Why hire a landscape company to design and construct your pool?

Many people have this same question. They assume that a pool contractor has the needed expertise when it comes to designing and building a swimming pool. While this is true to some degree. There are problems with taking this approach. This is why I decided to add swimming pools to my list of services.

It all started by our company being called out to landscape the areas around swimming pools that were built by other contractors. It became apparent that these pool contractors were not taking into account some basic design elements that make or break an outdoor living area. I knew our company had the necessary tools and skill to do this the right way. After all when you think of it in its most basic form – a swimming pool is a water feature incorporated into your landscape.

For the most part swimming pools consist of a few basic elements that can be combined to create an endless array of designs. There is a basin that holds the water, it is usually deeper in one end and more shallow in the other. The entry for a pool usually consists of steps in the shallow end. Some real basic designs omit this. The deep end may have a ladder to get out, diving board or slide. A spa may also be incorporated. People that really enjoy the spa year round will chose to have it set up so that the pool can be closed for the winter while the spa remains open.  Water features create a very posh environment and they can consist of waterfalls, deck jets, spa jets and the list goes on. Lastly there is some form of coping.

Swimming pool contractors that are pool install specialists think up ways to combine these elements to make a pool will be attractive and offer recreational enjoyment. The down side is since they are specialists in their field they often are not well versed in home design and landscaping. This will almost certainly result in problems down the road. If a swimming pool is chosen based on the design of the pool alone, it will most certainly clash with the design of the home. Elevations are critical to have correct. If the pool is built too high than you will have drainage issues. In extreme cases remodeling the pool or re-building it will be required causing extra expenses. Did you realize that building a 20’x40’ pool twelve inches higher would save the contractor the expense of removing  roughly 37 yards of soil. That is two to three huge truckloads of dirt or roughly $1500 in labor, fuel, trucking and dumping. It’s no wonder why we see this scenario all the time. That money goes right in the contractors pocket.

Just to be clear, none of this is the pool contractors fault. They are not expected to understand these elements. They are hired to place a pool in the ground where you say you want it.

When we are called in to design a pool area, we ask our clients how they envision using the area. In fact we have a checklist covering over 80 topics that helps us design the perfect outdoor living area for you. We also show you a computer created 3-D design first. Using these methods we can give you a beautiful, durable, fun and functional living space.