The Ultimate Guide to Building a Custom Swimming Pool
Making the decision to custom build a swimming pool in your backyard is very exciting! Many people envision their children laughing and splashing in the water, their friends sitting around with cold beverages, and neighborhood BBQs with the pool being the main centerpiece. But building a pool is a major construction project, and the vision sometimes gets lost with the noise of the yard being dug up and construction workers milling around.
This article will help those future pool owners understand what’s really happening during the process and keep the vision of the finished product in their heads.
The first step is the fun part and that’s designing your swimming pool! A qualified team of contractors and designers will sit down with you to decide what type of pool you would like. They will take into consideration what your needs are and what will be most suitable for your yard. You will choose things such as the pool’s shape, the color, and the different materials that will be used.
Before any excavation is begun, a representative of the company you have chosen will come to lay out the new pool in your backyard. This layout will show where your pool area will be, where the deck area will be, and where the location of the pool equipment will be. This will all be based on the custom design you have chosen. After you approve the layout, the building process can start!
The next step is the grading and excavation. The excavating equipment will be brought in and the digging will begin. It usually takes about one full day to dig out the pool area and remove the soil from your yard. If there are soil or rock issues to contend with, it may take longer than one day.
To protect the pool from ground pressures, steel is brought in next. Steel-reinforcing rods, or rebar, are placed inside the pool area. These will travel along the bottom, up the sides, and around the perimeter. After this is done, the plumbing and electrical can be completed. Plumbing crews will install the proper piping to clean and purify your swimming pool. The electricians will also hook up to your main electrical service and connect the pool equipment and lighting. A concrete mixture called gunite is then applied. This is applied with a lot of pressure so it can bond tightly around the steel reinforcing rods. This reinforces the steel and gives it much more strength.
The swimming pool tile is installed next. This will be installed up to what will be the waterline in the pool. The coping, or the ‘lip’, of the pool, may also be installed around the perimeter of the pool at this time. Tile and coping are available in a wide variety of colors, designs, and textures. You will have chosen these when you were designing your pool. The decking will be installed after the tile. This is an important part of the design as it frames and accents the pool. The materials can be concrete, brick, or stone.
Next, the pool equipment set will be placed on a concrete pad and be made operational. The pool will then be covered with a strong, waterproof finish that will seal the pool and provide the finishing touches. There will be different colors available that will affect the color of the pool when reflecting the sun.
After that, your pool is finished! All it needs is some landscaping, some patio furniture, and voila! Your vision has finally arrived!
