Just wanted to share my 3 year project with some people that can appreciate it! This has taken me 3 years but I did it all by myself in the spring, took the summer off to enjoy and picked back up in the fall. My wife and I bought this house 4 years ago and it was a foreclosure that we found in the winter (in NH). We had no idea what was under the safety cover until the snow melted and we found an old pool. It clearly haden't been opened in a few years, was missing the diving board and some other fun stuff but we got it open. The deck was concrete that was cracked up something terrible and dangerous. The right side had only a 36" path before a fence and a dropoff.
I started by constructing a retaining wall to extend the pool deck on that side.
The retaining wall is 6' high at its peak and 80ft long (This picture was taken before the final 2 layers were added to hit the grade of the new pooldeck):
This spring I ripped up the old pavers, backfilled up to a new level and graded/packed it.
Picked out new pavers and began the 1400sqft install (All the pavers that meet up with the edge of the pool were set in construction adheasive so they would lay down tight):
I wanted to keep the diving board and the height of it (Get crazy air off this thing) but it looked goofy so I decided to build a base out of the old pavers to act as a platform/steps and a place to mount to return waterfalls:
That got fully covered in stone facade and additional pavers.
In the end I think it came out great and really takes a basic rectangle pool and gives it some distinction:
I couldn't be more happy with the result and for ten's of thousands of dollars saved over contracting it out.
The last step I have to complete is a knee wall that will border the top of the retaining wall and then it's DONE!
I started by constructing a retaining wall to extend the pool deck on that side.
The retaining wall is 6' high at its peak and 80ft long (This picture was taken before the final 2 layers were added to hit the grade of the new pooldeck):
This spring I ripped up the old pavers, backfilled up to a new level and graded/packed it.
Picked out new pavers and began the 1400sqft install (All the pavers that meet up with the edge of the pool were set in construction adheasive so they would lay down tight):
I wanted to keep the diving board and the height of it (Get crazy air off this thing) but it looked goofy so I decided to build a base out of the old pavers to act as a platform/steps and a place to mount to return waterfalls:
That got fully covered in stone facade and additional pavers.
In the end I think it came out great and really takes a basic rectangle pool and gives it some distinction:
I couldn't be more happy with the result and for ten's of thousands of dollars saved over contracting it out.
The last step I have to complete is a knee wall that will border the top of the retaining wall and then it's DONE!
Just to lay the pavers (not build the diving board setup/fountains or grade out the base) the labor alone would have been $14,000. The retaining wall, add another $7,500. I would think the diving board setup would have been another $2k in labor but never got it priced. 
