Yorkieabroad

If ours was going to be attached to the house, it would need to be about 75 x 75' which I'm guessing would be a) fairly pricey and b) not very popular with the dreaded HOA because we back onto a lake and are pretty open at the back. I've only seen one in our area, and that does look quite sizable, but is in an enclosed back yard, so not so obvious. I'm guessing it was built by a Fl implant

Bink

Modified the design to switch the spa and the fire pit - much prefer it this way around. I was going to put the fire pit on the main patio area but I like it in a separate area - need to drop it down to grade though and probably make the patio around it a bit bigger but the basic layout is right for us I think.

Uncle_Bob

I'm sure that will look great but thinking about actual usage i would prefer the firepit closer to the house and not at the end of the yard.
I would probably have it at the left of the patio area. Is the firepit standalone or is it on a gas line?
Are the trees ornamental or are you planting for shade? For shade I would move the trees off the patio area and out into the yard adjacent to the patio. Queen palms planted in clusters of 3 look really good around pools and give a decent amount of shade.
I've been unlucky with tree roots pushing up concrete and brick borders over the years. I'd probably just have a couple of holes for seasonal umbrellas.

Also what about a built in BBQ?

It would be good to see some photos when its all done

Bink

I never realized how many decisions need to be made when putting in a pool!
The fire pit is a dilemma. On the one hand it would be nice close to the house and the spa then in the winter we can have the fire pit on jump out the spa and huddle round the fire pit. On the other hand I like the idea of separate social spaces in the yard where people can congregate. I don't want to touch the left of the patio area as that is intended to be a seating area and I'd quite like to keep it that way. This was my alternate layout:



The trees are predominately to frame the waterfall/slide and I'm not really expecting them to give me shade. I intend to put holes in for umbrellas to provide shade. I need to talk to the builder about root barriers and making sure nothing damages the pool...!

Yes there are plans for a built in BBQ. this is already going to cost me an arm and a leg so I'm not even going to fool myself into thinking I can do it all now. I intend to put it under the patio as I like to grill all year round and I'd like it covered. I will get them to run a gas and water line to the pillar and tie it off when they do the decking so I don't have to dig up some of the decking in 2-3 years time! Oh and the fire pit is going to have a dedicated gas line.

Thanks again for the comments - it's really good to bounce ideas around and get different perspectives as we don't want to get the design wrong and regret it. At the end of the day it's all personal preference and I just hope we've thought of all eventualities and are happy with the decisions we make!

Orangepants

Looks gorgeous - a couple of features that our designer suggested are a inbuilt seat, just along from the waterfall in the deep end so you can sit in about a foot of water with a hole for a parasol and also the hole for a parasol on the tanning ledge. Love the shape of the spa. I prefer the firepit away from the pool.

Uncle_Bob

The best feature I've seen is a large waterfull with a bench underneath. Very cool because you are in the pool in the shade with the relaxing sound of the waterfall. They do small spa sized pools here with the bench under a waterfall. I think they call them spools or something.

joto

It does look like a nice design, but personally I wouldn't have the small plants at the right side of the pool and make it a bit more patio, but still leave the palms there. Have you thought about possibly needing a fence around the pool in case of any stray kids.

Bink

Thanks for the suggestions - I haven't added the seating in the pool yet, we wanted to get the general layout sorted first but we will add some benches or more likely some bar stools into the pool.

I think we will do this, I just want to make sure it doesn't stick out too far as I know people will jump off the waterfall (it's about 8ft deep).

The trees are the only part of the landscaping that will be done initially. The decking is quite expensive so I may leave it as is and see if I want to add any more although I don't want to overdo the decking and have it feeling too concretey (yeah I know it's not a word! )

As for the child safety - we're still considering our options. I like the net type fencing with poles that can be removed in the future and the holes filled with caps. We have a 20 month old boy so it's a real concern of ours. Our back door is already alarmed, I think I'm going to add an additional deadbolt but I still want something around the pool too. Any other options are welcome! We looked at the safety nets (not a cover but a net) that get tensioned so that although a limb may fall through no main part of your body can touch the water. The problem with these is they're fine for winter when you're not using the pool but I'm not going to put it on and take it off every time we want to swim so I don't think it's a very practical solution.

Weeze

Honestly all the child pool protectors are a pain, just a different pain. With the kiddy catcher nets you have to wind them in and out. With the removable poles that the holes are drilled into the ground, you need to move the fence in and out.

We currently have a removable fence that separates the patio from the pool. I'm going to eventually change it so that instead of the pool being fenced off, I have a fenced off play area instead. Then I know they have a safe area to play, but the fence is built into the garden rather than be a pool screen.

Uncle_Bob

I have a very obstructive bad looking pool fence around my pool. You can see part of in in my first photo on page 4 of this thread.

When we moved in we had no fence, all the code required was the 6 foot property wall and self closing sliding patio door, with a 6 foot high opener on the inside. The self closing sliding door never worked properly, they stop working if people try and slide the door closed rather than let it slide closed, or the door rollers get blocked up with dust/sand over time.

As soon as my wife got pregnant the pool fence went up. I looked into the temporary ones and mesh ones etc but knowing me i'd forget to put it back up after taking it down. Friends of ours had a removable fence, then they wanted to adopt a child so they had to have someone come and inpsect their home. He ended up having to have a permanent fence installed.

Uncle_Bob

Are only option was the permanent fence. We just thought put it up, get the kids in swim classes and swimming then take it down.

There are so many stories of drownings here. My wife is a RN at Phoenix Childrens hospital and she sees it all.

On memorial day weekend we saw a medical helicopter take off from the park just 6 houses down the road. Two year old girl visiting the property, got out through the dog door. Gone.

So when i take my fence down i will get the self closing door thing working again.

Also with all the excitement in desiging your nice new pool i would urge you not to forget to add it to your homeowners insurance for structure damage and liability.

Yorkieabroad

I like the design - its a bit different to most. If it was me, I'd go with the firepit in the location as in the last photo, and move the spa to where the circular patio is, but pool designs are vey individual, and everyone has to go with what works for them.

On the safety fence, personally I'd go with the mesh fence if I were you, as its easy to removed once your son is old enough/competent enough for that to happen, and reliable enough to keep the curious toddler out. Friends have a net, and they are meticulous about putting it on/off (I don't think I would be) and it only takes them a little over 5 minutes, but they have quite a small pool. But accidents can still happen. Just after they moved into the house, and before they had installed the net, we were having a playdate over there. Our daughters were about 2, and they were all playing inside. I was on the patio grilling hotdogs, with my back to the pool, and the music was on. No-one was swimming, so no-one was watching the pool. First I knew there was a problem, the mom came charging outside and went headfirst into the pool fully clothed and pulled her daughter out. The girl had got out the back door, out the screen room door, straight across the patio behind me and went into the deep end without a sound. If the mom hadn't seen her.......
I think there is more chance of stopping that sort of accident with a fence.

Yorkieabroad

Ps - some neighbours had one of those alarms fitted that goes off if it detected someone falling in the pool. Total waste of time and money - it worked on detecting ripples in the water, and was forever going off just because of the wind effect across the water. They had it set to the least sensitive setting, but it still had so many false alarms as to be useless (and annoying cos it was loud!)

Michael

Put a collar around your child's neck that rings an alarm if he/she goes near the pool and tell him/her this is the latest fashion.

Bink

Thanks Yorkie. We want to watch TV in the spa (lame but the truth) so that's why it's where it is. We are trying to break the norm around here and be a little different but we also want it to meet our needs. Met a second pool company today who really only wanted to build their pool not our pool. He really didn't appear to be listening to us when we said we didn't want to go the traditional lagoon route that's very common in our area. I guarantee that's what he comes back with.

Regarding child safety our back door is alarmed which is a start. The first pool guy we spoke to recommended putting a 4ft child gate outside the back door so even if the door gets opened the child gate has to be too. I think we'll end up going for the mesh fence. It would be nice for him to play outside without us constantly having to run after him worrying.

Very scary story about your friends daughter. That's why I want to try and childproof the back door as much as possible too. It's just an additional preventative step