Pool design tips,tricks,ideas

[CwD]

Hey all, I am glad I found this forum prior to moving forward with the build. You all are very knowledgeable as I have read through ALOT of threads already.

We have been contemplating building a pool for awhile now, and with how much our 2yo loves my dads pool its time we bite the bullet. We have met around with several PB in the area none of which have given us any design or ideas that we truly loved. In fact alot of them used the majority of the stock design plan that came with the house, and we specifically told them we were not huge fans. (Which i will attach for all to see). I have an extensive construction background so I decided that I will tackle the build myself. I have all subs inline already, our only hold up is the "design"

I was looking to see if anyone here is good with this aspect and can shed some ideas possibly. My thoughts were to try and keep the spa near the outdoor seating/TV/Kitchen area as opposed to the opposite direction. Because our back porch is over 1000 sqft under truss, i really do not want to create a HUGE deck and just create what is needed to make everything usable/enjoyable. The one design i put together which i will attach, we both sort of liked and with some tweaking i think it might be good. My concern is that it is more square than rectangle. (21x25) I am concerned with how that might look.

Any advice, tips, tricks, ideas would be greatly appreciated. Looking forward to posting my build on here shortly!

 

[bmoreswim]

Hello! Looks like a fun project. Can you post some pictures of your space and maybe an aerial shot? That is very helpful in making design suggestions. Including north, wind directions, and any other relevant details. And footprint restrictions. Is SFL south Florida?

 

[CwD]

I will get some actual pics of the back yard. But I am able to attach an aerial now. This was taken in January in the middle of our 90degree "winter", and it appears to be morning time so the shade that the roof pitch casts will be cut in half come the middle of the day, but still prevalent (5-6' from edge of house)

The back of the house is facing north, our winds go in all sorts of directions but E/W is predominant I would say. There are no footprint restrictions, just budget restrictions

 

[mariane]

Welcome.
Which way is north?
Where will the pool be located?
How big of a foot print will it be?

 

[CwD]

If you are looking at the aerial view the top of the picture is north. Foot print I want to stay between 350-400 for pool, 100-120sqft sunshelf, and a 6x6-7x7 spa

 

[GP2]

What pool depth(s)? Raised spa? Do you want the sunshelf close to the house and in the shaded area (from the aerial picture), or outside of that shaded area?

 

[CwD]

I want the sunshelf to be in the sun, so away from shady area. Right now (summer) there is not a shady area, so I am glad that I looked at this aerial to remember.

Pool depth preferably 4-6.5’
We are going back and forth on a 12” raised spa or a flush incorporated spa

 

[kimkats]

The blue is the swim lane, the orange is the shelf, the purple is the spa.

NOW if I got my way the shelf and spa would be gone and the "foot" of the L would be a 4' play area! The "top" of the L would be diving depth (8 or 9').

I do worry with the spa blocking any of the sight line into the pool from anywhere by the house.

Tell me if you like my idea or not and why.............I have more ideas!

 

[CwD]

Kim,

With an unlimited budget I do like that large lap pool. However it is def. not in our price range. The house is 70' wide, we are looking to keep the pool around 350-375sqft and a decent sized sunshelf. We are trying to keep as much of the design on the right side of the aerial because it is an unobstructed view from the living room/kitchen. I am almost thinking that a free form might be in our best interested to utilize the space the best

 

[kimkats]

Okay so what about this one? The orange is the shelf and steps. I was only to do one set of steps but that double set sure looks neat. The lighter orange on the other corner is a swim out kind of bench for that area.

Likes and not likes on this one

 

[GP2]

Since you mentioned freeform. . . we were putting together a design at one time that had both geometric and freeform elements. We ended up doing something different but I always thought it was a neat design. I was curious what it would look like in this space so I modified the general idea to the rough sizes you mentioned for sunshelf spa and pool and here's how it came out. . . maybe it will give you some ideas. 2 Layouts with spa and sunshelf swapping places.



General 3d view with raised planters/no wall in back, or raised planters and raised wall. (Don't pay attention to the slope of the floor in these)

 

[kimkats]

OH MY! I LOVE that design!!!! I hope they consider that one!

 

[CwD]

Wow, GP2. Honestly we fell in love with that instantly. She’s sold. Sending off now to requote some pricing. Thank you!!

 

[kimkats]

sweet! I like the one with the shelf by the house the best.

 

[bmoreswim]

Combo geo/FF pools are some of my favorites. When done well, the look fantastic to me.

 

[GP2]

Agree with Kim, I also prefer the one with the shelf by the house, especially if you decide on a raised spa - better visibility of activities in the pool, and with a sundeck that large you'll have a nice wide stretch of water from front to back which is nice if thats your primary viewing angle. Also that layout isnt as much of a squeeze at the outside corner of the patio/bottom left of the pool. You could even slide it over to center the sundeck more on the patio.

* Correction on a measurement in earlier post! You may have noticed already, but in the drawing with the spa on the left, the length dimension is actually 27'-6" instead of 25'! I edited the post above to correct the dimension. The drawing with the sunshelf on the left has the correct 25' dimension. Sorry for any confusion!

Here it is @25' for comparison but I doth think the look is quite as good.


Regardless of the design, its definitely worth laying out the pool in the yard and fully painting the pool/spa/planters/benches to get a better feel for the design in real space and the size of everything.

Things to think about:
- Sunshelf size and water depth
- Bench locations and size
- if you do planters you can see better with the paint what diameter you like (for proportion and depending on what you want to put in them). I'd paint the outside and inside diameter. The current drawing is 5' outside diameter on left planter and 6' diameter on right (so 3' and 4' inside diameter). You may prefer to change the size or do them both the same size.
- if you wanted water features, we were thinking sheer descents from under the coping of the planters (hard to see in the 3d drawing but they're there)
- Decking for walkways and furniture. Deck loungers take up a lot of space at 7' long. Sun shelf is currently 10'-6" from patio.

As you look at the drawings more, and if you see it painted on ground you'll think of more variations like below to consider, and what you like most will settle-in. . .

 

[CwD]

as much as we loved the designs up above by GP2, they just were not going to be able to fit in the budget. Here is a new design, with the help of GP2.... Thoughts / input?

Thoughts on a 3 vs 4" main drain stack? How many jets (supplies??) would you put in the main pool? I am looking at going with nicheless globrite lights.

 

[Sollace]

I do worry with the spa blocking any of the sight line into the pool from anywhere by the house.

Tell me if you like my idea or not and why.............I have more ideas!

I love those homemade plans ) We've gone thru a few of our own.
A spa can be at pool water level. I've seen spas within the pool where the walls of it are submerged. I don't think you need to worry about line of sight with your spa. If you want it by the house, get it by the house.

 

[Sollace]

I have a bunch of pool pictures and landscaping saved - Here is an example of a spa on the same level as the pool. Forgive me I can't remember which site I copied this from )

 

[kimkats]

Thoughts on a 3 vs 4" main drain stack

what are these? Not hear of this name for some thing.

How many jets (supplies??)

I think this is what we call a "return" as it returns that water to the pool from the filter. At least 4 but no more than 6.

What is the depth of the pool?

I would take the squares out on the step side of the pool. If they are left that area will be a pain to keep clean.

Kim