Swimming Pool Builders
Working with Swimming Pool Builders
Author Jeff HalperBackyards are perfect entertainment areas, especially when outfitted with custom swimming pools. Swimming pool builders can make it happen for you, whether you want a pool at your existing home, are in the middle of new home construction or need to remodel an outdated pool.
Swimming pool builders are the people you call upon for the actual construction of the pool. Typically their work includes digging the ground and shaping it into the desired contour. The next step requires installing rebar which forms the supporting framework of the pool. Next comes applying the gunite to the shell, followed by plastering it.
Before you get to the point of hiring a swimming pool builder, though, here are some decisions to consider:
Decide whether hiring a general contractor, also known as project designer, makes sense for you. The benefit and beauty of working with a project designer is that they will take your ideas, dreams and desires for your pool and integrate them into your overall landscape design.
Perhaps your patio design has an outdoor fireplace that will serve as an auxiliary focal point. Or you may have an outdoor kitchen that would create a natural opening onto the pool. A project designer will ensure that all the zones of your landscape design work in relationship with each other.
An additional advantage of a project designer is financial. A project coordinator can schedule the different contractors, such as the swimming pool builder, the tile and brick layers, and the electricians, so that the work progresses in a timely fashion. This oversight is critical to ensure that the time schedule is adhered to and the work flow is logical.
Think through how you and your family intend to use the pool and what features would enhance your pleasure. How about adding a spa or cave, natural falls, a pool water fountain, a slide or diving board? Or maybe bubble-jets, spillways and vanishing edges? All these features add to the fun and the visual ambiance.
Be cognizant of any existing material choices, as in a mature landscape and on the exterior of your home. In landscape design vernacular, the term “deck” refers to both a wooden deck, most often attached to the house, and the decking, usually some kind of masonry or stone, around a luxury swimming pool.
Materials selected vary with personal preferences, design considerations and your preferred budget. For pool decking, surfaces like stone, brick and concrete are beautiful and durable options. These non-slippery products are especially valued for wet areas around a pool.
Plan for the extras. As with all bodies of water, your motto needs to be safety first. A wrought iron fence with ornamental iron gate that encircles the pool lets you control access in a prudent manner.
Landscape lighting is another feature that creates additional pleasure. It not only makes the pool safer at night, but allows you to enjoy the pool at night even when you’re not in it. Few elements in a landscape have quite the visual power created by the interplay of water, light and shadow.
Exterior Worlds has been providing landscape services, including project management for swimming pools construction and remodeling, to upscale neighborhoods in the Houston area since 1987. Call 713-827-2255 for a consultation.
For more the 20 years Exterior Worlds has specialized in servicing many of Houston’s fine neighborhoods.