Engineered Rock Waterfall

[LuschMommy]

Hi everyone! It’s almost my dig date (Nov 5)!! We’re working with a landscaper to turn what will be the post-build war zone into a backyard oasis. It’s exciting! Our backyard backs up to a road. In order to drown out that noise, our landscape suggested that we incorporate a water feature. We do have a bubbler in our Baja shelf, but I imagine that is more of a hot tub noise than waterfall noise. While my wish list has a never ending budget, reality is different. Does anyone have experience with the engineered rock waterfalls kits? Any pros and cons? I'm concerned of the cost of a "real" rock waterfall. If we had a budget of say $3,000, could we add a decent water fall (2-3 feet tall and 5-8 feet wide-ish), or am I just dreaming? Thank you for your advice!

This probably isn't our final design, but below is the layout that we're working on so you can see where the waterfall might be located.

 

[HermanTX]

See the picture of my waterfall. it was put in a long time ago and it is not a kit, but you can estimate todays cost by determining the price of 2 1/2 to 3 tons of rock (include delivery & installation) and add in pump and piping.

 

[Dirk]

The water running and splashing from the fall into the pool will likely (very likely) cause two issues. It will cause your pool's pH to constantly be on the rise and require the regular addition of muriatic acid to counter the affect. You'll need to add acid regularly anyway, especially the first year, so maybe adding more each time to be able to enjoy the fall will be OK for you. Or you could automate the acid additions (I did). Also, those types of water features tend to develop white effervescence where the water and rock and sun meet. It can generally be cleaned with the right product and a lot of elbow grease.

Not discouraging the running water, just preparing you a bit.

Or do what I did, I placed a stand-alone fountain near my sitting area and enjoy that ambient "natural white noise." No cleaning issues, and doesn't affect the pool's pH. Arguably not as attractive as a water fall spilling into a pool, but I'm lazy so it doesn't cost me any effort. Trade offs...

PS. Have you run that diving board past your insurance company? If not, you should...

It looks to be a very nice design. No wonder you're excited! Congrat's on the build!!

 

[ajw22]

Outdoor speakers and sound system can give you any ambiance sound you desire. I would not install a waterfall for the purpose of drowning out road noise. That is just adding noise on top of noise.

 

[LuschMommy]

@Dirk I hadn't gotten that far into my considerations yet, thank you. I only got to - Oooh how pretty!

@ajw22 You're right, noise on top of noise isn't ideal, but in between cars, it would be pretty.

I'm just starting to research, so I appreciate all of the feedback.

 

[mguzzy]

I love my waterfall. But I don't run it all the time. Its just not feasible, why waste the energy when no one is there to see it. So I flip it on when people are around that want to enjoy it. Some waterfalls are really loud and it is as AJ sez just add more noise. I like being able to run my water fall in at different speeds.. blasting for when the kids want to play in it and a trickle for the fen sheu effect. As to the constant traffic noise noise barriers combined with white noise generators might be your best bet.

 

[LuschMommy]

@mguzzy Is your waterfall the pre-fabricated kind, or true rock? My pool builder sent me a message saying they only do true rock waterfalls and the pricing starts at $18,000.

 

[mguzzy]

Define "true rock"... Some people think you have to bring in gigantic igneous boulders to qualify as true rock.. Mine is made from moss rocks that is used in a lot of landscaping that are mortared together in a pile. I like the look. Here's a pic

 

[LuschMommy]

That is lovely! I think that’s the look and size that we would want, but $18,000 is way out of our price range.

 

[mguzzy]

Have your PB show you an 18K waterfall, then show him a pic of my waterfall and ask him if its the same price. I'm curious to know.