My house is near the top of a hill but my lot is significantly sloped. Think 25 feet from the top to the bottom difference in elevation. A channel drain wouldn't cut it on my lot. It just depends on how much water you get. All parts of the high side of my pool are at least 6" above ground so the lot can be sloped to guide the water around the pool. How much slope is there above the wall? Is it pretty flat or does all the water flow downhill to the wall?
Its not too bad of a slope at the top of the hill. I think the channel drain will be sufficient. I think now the only question is whether I should grade down the area in front of the wall a bit so we don't have to set the pool 9" on one side. What do you think?
Also, update: layout inspection happened today (was pretty uneventful), onecall is done, and excavation likely to begin tomorrow. The only thing holding up excavation is that the ground is still a bit wet from the rain we got this weekend (.5 in puddles in front of the wall). We'll be playing it by ear tomorrow to see how bad we'd tear up the yard if we started tomorrow.
Sidenote: learned an interesting thing from the inspector. City of Austin required a fence around the pool. If you're using the fence around the property that includes the house, you have to get window and door alarms everywhere. Won't matter for me since I'll be doing a mesh fence around pool, but interesting (btw, this is 2012 International Residential Code).
Another update: I've started to look into Belgard porcelein pavers for the coping (specifically Quarziti 2.0). They look awesome (like quartzite), they're incredibly durable and salt water resistant, and they don't seem too expensive. Only thing is that they are only 3/4 in thick so I worry about aesthetic. Has anybody ever done porcelein pavers for coping?
Another random question: for the excavators tomorrow, we're trying to finalize seating plans. Thinking a swimout on left side by deep end and possibly. Bench seat in the circle on the right in the shallow...? I don't know very much bout this.
I keep realizing updates. One more (I think): went to go order a rainfall waterfall descent. Realized a huge gotcha. The rainfall kind cannot work very well on a curved wall (you cannot cut the lip to shape). Therefore, I ordered the standard sheer descent instead. Was wanting the sound and aesthetic of rainfall, but oh well.
Thanks,
Andy