We bought this house in December, because we needed a larger place, as we are in the process of adopting a 13 year old son. We also have a 2.5 year old biological son.
Originally, the back door from the house went to the deck, and then steps went from the deck to the pool area, and then you'd access the yard by exiting the pool gate that was close to the deck.
DCF said that wasn't safe; that the steps couldn't go directly into the pool area. We also wanted an outdoor shower because the 13 year old is black, and showering before/after pool will help him take care of his hair. (And, I had a version of the shower at our old house and really liked it!) We'd like to totally redesign and rebuild the entire deck, but that isn't in the financial cards any time soon.
So in February, I build the lower deck that matches the height of the pool deck, where I was able to then move the steps from leading to the pool area, to the new lower deck, along with steps leading down to the yard. (The original steps from the pool area to yard were very wonky anyway.) This also allowed me to finally use the slide I picked up at a garage sale last year! 2.5 year old is happy about that. And I moved the pool gate to the left about 6 feet because it was right next to the new steps. I also made it swing out instead of in, because I'd read the suggestion that if it didn't happen to latch and a toddler were to push it, you want it to push in and latch, not open to the pool area.
We couldn't do the shower set up next to the house where, plumbing would be simple, because of space limitations and drainage. I didn't want soapy water draining into the pool. So the shower area was incorporated into the deck design.
Of course, with the shower being far from the house I have to think about potential of freezing in the winter. And I didn't want the shower to be fed by hose hookups like it was at the old house because of how far away it was and not trusting anyone to remember to turn those off. Thankfully, the basement corner of the house next to all this is the mechanical room with easy access to the plumbing and all that.
So here is what I did:
In the basement, I tapped into the hot and cold water lines. From there, the water goes through shut off valves. After the valves is a T. One leg of the Ts go to a mixing hydrant that is inside the pool area. The other leg of the Ts goes through another set of shut off valves. From there, the lines exit the house under the basement and follow the underside of the deck, stairs, and lower deck. Under there is a set of Ts, leading to the shower and a set of hydrants mounted on the side of the lower deck.
When it is time to winterize, I will shut off the first set of valves. Then I will open hot and cold in the mixing hydrant, the shower, and the lower hydrants. That will allow all the water to syphon and drain from the entire shower system. Then, I can close the second set of shut off valves to prevent water from flowing to the shower area, and reopen the first set to restore water access to the mixing hydrant. I might decide I want to use it to run warm water up to the front of the house to wash a car or dog or something. (Hot water hose hook ups are very handy, I don't know why that isn't more standard.)
I may decide to get a blow out hose hookup and pressurize it, but I do think it will naturally drain very well. I used PEX, so even if a little water somehow got trapped (I wasn't able to achieve a perfect slope) it should be fine if that froze. Never fear, all the exterior PEX is jacketed to protect from UV light degradation.
It took all day to get it set up, and everyone else was in bed before I had things cleaned up. I went up and down A LOT of stairs between going in and out of the basement and garage and all that. And I was muddy from crawling under the lower deck.
So that first shower last night felt FANTASTIC! I'd thought about jumping in the pool after showering, but I was really warm and the pool water is still pretty cool, so it didn't seem as appealing as before when the 13 year old and three friends were swimming earlier in the evening.
I still need to do a little cleanup and need to touch up the paint where I removed an unused phone line hookup, but we're getting there!
Originally, the back door from the house went to the deck, and then steps went from the deck to the pool area, and then you'd access the yard by exiting the pool gate that was close to the deck.
DCF said that wasn't safe; that the steps couldn't go directly into the pool area. We also wanted an outdoor shower because the 13 year old is black, and showering before/after pool will help him take care of his hair. (And, I had a version of the shower at our old house and really liked it!) We'd like to totally redesign and rebuild the entire deck, but that isn't in the financial cards any time soon.
So in February, I build the lower deck that matches the height of the pool deck, where I was able to then move the steps from leading to the pool area, to the new lower deck, along with steps leading down to the yard. (The original steps from the pool area to yard were very wonky anyway.) This also allowed me to finally use the slide I picked up at a garage sale last year! 2.5 year old is happy about that. And I moved the pool gate to the left about 6 feet because it was right next to the new steps. I also made it swing out instead of in, because I'd read the suggestion that if it didn't happen to latch and a toddler were to push it, you want it to push in and latch, not open to the pool area.
We couldn't do the shower set up next to the house where, plumbing would be simple, because of space limitations and drainage. I didn't want soapy water draining into the pool. So the shower area was incorporated into the deck design.
Of course, with the shower being far from the house I have to think about potential of freezing in the winter. And I didn't want the shower to be fed by hose hookups like it was at the old house because of how far away it was and not trusting anyone to remember to turn those off. Thankfully, the basement corner of the house next to all this is the mechanical room with easy access to the plumbing and all that.
So here is what I did:
In the basement, I tapped into the hot and cold water lines. From there, the water goes through shut off valves. After the valves is a T. One leg of the Ts go to a mixing hydrant that is inside the pool area. The other leg of the Ts goes through another set of shut off valves. From there, the lines exit the house under the basement and follow the underside of the deck, stairs, and lower deck. Under there is a set of Ts, leading to the shower and a set of hydrants mounted on the side of the lower deck.
When it is time to winterize, I will shut off the first set of valves. Then I will open hot and cold in the mixing hydrant, the shower, and the lower hydrants. That will allow all the water to syphon and drain from the entire shower system. Then, I can close the second set of shut off valves to prevent water from flowing to the shower area, and reopen the first set to restore water access to the mixing hydrant. I might decide I want to use it to run warm water up to the front of the house to wash a car or dog or something. (Hot water hose hook ups are very handy, I don't know why that isn't more standard.)
I may decide to get a blow out hose hookup and pressurize it, but I do think it will naturally drain very well. I used PEX, so even if a little water somehow got trapped (I wasn't able to achieve a perfect slope) it should be fine if that froze. Never fear, all the exterior PEX is jacketed to protect from UV light degradation.
It took all day to get it set up, and everyone else was in bed before I had things cleaned up. I went up and down A LOT of stairs between going in and out of the basement and garage and all that. And I was muddy from crawling under the lower deck.
So that first shower last night felt FANTASTIC! I'd thought about jumping in the pool after showering, but I was really warm and the pool water is still pretty cool, so it didn't seem as appealing as before when the 13 year old and three friends were swimming earlier in the evening.
I still need to do a little cleanup and need to touch up the paint where I removed an unused phone line hookup, but we're getting there!
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