What would you do with this wall?

[vapool]

We’ve hated this water feature since we built the pool. Long story, but PB added it on for free due to issues with our build, and it’s not what we wanted. Now that we’re renovating, we‘re going to convert the single pipe fountain into a waterfall coming out higher up between the tile and flagstone.

Now I’m torn, though, between keeping the wall with the 6x6 tile, or putting in more of a flagstone look (while keeping with the 6x6 waterline tile). My hesitation, though, is that the wall is too small to support this look. Am I overthinking this? What are your thoughts?

Thank you! (And please ignore the calcium stains!)

 

[Texas Splash]

The wall itself appears to be about 12-18" deep, is that close? Do you have any more room or flexibility behind there? I ask because there are some nice artificial rock waterfall features that you might consider if you're interested.

 

[kimkats]

First off your other PB = sigh....................really? just a single jet???????? I can see why you have never liked it.

Are you going to remove the 6x6 waterline tile? If so with what? There are several things you can do with the wall:

-rock waterfall like Pat talks about

-Accent wall with BLING tile

-Stone

-flagstone

I have them in the order I would do them. Love the waterfall idea. The BLING is next (some will be very surprised I did not put the bling as #1 LOL)

Kim

 

[vapool]

Thanks…there is about 3 feet of clearance between the back of the wall and the property line fence. And my husband’s beloved banana tree is right behind the wall, so I would have to do some major convincing to get him to tear that out, lol! The wall itself can’t be removed (I don’t think) without damaging the integrity of the pool itself. Dumb question probably, but are there any rock waterfalls that are able to be placed over the existing wall?

We’re replacing the existing water tile. With what, I’m not certain yet (but open to ideas!). Will likely stick with some sort of 6x6 tile since we’re trying to keep costs down as much as possible

 

[kimkats]

but are there any rock waterfalls that are able to be placed over the existing wall? we’re trying to keep costs down as much as possible

See what I did up there? Your PB might have a stone worker that could do it but it is going to cost you a pretty penny.

 

[vapool]

Thanks...I'll check with our pool guy to see how much we're talking about. He will have to do some destruction/reconstruction to move the pipe, so who knows. I guess I was kinda hoping there was a faux stone wall that could just be placed over the existing wall, lol!

 

[JoyfulNoise]

There’s no drop-in waterfall for what you have, it has to be constructed. You don’t have a lot of room there and it’s likely that you’d violate building code if you construct anything into property line setback (typically in most areas, building codes call for a minimum setback of the property line that you cannot build in. Landscaping is fine).

You could easily add a sheer descent instead of that (hideous) single pipe. The sheer would simply be part of the wall and set into in such a way that you can’t really see it. Some can even be installed with lighting embedded in it so the sheer water stream lights up. That wall is just c-block sitting on top of the bond beam of the pool and so it’s not really that hard to demolish it and put up something new as long as it is engineered properly. You have the plumbing line there so that’s easy.

Stay away from stone veneer and stacked stone. If you think the calcium build up on tile is annoying, then you’ll absolutely hate it on stone. And it’s 10X harder to clean stone than tile. Stick with a nice porcelain tile. I’m also not a fan of glass tile - it looks nice but installers rarely do a good job and it’s harder to clean (and easier to scratch) than porcelain.

If you want to avoid efflorescence issues and make the tile easier to clean, then make sure that any wall work includes a water barrier under the tile (Laticrete HydroBan) and that the tile is set with a high quality epoxy glue and finished with an epoxy grout, not cement thin set and grout. Epoxy is completely water proof and, once set in place, it’s resistant to most chemicals that one would use to clean calcium scale. Cement based tile setting products tend to wear down with pool water exposure and are not acid resistant.

 

[vapool]

Thanks Joyful Noise -- our plan is to do a sheer descent. And yes, we're right about at the easement with the edge of the pool, so I guess we won't be able to go back any further. My husband will be pleased that his banana tree gets to live