a shelf about waist deep below the length of it to sit on. My pool is average size, the deep end is 9 feet. It used to have a diving board but it was old and I got rid of it. I was thinking of putting a diving rock there now. I am trying to create a tropical feel for my pool. I have 35 year old oak trees in my back yard that I am leaving in. The landscaping will not exactly be tropical but I would like the pool to look that way.
I have looked at so many beautiful pools on the internet, it seems that there are lots of options. It is hard to decide what to get. I would hate to have it all completed and wished I would have gotten something else added.

 

[anonapersona]

All the spillover features will tend to push pH up if your tap water and thus pool water has high TA. I find it really hard to get to the 60-70 TA I need for stable pH when tap is 340 TA.
Resist the urge to go with colored plaster. It raises water temp, and in this heat I think it must be hard to get color even, mine is so splotchy,even with barely pale grey, or maybe that is scale from high pH. Not sure what was expected by the owner then but probably not splotches.
I love my Aqualink control system. I love the look of the rock edging but wish rocks were not below water line as it is impossible to keep them brushed clean. I love having lots of umbrella slots in the deck, both sides of the spa, both ends of the pool where tables might go.

 

[zlinda]

I had not thought about umbrella slots. Sounds like a good idea, I find we gravitate towards the shaded side of the pool. I will check my TA of tap water, and will place all rocks above the water line, thanks for the tips. I won't put a dark plaster color in the pool, you are right, it gets hot in texas.
Thank you for replying,
zlinda

 

[anonapersona]

One more thing, if you are considering a waterfall. I do enjoy the massive waterfall. One problem it creates is that since I only want to run it sometimes, algae trends to grow there. And mosquitoes. So I must run it a few times a day to keep some chlorine in it and for long enough to flush out mosquito larvae. If it were constructed such that it did not hold pools of water that would not be such an issue. I do enjoy the birds that come to bathe so in that regard it is a self cleaning bird bath.
And be sure rocks are sealed. Once inflorecense starts, waterseeping in then out of rock carrying minerals to the surface, resealing is too late.