Pool spillover , Stone with a grout line or solid granite.

[Stormywx]

We are renovating our pool and our spa spillover will be 34" wide. We were originally set to have a solid stone spillover but then it was discovered the stone didn't come in a long enough piece . Our choice now is use the stone in 2 pieces with a grout line or use a solid piece of granite. I have read a few threads here that there have been issues with grout lines messing the flow of the water. I have also read that the granite should have a "drip groove" cut into the bottom so the water does not flow under and down the tile . If anyone can give me your opinions on both I would be grateful. Also the spillover will be 2" , does that sound enough to prevent the water going under and down the tile? and a square edge not round on the granite edge? Trying to educate myself on this progress. Thanks!

 

[spd500]

I am not sure I am able to answer your question, but do you have a pic of what you are trying to do? Sample pics from Google or something? My spillover waterfall has grout lines and I haven't seen any issue with them yet. We have several stepped layers of travertine on ours, so it not the same as what you describe. The only time that I have seen the waterfall run down the tile is when the pump is set to a very low speed and the water output is not enough to supply the waterfall. Here is a pic of ours for reference:

 

[lasvegaspools]

Have you looked at the metal spillways, the can be custom made to fit your specific design.

 

[Stormywx]

I'm attaching some photos of the renovation.... The spa is glass block for light reasons... the piece of stone in the pics that was originally planned for the spillover is not wide enough so the only way to use stone is to cut 2 pieces and grout them together in the center. I have read a thread on this forum that grout lines can affect the water flow ... It may really not be that big of a problem and maybe I'm making to much of it. the last photo is one I copied from the thread on this forum just so you can see the type of spill over I'm talking about .

 

[Dirk]

When I had gutters put on under my patio roof, which only has a very slight slope, the gutter guy recommended running a bead of caulk under the roofing material, right near the edge, to prevent water running back under the roof. The bead collects the water and it drips off from there. I think that's what you're asking about. I suppose a groove would work, though I think it would need to be fairly wide. But I'd go another way.

If you look under just about any granite kitchen counter, you'll see that the granite is only about 3/4" thick, and that another piece of granite, about 3/4" thick, has been glued on to the underside of the granite, flush with the front edge. This does two things: it hides where the granite meets the cabinets, and it makes the granite look like it's 1-1/2" thick. That's how I'd fashion the spill over. That 3/4" strip under your spillover would catch the water wanting to go up under, and it would make your granite look like a thicker piece. They could probably even shape that drip edge at an angle, so that the drips would fall from a point, like this (cutaway sideview):



You'd want them to do both edges, so the illusion of the thickness would be the same when viewed from pool or spa. And like a kitchen counter, you could choose the shape of the edge: square, rounded, whatever...



I'm not sure we've ever seen this done in a pool, but I can't think of why it wouldn't work...

That all said, keep in mind that on the spa side, the entire edge, above and below, is going to be underwater, so I'm not quite sure how keeping water from getting up under the granite on just the pool side is going to make much of a difference.

 

[Dirk]

If you look at the edge selection chart above, 2nd row, 4th column, that's a miter cut. It too would make the granite look about 1-1/2" thick. That's about the max for a kitchen counter, because you need clearance for the cabinet doors and drawers underneath. But for your spillway, there is no such restriction. So you could use a miter cut like that to make the granite look 2" thick, or 3" thick, whatever, if that's something you'd like.

 

[Nikilyn]

Personally, I like the look of the stone better than the granite.

 

[ajw22]

Here are a few threads about spa spillover edges...

Any ideas on how to improve the spill over from the spa?

My spa spill over curls back under the spill way and against the wall above the pool instead of cleanly spilling into the pool. The spill way is travertine with a rounded bull nose and I was trying to figure out an easy fix to make the spill work better. Thanks.

www.troublefreepool.com

Drip edge on waterfall/spillover?

I have a pool with a hot tub slightly raised from the pool. The spa "spills over" into the pool forming a waterfall. The problem is there is no drip edge so I find a good amount of water clings to the bottom of the spill way and runs down the hot tub siding... the grout in this area slowly being...

www.troublefreepool.com

Water Channel Extender for Spillover Spa?

Had my in-ground spa converted from a side drain (to holes on the side of the spa, connected to pipe running back to the pool) to a spillover. The water channel doesn't quite clear the coping stone between the spa and the pool. The channel was made from a man made concrete product. Any ideas...

www.troublefreepool.com

Waterfall spill over from the Spa to the Pool isn't falling uniformly

I had my new pool filled with water a little over a week ago, so I'm new at this and am trying to work out all the kinks. The waterfall going from my spa down to my pool isn't doing so uniformly. Is this due to the tiles not being level? Is this type of problem a common one? I wasn't sure...

www.troublefreepool.com