Install Swimming Pool in your Home
Adding a swimming pool to your home can be a great way to enhance your lifestyle and property value. However, it is important to carefully consider the costs, benefits, and logistics of pool installation before making a decision. This article will provide you with an overview of everything you need to know about installing a swimming pool in your home.
Different Types of Swimming Pools
The techniques used and the models available in the private pool market are extremely varied depending on budget, space available, access to the pool, etc…
Overall, installers propose 4 general types of a pool :
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Natural Pools:
Also known as bathing ponds, these pools are simply dug in the soil. There is usually an ecological filtering system made from aquatic plants integrated into the pool. These pools need no special administrative formalities and are not subject to property tax, you can also create a garden around swimming pools read more here.
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Above Ground:
This general term comprises models that vary from inflatable pools to pools made from wood. What they all have in common is that they are either posted on the ground or partly buried in the soil. In theory, their installation needs little or no excavation work. They are usually delivered in ready-to-use kits. As they can be technically dismantled and moved around, they are not subject to property tax and don’t require any special administrative process.
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Polyester Molds:
The technology of these swimming pools is mastered today. They are molded in one piece in factories that use the same methods as those used in naval construction. Their dimensions are limited by the problems of transporting them. Their shape is fairly standardized. Their installation requires that the ground is excavated beforehand and that the site is rendered accessible for delivery.
Once the mold is installed, the sides of the pool must be fitted with copings whose function is to maintain the pool in the ground. These types of swimming pools are durable and therefore require planning permission from the local authorities before installation. They are also subject to property tax.
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Concrete Pools:
These are the top of the range in private pools. They are built using different techniques like precast concrete, reinforced concrete, breeze blocks, etc… The owner can choose the shape of the pool – it can be at ground level or have small artificial islets, etc.
Dimensions vary according to the space available. You should count two months between the digging of the hole and the fitting of the lining (tiles, liner, or paint). These highly weather-resistant pools require planning permission and are subject to property tax.
Swimming Pool Facilities
The swimming pool is an excellent place to relax. To make the most of your pool, the facilities around it, like the copings, the edges, or the surrounding paved area should be aesthetic and practical to use.
These facilities should bring together practicality, fun, good taste, and security. When choosing a pool, you should first consider the delicate balance between these elements. Even a standard pool can be personalized by a wise choice of facilities.
These facilities can differ greatly, depending on your desires. The choice of wooden surroundings, which give a natural, rustic effect, has been in fashion in recent years, giving the pool a convivial touch. But be careful…wet wood can be slippy! And if the surface isn’t flat, puddles will form and wood in constant contact with water will quickly age and become tarnished.
Wooden planks require regular maintenance if you wish them to keep their original color. Concrete is less “warm” and isn’t as pretty to look at. Reconstituted stone tiles are better, as they are easier on the feet and porous enough to stop slippy puddles from forming.
The copings should not only be nice looking but should also be soft to the touch, especially if you have children! The sides of the pool should be curved and smooth, otherwise, children will get scratched every time they get out of the pool! Particular attention should be given to irregular-shaped concrete pools.
A careful mixture of concrete, wood, and grass can give a beautiful effect. Artificial islets, fountains, and cascades will also add to the beauty of your pool. The correct choice of materials will make the pool a pleasure to look at. For example, the cascades can be decorated with natural stones or rocks, which give a wild, natural effect to the pool.
Either way, the pool should be perfectly integrated into its surroundings. The same goes for the pump house, whatever the size, which should be integrated into the enclosing walls of the pool or an adjacent building.
It could also be built with the same materials as the surrounding buildings. Note that it is strongly advised to keep natural elements like lawns and trees at a distance from the pool, as they need to be protected from being repeatedly soiled every time someone gets out of the water.
Install Swimming Pool Liner
The liner is a PVC coating system for pools. It is an inexpensive way to waterproof the pool. It has the advantage of being comfortable to walk on and is long-lasting.
The pool liner has revolutionized the construction of swimming pools. It is the most popular way of coating pools throughout the world. Before it appeared, it was expensive and complicated to waterproof a pool.
Liner a highly resistant PVC coating. It consists of a large pocket that is fitted flush against the walls of the pool, and as it is flexible it is efficient even for swimming pools with irregular shapes. It is easy and inexpensive to Install a Swimming Pool and is perfectly leakproof. It is kept in place by the weight of the pool’s water. It is pressed against the walls of the pool, thus taking its form, and it is soft and smooth. The pool must always be filled with water, as it is the water pressure that holds the liner in position.
There is a very wide range of pool liners. The least expensive are the thinnest ones, having a thickness of 0.45mm. minimum. The most expensive can be up to 0.85mm. thick. The thicker the liner, the longer it lasts.
Generally speaking, a good liner will last around 10 years. If your swimming pool is used intensively by children, you can opt for a liner that is reinforced by the presence of a sheet of polyester which is inserted between two sheets of PVC.
Many colors are available, depending on the manufacturer. Sky blue is the classic color, but liners with decorative prints are becoming more and more popular, giving a touch of originality to the swimming pool. Friezes can also be added to plain or printed liners to personalize them even more.
Read more: How to Build a Garden Around a Swimming Pool
All liners on the market are treated with polyvinyl chloride, a perfectly resistant material, which protects them from the effects of ultra-violet light, allowing them to keep their color longer. Other treatments, like that against the development of fungi, can be added. You can also treat against bacteria, staining, abrasion (by applying a varnish), and so on…
The Overflowing Swimming Pool
The overflowing swimming pool is a beauty to behold. The horizon line melts into one of the sides of the pool. The optical effect is spectacular, especially if the horizon is made of water!
What makes this type of swimming pool particularly aesthetic is the optical illusion it gives: one of the sides of the pool melts into the horizon line! To achieve this 3D effect, this side is not visually limited by coping. The pool thus overflows on one side to give the impression of infinite space.
This type of swimming pool differs technically from a standard pool by its filtration system and the absence of a coping. The traditional skimmer is replaced by a system of channels protected by a grating or by a secondary swimming pool on a lower level out of which the water to be filtered is pumped and redirected towards the main pool. The water circuit is therefore different and necessitates a powerful pump because of the difference in the levels of the two pools and because of the amount of overflow needed to provide the optical illusion.
Read More: Things You Need to Know Before Installing a Swimming Pool
The type of overflowing pool you can create is limited only by your imagination. Apart from the imaginative and aesthetic aspects of this type of pool, the main advantage of it is to provide bathers with a water surface that is always clean. All floating particles are pushed to the overflowing side of the pool. The main swimming pool, therefore, gets less dirty than a standard pool. The grease from sun lotion, for example, which tends to deposit on the surface of the water by bathers is quickly evacuated into the secondary swimming pool.
Another advantage is that the swimming pool appears to be bigger than it is! However, this type of pool is much more expensive than a standard one.
The Reasons for this are:
- the pump must be powerful enough to take in the amount of water necessary to provide a nice optical illusion.
- a system of floodgates must be installed to stop the bathing pool from continuing to empty itself into the secondary pool in the event of the pump breaking down.
- a secondary pool with a capacity of at least 5% of the main pool must be built – this adds to the total cost of the pool considerably.
- a specialist must be consulted to ensure that the horizon line melts into the overflowing side of the basin, thus guaranteeing a perfect optical illusion.
Choosing the Perfect Location of a Swimming Pool
The installation of a swimming pool must meet both technical and aesthetic demands. Before starting work on it, the ideal location should be carefully thought over.
Going for a swim in your pool is a special time of the year. The location of the pool is, therefore, a choice not to be rushed into. Exposure to the sun is the first criterion to be considered. Avoid putting the pool too close to the house or a wall, as these will put the pool in the shade at some time of the day. The more the pool is exposed to the sun, the warmer the water temperature will be.
The same goes for exposure to dominant winds – if the pool is in the path of northern wind, this will quickly cause the water temperature to drop. On top of this, getting out of the pool will be a rude awakening, rather than a prelude for a siesta!
The pool should also be located far from trees. Trees not only bring shadows but also unwelcome guests like birds, which will quickly soil the clean pool water. And in the autumn, the leaves will fall into the pool, making it difficult to keep it clean! Add to these constraints the need for privacy from the neighbors and the desire not to damage the aspect of your house, you soon discover that choosing the location of the pool is not an easy task!
Flat, well-drained ground
Apart from the technical and aesthetic aspects considered above, the physical make-up of the ground must be taken into account. The swimming pool should ideally be placed on flat, solid ground. Even if it is possible to Install a Swimming Pool on the sloped ground, the water flowing downhill towards the pool will cause untold headaches! And if water flows beneath the pool, it will become more and more unstable over time.
For swimming pools made of concrete, the drainage beneath them is very important if you wish to avoid cracks in the structure. For molded pools, the water pressure beneath the floor of the pool may also cause irreparable damage: the mold could be pushed out of its pit by the pressure of the build-up of water underneath.
Frequently Asked Questions About Pools
What are the Things Every Pool House Needs?
If you already have a pool or are thinking of putting one in, go that one step further and increase the value of your property by adding a pool house. Even if you have only a small space you can still create a useful pool house that can include a bathroom and shower.
Choose the right sort of non-slip flooring such as sandstone paves because you will find that people will be walking through straight from being in the pool. If you have a larger back garden you might want to include a whole entertainment area with comfortable lounges, a television and stereo, and even a kitchen with a water purifier.
Practical design
You want your pool house to be a practical area so before you come up with a design think about what you will be using it for. If you just want a bathroom and shower to stop people walking through your house with wet bathers then you won’t need to go overboard.
If you have the space, and you are the type of people that entertain often, you can build a pool house that doubles as an entertainment area. You don’t want your garden to look too cramped either, so perhaps a design that incorporates a more open front that has large folding doors that can close against bad weather.
Flooring
Although a pool house is essential for an indoor room, remember that it is another outdoor space and part of your pool area. Your flooring should be hard-wearing and preferably non-slip as people will be coming in wet from the pool.
You can continue your outdoor pavers on through into the pool house, and with the choice available today they will look as good as any normal tiles. Sandstone pavers are a good choice as they are non-slip and have a lovely natural look. You can always put rugs down under your lounge suite or other furniture.
Storage
Storage is one thing everyone runs out of quickly so it is a good idea to build extra storage space within your pool house. Large cupboards and deep drawers that can hold extra towels and everything you need when you are outdoors by the pool are handy, and you might want to include storage space on the outside wall of the pool house for your pool cleaning equipment and pool toys.
Furniture
To create a whole other living area furnish your pool house with a comfortable lounge suite and places to relax. You might even want to use the space as a games area with things like a pool table. Choose furniture that is a little more hard-wearing as it is likely people will sit on it with wet bathers.
Kitchen
By having a kitchen in your pool house you can turn it into a great entertainment area. Include a fridge and storage for utensils and crockery, particularly larger cupboards that can fit your platters and big salad bowls. Having a sink for washing up is handy, and you might want to install a water filter so you also have pure fresh water on tap.
Where To Store Your Pool Chemicals When Not In Use?
One of the most well-known aspects of pool maintenance is that one must use special chemicals to clean the pool and rid it of unsanitary bacteria that might infect the waters you’d like to swim in. However, despite this being a very commonly understood practice, the methods by which one should properly store these harmful chemicals are much less understood. Given the fact that most of these chemicals are naturally corrosive, it is obvious that they should be handled with extreme care and stored in very secure places so nobody gets injured by the loose chemicals.
One must understand that the majority of these chemicals are very hazardous and when they come in contact with the human skin they can cause severe irritation. In the unfortunate event that these chemicals may contact with the human eye blindness might be the result. The risk of these occurrences happening, however rare they may be, should give great cause for concern over how securely these chemicals are stored.
It is incredibly important to understand just how hazardous your pool’s chemicals are. They are very flammable and corrosive, scratch that which means they can not under any circumstances be stored outside where the sun’s rays can reach them and potentially make them explode. In addition to being explosive, their corrosion levels are so high that if they spill from the bucket in which they are contained they can not only burn human skin but also ruin the woodworking of your deck.
Given how dangerous these chemicals are to the touch, as well as how flammable they are when exposed to extreme heat, the best place for them will be somewhere cool and secure so children cannot get to them and injure themselves on accident. One of the most common, as well as the most secure locations for these chemicals, would have to be a personal garage.
Storing these potentially harmful chemicals in your garage is an excellent choice because you can put them in special cupboards with locks on them so children and pets can get to them. Additionally, your garage will be covered well enough so that the sun’s rays cannot get the chemicals enough to potentially cause them to explode.
If you follow these instructions and keep your chemicals in a safe location then you will be much safer than you otherwise would have. One should also pay close attention to the special instructions which might come on the side of the bucket of chemicals as these instructions might have additional information on how to safely store pool chemicals.
What are The Right Pool Pumps for Pool Specifications?
A pool pump plays a very important role in keeping your swimming pool spic and span. It is very crucial to install a pool pump that promises not only efficiency but also a great quality that ensures your and your loved one’s safety while enjoying the pool. Installation needs a lot of your decision-making as far as the setup is concerned.
You always need to meet the specifications that your own pool requires; do not just make combinations for pool equipment on your own! Choosing the right stuff can prove to be very rewarding but when you choose the wrong equipment, it will be very costly for you and your pool. So be sure to choose the right pool pumps!
Pool pumps come in many different sizes for different types of pools. Apart from the variety of pumps, there are also different types of pool pumps for in-ground or above-ground pools. The above-ground pool pumps usually have a filter for the collection of dust and require occasional maintenance.
A pool pump requires a nice and sturdy swimming pool pump motor to keep the pump going. You want a motor that is energy efficient and can do the job well and fast. You might encounter problems with above-ground pool pumps when you apply the wrong water pumps, filters, and purifier equipment. So I suggest that you do your research on what type of equipment you may need for your specific pool size.
Remember that you need different parts to maintain your pool properly. Pool covers are great when it comes to keeping debris out of the pool. Pool cover pumps help in a big way in trying to keep the water clean. Though these pool maintenance parts require only a minimum amount of attention, but they get the job done.
How to Organize Safety and Security Around the Pool?
Having a pool is lots of fun, but it’s also lots of responsibility as well. When you have a pool, you not only have to keep it clean and well-maintained, but you also have to ensure that your family, as well as neighbors and even strangers, are safe and secure around the pool. One of the best ways to keep people out of the pool when you are not there to supervise them is to install a pool fence. A fence is one of your first lines of safety when it comes to your pool.
Another way to keep your pool safe is to install an alarm that will sound if someone or something falls into the water. This doesn’t stop people from getting in like a fence does, but alerts you to the fact that someone has gone into the water. Of course, you have to be around to hear the alarm for it to be effective.
Unfortunately, some people who have pools find that visit https://www.budgetpoolspatech.com/hot-tub older neighborhood kids sometimes like to sneak in when they think no one is home to have some unsupervised fun. This is not only dangerous to them but is a security risk to you and your property. One way to combat this problem is to install an outdoor wireless security camera.
These cameras can be placed almost anywhere and since there are no wires, they are perfect to use around the pool. If people in the neighborhood know you have a camera set up and know that they can be seen if they use your property without being invited, they are likely to avoid your house and find somewhere else to hang out.
Owning a pool requires added measures to keep people safe and to keep your property secure. By implementing a few of the measures mentioned here, you will be well on your way to keeping your home safe and secure. You can visit https://www.budgetpoolspatech.com/hot-tub to consult the best hot tub repair professionals if your garden hot tub requires pressing maintenance issues.
How Pool Lighting Should Look Like?
Installing a light into your pool can be a great way to extend the time you spend in your pool. Just like other electrical issues with your pool pump and pool cleaner system, if there is anything you are not 100% sure of, consulting an electrician is highly recommended.
Types of Pool Lights
Just like any other category of lights, there are many to choose from. There are colored light systems, where you can change the light color by turning one set off and another on.
There are light-sensitive lights that will turn on automatically as the ambient light fades at the end of the day. There are even solar-powered lights, although these do not have the strength of normally powered lights. There is such a range to choose from it gets down to personal preference.
Many lighting systems can even be flush-mounted and retro-fitted into concrete, fiberglass, and even vinyl above and in-ground pools. Don’t think because they were not installed when your pool was put in, you are limited to the cheaper versions that just hang in the water attached to the wall.
Cost
Pool lighting, like all lighting, has become very inexpensive in the last 10 years. When we were children, the cost of anything to do with lighting was astronomical. With the boom in production in China, where all goods on the planet are made, even underwater and waterproofed lighting is very inexpensive. You will find these items in hardware stores, and pool supply stores, and of course, you can always get a great deal by buying online.
Installation
Anything to do with electricity and water is very dangerous. You must always cut any power to your pool lighting system while making any changes. Make sure others in your property are aware. If someone does not know and switches the circuit breaker on you could be in serious trouble. The cost of an electrician might just well be worth it, despite this being a relatively simple job.
They do know what they are doing and their work will be guaranteed. The last thing you want is someone getting in your swimming pool and getting shocked to death. Many underwater lights will have special circuit-breaking abilities, and your home should have these functions built into the electricity system.
If you have an older home, this might not be the case. Some lighting systems also come with low-voltage transformers that allow quieter and cooler operating temperatures. Again, this might be a little tricky for the home handyman, and consulting your local electrical services supplier is highly recommended.
Maintenance
There will be a limited amount of maintenance. You will need to keep the glass clean and change the bulbs every so often. Again, this is something you should talk with your electrician about when first installing. The higher quality lights will have very long-lasting globes, and this might not be necessary for a few years.
For anyone who has a home swimming pool, this small investment is worth thinking about. The luxurious ambiance created is definitely worth the minimal cost.
How to Get Rid Of Chlorine Odors And Eye Irritation From Your Pool?
If swimmers complain of “too much chlorine in the pool” what they are noticing is too little chlorine in the pool. Sounds confusing, doesn’t it. To explain this common misconception, we need to dig into a little pool chemistry.
The “chlorine-like” odor that sometimes overhangs a pool, is the result of high levels of chloramines or combined chlorine compounds in the water. Chloramines are formed when the chlorine in your pool reacts with nitrogen and ammonia contaminants in the water. Chloramines still do have disinfectant properties but are around 70% less effective than free (or un-combined). In addition to being odorous, chloramines are also known to cause skin and eye irritation.
To get rid of chloramines and increase the levels of free chlorine in the pool, it is necessary to add a pool shock treatment. Both chlorine-based and chlorine-free shock products are available and both works by oxidizing or breaking down chloramines in the pool via a process of breakpoint chlorination.
It is important to get dosage amounts right as a shock treating a pool is an all-or-nothing process. You have to bring the water to a breakpoint chlorination threshold to re-balance the pool chemistry. Most products will come with detailed instructions. With a combined chlorine reading and an idea of the size of your pool in gallons, you’ll be able to accurately determine the amount of shock treatment to add.
Always keep your filtration systems running when you shock treat the pool. It’s also a good idea to remove any debris from skimmers and filters. If you are using a chlorine-based product, the best time to shock the pool is in the evening as sunlight can deplete chlorine. Never shock treat a pool when it is in use.