We are still in the design phase with 3 PBs to get quotes, but started this whole process with our own sketch of what we wanted, so the designs are substantially similar. We would like to get some feedback to see if there are improvements possible with our design.
High Level Summary
45’ x 28’ Free Form Pool, 906 sqft
7’ Circle Spa - Raised 30", 2 seats with 5 jets (3 for the back, 2 for the legs)
4’ to 8’ Depth Profile – 4’ for half of the pool, then grading down to 8’ for the deep end
9” Shelf
Dolphin 15.5’ Water Slide
3 Water Sheers
3 LED Bubblers on the Shelf
3 Benches
Natural Gas Fire Pit
Approximately 1,085 sqft of new decking covered with tumbled travertine, plus approximately 300 sqft of existing patio to match
Our backyard backs up to a creek which has a couple of bike trails behind us that get moderate use, so the wall at the back of the pool (12" high over the primary deck) is trying to strike a balance between adding some privacy while we are using the pool, while not completely blocking the view out of the back of the yard. The idea of sinking the deck around the fire pit was in the same vein of trying to not block too much of the view out of the back of the backyard. The steps down to the fire pit do chew up a little bit of usable deck space, but hopefully the built in benches around the fire pit will help to make up for some of that.
We have a 5 year old that swims like a fish and an 8 month old. My wife used to be on the swim team in high school, so that was one of the motivations for trying to make the pool longer so that laps could be reasonable.
You can ignore that the hand rails for the stairs up to the slide are unreasonably short, they will be raised to a safe level. That is still a work in progress with the designer to get those heights squared away.
Equipment
PEN R171096 - Pentair Chlorinator 320 in line
PEN 011056 - Pentair Inelliflo 2 VSF Variable Speed x 4
PEN 160332 - Pentair Cartridge 520sqf Clean and Clear Plus
AIR 6316220F - Air Supply Silencer Blower
PEN 460736 - Heater Penair Mastertemp 400k BU Low Nox Natural
PEN 601013 - Intellibrite 5g color LED lights x 4
PEN 360323 - Kreepy Krauly 930 Robotic Cleaner
PEN 602056 - Pentair Colorvision Bubbler with Globrite LED Lights x 3
PEN 602133 - Pentair Microbrite Color LED Light Combo kit x 3
PEN 521105 - Intellichlor IC60 Salt Chlorine Generator Cell
PEN 521908 - Pentair Intellicenter i10PS
PEN 521377 - Pentair IntelliPH
We are planning on going the SWCG route, though only 1 of the PBs didn't give me any grief about it. One of them is heavily trying to sell me a UV + Ozone system, and the other is trying to sell me a UV system plus in-line chlorinator. The other two haven't explicitly told me that they won't do a SWCG, but it is going to be a condition of finalizing any contact with them. We will also plan on going the robot route for the cleaner.
Questions
High Level Summary
45’ x 28’ Free Form Pool, 906 sqft
7’ Circle Spa - Raised 30", 2 seats with 5 jets (3 for the back, 2 for the legs)
4’ to 8’ Depth Profile – 4’ for half of the pool, then grading down to 8’ for the deep end
9” Shelf
Dolphin 15.5’ Water Slide
3 Water Sheers
3 LED Bubblers on the Shelf
3 Benches
Natural Gas Fire Pit
Approximately 1,085 sqft of new decking covered with tumbled travertine, plus approximately 300 sqft of existing patio to match
Our backyard backs up to a creek which has a couple of bike trails behind us that get moderate use, so the wall at the back of the pool (12" high over the primary deck) is trying to strike a balance between adding some privacy while we are using the pool, while not completely blocking the view out of the back of the yard. The idea of sinking the deck around the fire pit was in the same vein of trying to not block too much of the view out of the back of the backyard. The steps down to the fire pit do chew up a little bit of usable deck space, but hopefully the built in benches around the fire pit will help to make up for some of that.
We have a 5 year old that swims like a fish and an 8 month old. My wife used to be on the swim team in high school, so that was one of the motivations for trying to make the pool longer so that laps could be reasonable.
You can ignore that the hand rails for the stairs up to the slide are unreasonably short, they will be raised to a safe level. That is still a work in progress with the designer to get those heights squared away.
Equipment
PEN R171096 - Pentair Chlorinator 320 in line
PEN 011056 - Pentair Inelliflo 2 VSF Variable Speed x 4
PEN 160332 - Pentair Cartridge 520sqf Clean and Clear Plus
AIR 6316220F - Air Supply Silencer Blower
PEN 460736 - Heater Penair Mastertemp 400k BU Low Nox Natural
PEN 601013 - Intellibrite 5g color LED lights x 4
PEN 360323 - Kreepy Krauly 930 Robotic Cleaner
PEN 602056 - Pentair Colorvision Bubbler with Globrite LED Lights x 3
PEN 602133 - Pentair Microbrite Color LED Light Combo kit x 3
PEN 521105 - Intellichlor IC60 Salt Chlorine Generator Cell
PEN 521908 - Pentair Intellicenter i10PS
PEN 521377 - Pentair IntelliPH
We are planning on going the SWCG route, though only 1 of the PBs didn't give me any grief about it. One of them is heavily trying to sell me a UV + Ozone system, and the other is trying to sell me a UV system plus in-line chlorinator. The other two haven't explicitly told me that they won't do a SWCG, but it is going to be a condition of finalizing any contact with them. We will also plan on going the robot route for the cleaner.
Questions
- We are leaning towards using glass tile for the raised wall at the back of the pool and for the spa surround that is over the water, primarily due to concern with calcium build up and any potential adverse impacts that the salt level might have on some sort of split faced travertine over time (especially under the water sheers and spa runoff). From an aesthetic standpoint, I am just wondering if that is going to be too much glass tile and end up looking tacky. If you think that it might look tacky, any other recommendations that we could consider? Am I being too cautious about using a stacked stone type of facing for that area?
- We raised the spa 30" relative to the primary deck to allow for a nice jump off spot into the deep end of the pool (off of the spa coping, which will be 15"-16" wide). The two large steps leading up to the spa are 6" each, so that for getting into the spa, the edge of the spa will only be 18" relative to the ground at that point. Jumping from the coping will be approximately 35" down to the water (30" from the top of the spa coping + 2" of deck + 3" of waterline tile before the water). I am wondering if 7' deep should be sufficient for this type of jump, or if it should be deeper for safety. I'm not envisioning that this jump will be used for real diving into the pool, but more for cannon balls other similar non-diving jumping into the pool. Any thoughts on the depth? My main concern if I go deeper is that I want to keep at least half of the pool at 4' deep. I could potentially go as deep as 9 feet before I start hitting up against the code requirements of only 1 foot of depth decrease per 3 feet of horizontal run before I start cutting into the shallow area, but not sure if it is necessary or worth the extra money to go that deep.
- Are there any concerns with how we tackled the elevation changes up to the spa or down to the fire pit?
- We are still thinking about what we want to do with the wall that wraps around the spa from and aesthetic stand point. Not sure if we will just do regular stone, or some sort of split faced travertine to match the deck, or maybe some stone mixed in with deco tiles that match the waterline tile? My dad suggested putting a fire feature there (like a torch or something like that) but my wife had some safety concerns. I also considered maybe putting a water sheer there, but not sure if it could reliably clear the spa coping and make it into the spa. Any interesting ideas?
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