Pool depth dilemma *eyes rolling*

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R

raypinciotti

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Jul 16, 2017
16
Sunrise, FL
Hey guys, new to the forum and thank you in advance for your help. We need to decide on a pool depth for a 32 x 16 pool, it'll be an old fashion rectangle. Since it is a smaller size please keep that in mind. The big problem we have in our family is that we have people of all heights and it is a wide range, the shortest is 5' to the tallest who is 6'4'' and we can't decide on something that will work for everyone. The tallest members of the family want to be able to jump into the pool feet first without hurting themselves, the shortest want to be able to not drown and walk around comfortably.

The main owners of the house are my wife who is 5'4'' and me 6'4''. No kids whatsoever.

So, we were thinking of a slope from 4 feet to 7 feet but since it is small pool we fear it might render it unusable for everybody. and the slope will never be comfortable enough to stand.

Our other idea is to make the bottom sort of like a spoon. flat and then a smaller part with 7 feet drop but we don't know if we have enough space and we don't know if it is a good idea.

What are the opinions on L shaped pools? Our other idea is to make basically break it in two and make 2 smaller pools, one deep and one shallow but we fear again it will become useless.

Help! And Thanks! :)
 
Hello there...how do you plan to use the pool? You and the wife mostly relaxing or frequent friends/neighbors? My personal choice unless you were getting a big pool would be 4-5-4 taking the wife's height into account. Reasons...total pool more useable, less money to build, possibly less issues to run into (ROCK). Just my two cents...welcome to TFP!
 
Fortunately, my wife and I both wanted a deep end so the decision was easy. It took 3 extra days of hammering solid rock to finally get to the 8 1/2 ft depth we were shooting for.

Deep pools definitely cost more to build and maintain, and are harder to keep clean. That said, it's great being able to jump and dive in. We have kids and they love it. There's something magical about being able to swim waaaay down... We'd probably do a deep end again tomorrow if we were building another pool.

Anyhow... shallow at both ends and deep in the middle is a common layout. That might be a nice option for you, especially if you're going with a rectangular pool.

Good luck.
 
My opinion - you won't be able to design a useful deep end in a pool that small. You'll just wind up with the problems you state - lots of slope and very little swim space.

A pool that size is best laid out as a sports pool - 4'/5.5'/4. You want something a little deep in the middle for you and some play area on either side.

Are you planning on having kids some day?? If so, that might change the equation for you...

Can you post a picture of your backyard layout? Where you think the pool would go, what area you have to work with?
 
Greetings. Although its rare, I might disagree with Joyful on this one.
My Grecian is 30.5 x 18.5 and I have an 8' diving well. If you like to dive, cannonball, etc. it's great ;)

I do wish our (small) shallow end was deeper, but apart from that, would not change a thing.

With that said, if you want to play volleyball in a pool like mine, you'd better be good at treading water ;) (Our version is more like dodgeball.)That's were a sports depth makes sense.

For actual swimming, floating, etc., IMHO there's nothing wrong with a slope and diving well.

I also would argue that its not especially difficult to keep a diving pool clean...particularly if you're using a robot ;)

If you have friends who have both types of pools, maybe go hang out for a few times to help guide your decision.
 
@Swampwoman, that's actually pretty interesting and it does sound like a great compromise for our situation, could you give me some more info on your pool? Could you send me a pic? How big lengthwise is your diving well and your shallow end? What kind of bottom shape did you use? Do you have a slope? How deep is the shallow end?

If you can provide me with a pic I would greatly appreciate it as I am curious on how colors look at different depths. Thanks and sorry for asking so many questions!!!
 
While my pool is larger than what you are planning, I'd say our experience from our build is that the height of the person doesn't matter so much. We have a "L" swimming pool where the shallow end is all about 3.5 ft. I don't even like being in that depth unless on my knees. I'm 5'5". I almost always enter the pool from the swimout in the 8ft deep end.

I have friends that put in a 18 by 36 rectangle pool with a slope to a 6.5' deep end. When talking to the wife, she said that was a regret. She and her husband are both taller than I and closer to 6ft tall. Her description of the 6.5 deep end was that it wasn't deep enough for anyone to dive or cannonball but too deep to stand.

It boils down to how you expect to use your pool. Being able to "stand" in a shallow end isn't as big of a deal as one might think since floating around and staying submerged is part of the fun of a pool.
 
We are in the middle of our pool build. Take a look at this post. https://www.troublefreepool.com/thr...ing-TX-by-PB?p=1264732&viewfull=1#post1264732

i wanted a good jumping area and a place for adults and kids to hang out (separately) so we went sports pool. With the gunite we got to 6.5 in the middle and the slope isn't too bad. The 4' shallow ends are right at 4.5 and 5 ft wide. We have 4 extra feet than your pool though. This was planned on a 4:1 slope
 
This seems to be the eternal topic for disagreement on the forum. Sport/play pool vs a diving well or deep end. We went the sport/play pool direction. Built an 16x36 foot rectangular pool, 3.5/5/4 depth and a 7x7x 18 inch deep sunshelf, and a 18 inch deep bench along the entire length of the pool. The pool is used mostly by adults or volleyball, water aerobics, and mostly hanging out in the water. We are very happy with it. The only change I might consider would be making the 3.5 end, 4 instead. A 4/5/4 seems ideal to me. Still deep enough to swim laps, shallow enough to stand anywhere for all but the shortest adults. But then, no one here is into diving.
 
Good morning, Ray. As chief points out, it's all about your use and enjoyment plans ;) Life is better with EITHER type of pool,IMHO!

Per your pm request, I will post a few pics of my grecian "small" 24,000 gallon pool.

Mine came with the house but I do have some detail about its construction. It was a polymer-wall package modified for our footprint, which is tight because while we have a few acres, they're on a forested hill that runs down to Grand River. (I will post a pic someone took at a party Friday night so you can see what I mean.)

So where the pool went was complicated by the fact the area was a former storm basin in the side of a hill. 3 out of 4 companies wouldn't bid it for that reason.

The contractor who did build it installed a French drain around the perimeter with a sump underneath the diving well tied into the system. They also had to do a lot of terrace work and then run the drainage all the way down both sides of the front to the ditch.

So while its a modest vinyl grecian pool in nature, in execution, my understanding is that it was something of a feat ;)

But the pool itself is just a variation of a typical Latham grecian package that likely started out 16x32 instead of 30.5x18.5.

It is a "short" pool for a diver, but if you enjoy diving, it won't matter ;) The shallow end is too shallow IMHO for turns if you're that kind of swimmer...if I'd built the pool, I would have gone 48 in the small shallow end because I do like to swim a few laps and in addition to diving, was a speed swimmer during the Stone Age ;)

With the composite wall packages, you can get deeper panels 42 or 48. Not sure about steel, but I personally like the composite.

Two other consideration with this type of pool...people who might normally "stand" in a pool without swimming or treading water will either float on noodles upright or in lounge/water hammock. Small children will ultimately be confined to a small area until they're good swimmers. I do physio every morning in it, but its not ideal if several were doing same at once due to short nature of shallow end before slope.

It does likely take more energy to heat than a sport pool, due to volume with deep end, and more run time with filter. (In FL thats not likely an issue for you...keeping it cooler might be your goal in which case, deeper is better ;)) I likely used more chlorine/bleach than those with fewer gallons before I switched to salt water generation. And I will likely pay more in cell life with the higher gallonage in swg.

For me, the trade off is worth it, because given my background, to see a pool is to dive into a pool ;)

Here are a few pics, but for diagrams, I think if you google Latham pool packages, you should be able to find some. Alternately, I can scan my diagram from the liner change sat year and post it tonight or tomorrow.

(The light is a little weird this am and the water is moving but hopefully you can make out the slopes ;))

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Our pool is 18 x 38 with 8 1/2' deep end. I love deep. Though if I ever get a pool when I'm "old" (whatever age that is) I might get a shallower one (mostly likely due to the fact that it would be smaller) in a presumed smaller lot (at the beach?)

That said, I was at a pool party this weekend (thankfully with crystal clear water) and it was 12 x 28 vinyl. 3 or 3.5 to 6'. There was a 6' 6" college guy there that could stand quite handily. He also did numerous cannonballs and can openers without hitting bottom (that I know of). Obviously if he jumps in feet first he its. You probably need 1 1/2 to 2' more depth than your height to do the "pencil" feet first jump to have some time to slow before hitting the bottom. I have 3' extra depth versus my height and love to pencil in and push off the bottom, but I'm trying to touch, not 'trying not to'.
 
Yep, all depends....My previous pool was an 18' round x 54" deep above ground. Too deep for some but we loved it, as did our 10-yr old neighbor kid...who ALWAYS swam with an adult present.

Current pool is about the size UR planning...~ 3.5' shallow end, ~ 7' deep end. Yes, it is a LOT of slope and only 1/3 of the pool is shallow end. We have no kids and few guests. If redoing the liner...and planning to stay here awhile...I would consider redoing the whole thing to 48-54" or at least filling in the deep end to that depth and keeping the shallow end.

So, my answer is definitely indefinite :)
 
Arrrghhhh, ok I'm more confused than ever. LOL. Thank you all for the support and SW thanks for the pics, your pool looks like a LOT of fun. This has been the single hardest thing to figure out , I have made faster decisions with family members in the hospital!!!!

And now thanks to Springpool my wife wants to add a sunshelf!!! (thanks buddy!) I didn't even know those existed..... I guess I'm going to have to take the hit and either give up on the deep end or make the pool bigger to accommodate everybody's needs and wants, but that means more money all around. Sigh..... I'm not kidding, I actually got a headache from this whole pool depth decision making thing....
 
Your welcome! ;)

We had the same discussions and it's all about how you want to use the pool. Once I figured out the back wall would also double as a jumping rock it sealed the deal. The only thing we didn't get was a slide. Talked about $$$
 
@Springpool . Just wondering if you have any pics you could share of the redesigned 4' 6.5' 4' pool, the ones you posted have the original idea of a slope. Which program did you use or is the designer providing them?

You commented your pool is 4 feet larger than mine so that's 36 feet , correct?

Do you think the allowance you have on the shallow ends is enough to play sports?... Thanks beforehand.
 
Just a comment, 6.5 foot depth makes little sense to me. Unless the pool is used exclusively by NBA players, the water is too deep for anyone to stand in. But then, it's too shallow for any diving. So what's the purpose?
 
I need to go measure my depths, they are 3.5 - 5.0 - 4.0 but I think they are actually a few inches deeper. The side that is 3.5 is plenty deep. We wanted to be able to play volleyball. It is fun, but when you are in the middle of the pool in the 5 foot area near the net it is still pretty deep for playing. I'm 5'7" and husband 6'1, teenage boys 5'11. We don't have our basketball goal yet but it will be in the 4 foot section of the pool.
 

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