Update following very helpful meeting with landscape architect: he felt the pool in front would not "tie into" anything else in the landscape; it would be "orphaned" in a hole carved into the woods. And he agreed with me about the oddness of it from the perspective of the house. So we looked at the side location, and he suggested extending an existing stone retaining wall, which would connect the pool to the side of the house, and would move the pool area up the hill, which would mean cutting fewer trees, which would mean better screening between us and our next door neighbor. And crucially, the wife approves. So I have a track to run on. We also spent time going over pitch and drainage. I'll draw up and post a sketch.
Dirk, thanks for the numbers and the pointer about not skimping on the decking. On building projects I usually double my cost estimate and triple my time
And I'm totally with you about doing visuals and mock-ups before setting in stone.
Those are good dimensions to have Newdude, thanks. I also was interested in your concrete wall suggestion from my other thread, and am trying to see if anyone nearby installs them.
Bmoreswim, what a sweet layout, and thanks for providing dimensions. I had actually noticed those pictures on other threads. I've been charting sun and shade for a few days to figure out how much clearing is needed. It should get unobstructed sun from 8 AM to 4 PM (bankers hours). And yeah, Maine leaves are epic - one of my best purchases was a walk-behind blower. So an automatic cover will keep leaves out of the pool. What happens to leaves with a solar cover?
Thanks all for this great info, so nice not having to reinvent the wheel.