Tips on Designing Pools: Add a Splash of Color!

If you are renovating your pool or installing one in your backyard, colors can definitely make or break your design. Complementing your pool’s shape, size, and water features, color can give your pool its distinct personality that could also mirror your own.

Here are some ideas on how to add a splash of color to your pool design:

Thinking Outside the Rectangular Box

Pools must be rectangular—so say Olympic pool builders and no one else.

The truth is pools can be any shape you want, and the only limiting factor to your pool’s design is your imagination. You can discuss your ideas with pool builders to come up with a pool that’s uniquely yours, from the shape to the color scheme. If you need inspiration, perhaps you can take a cue from these one-of-a-kind pool designs from various places across the globe.

Addressing Swimming Pool Safety Issues

While swimming pools provide homeowners with great opportunities to relax and have fun at home, it has to be acknowledged that they also pose safety hazards, especially to families with young children. With this in mind, it is important to identify and address pool safety issues during construction to thwart potential accidents in the future.

Handrails and steps are important to allow swimmers to easily get in and out of the pool. These fixtures should be easily seen, such that users can readily spot and grab at them, especially during an emergency. Lighting fixtures should also clearly illuminate all rails, steps, and fences to avoid nighttime accidents.

If there are kids in the family, the pool should have a shallow end which children can safely use. Likewise, depth changes should be properly marked to warn kids if they’re about to go out of their depth. A safer solution is to build a separate, shallow pool for them.

Meanwhile, pool openings, like those that connect to the pumps, drains, and filters, need to be covered to avoid entrapment from a drain’s suction. Dual drains at least three feet away from each other can reduce suctioning force. Additionally, accidents can be prevented if guidelines in pool use are set, and strictly observed by swimmers.

In-Ground Swimming Pool Does Wonders for Your Home

A swimming pool can definitely spice things up in your home. Not only does it increase your home’s curb appeal; it also opens you and your family to a wealth of outdoor activities and health benefits. While you might be tempted to go with an inflatable pool to save on costs, investing on an in-ground swimming pool can prove more beneficial in the long run.

First, an in-ground swimming pool essentially turns your house into a vacation home; you won’t have to visit the community pool to take a dip! Second, an in-ground pool is undoubtedly more durable than a portable or an above-ground pool. If your home gets hit by a storm, you can rest assured that your swimming pool will remain intact.

Third, in-ground swimming pools provides strong aesthetic value which you can enhance with proper landscaping. In fact, a permanent swimming pool makes the perfect foundation for designing your backyard!

You only have to be prepared to regularly maintain your swimming pool. Cleanliness, sanitation, and pool safety are just some of the things you have to watch out for. Thankfully, reliable pool companies can be counted on to help you with the basics on in-ground swimming pool operation and maintenance. 

Choosing a Type of Pool for your Home

When you’re thinking of having a pool installed for your home, the main decision to make is what type of pool you want. Right now, there are three types available on the market.

Concrete Pools

Concrete pools are custom-built and can be molded into any size or shape. They are often called gunite or shotcrete pools, because concrete is applied by being shot from a “cement gun” onto steel-reinforced walls. Once the concrete dries, there are several options: it can be plastered smooth, painted, finished with a textured aggregate surface or have tiles placed over it. An alternative to the gun method is to have the pool formed similar to how house foundations are laid down. This is usually done when the pool is on a hillside, to ensure stability. 

Vinyl Pools

Vinyl pools are built by attaching the vinyl liner to a reinforced frame made of steel, aluminum, or non-corrosive polymer. They can be easily constructed, usually within one to three weeks, but are easily damaged by pets, sharp object, and even pool toys.

Fiberglass Pools

Fiberglass pools are tougher. Built by simply inserting a factory-molded fiberglass shell into a hole, installation can easily be done within a day. However, because of its pre-molded nature, it only comes in a few shapes and sizes. It also has a higher price tag than the other options.

Landscape around Your Pool for a Perfect Yard

A backyard pool is a feather in the cap of any homeowner. However, a pool looks incomplete without additional embellishments or aesthetic fixtures. For one, you need to do some landscaping done to truly turn your pool into your backyard’s centerpiece. Here are some landscaping ideas:

Use a variety of plants. Plants can transform an aesthetically bland pool into a tropical paradise. The assortment of greens softens the harsh lines of swimming pool equipment, and helps the pool blend more naturally with the environment. Growing them tall enough also provides a “privacy screen” around the area.

However, you need to be careful in choosing which plants to use. Avoid water-seeking or “thirsty” plants. Thirsty plants and trees often have massive root systems that can find its way through your pool’s shell and destroy it over time.

Put up fences. Fences serve as a safety net, especially if there are children around. Choosing the right design can also improve your privacy. In the event that you don’t like how a fence looks, you can always ask your contractor to drape vines or put plants over it to soften the sharp edges while adding privacy to boot.

Build a patio and/or gazebo. Also known as a pool deck, a patio serves dual-duty by acting as a slip-resistant foothold and providing additional aesthetic appeal. Gazebos provide maximum convenience too, allowing people to lounge beside the pool and relax in the shade.

Choosing the Right Pool for Your Home

Having a pool built for your home requires careful planning. The main decision that you’ll have to make is what type of pool you want installed. There are three types to choose from:

Concrete pools. Also called gunite or shotcrete pools, these are considered the most popular of all inground pool types. These pools are built by pumping concrete through a hose, then shooting the concrete onto steel-reinforced walls. Once cured, the concrete is plastered, troweled, smoothened, and painted on. Concrete pools are advantageous mainly because of their durability, as they can withstand most regional climactic conditions. Concrete pools are also highly customizable.

Fiberglass pools. Unlike their concrete counterparts, fiberglass pools aren’t built on-site; they’re often made in factories using giant shell-shaped molds. They’re simply set into a pre-excavated hole, and this simple installation method allows the pool to be fully usable within weeks or even days—depending on the construction conditions. Compared to a concrete pool, a fiberglass pool is easier to maintain. If you don’t like waiting for weeks or months before you can enjoy a brand new pool, then this type is for you.

Vinyl pools. Vinyl-lined pools practically combine the construction methods of both concrete and fiberglass—the lining is pre-fabricated, then put into an excavated hole lined with steel-reinforced concrete walls. Like fiberglass pools, vinyl-lined pools are also easily maintained and quickly installed; you could swim in it within weeks.