A poolside renovation or rather poolside reno as we affectionately refer to it is exciting to plan. You are probably perusing Pinterest and dreaming about glass fencing, green palm trees, and possibly a swim-up bar. However, here is the ugly reality: what appears great on Instagram does not translate to one that gets through five years of unkind sun, splashing salinity, and cyclones.
The solution is simple; to make a place that lasts, you must first see beyond the beauty of the place, and go down to the guts of the engineering. The following way to plan it will ensure a smooth outcome without becoming a money sink in the future.
Assessing Structural Integrity: Pool Shell and Concrete Repair
It is tempting to begin with the task of choosing the tile color or placing an order of new lounge chairs, but that is the quickest way to spend your money on cosmetic solutions and leave the roots of problems at the backburner. A pool is a large structural container which contains thousands of liters of water. Should that ship be compromised, not even paving at a great cost will conceal it.
A stiff examination of the current pool shell must precede the laying of a single paver. Are there hairline cracks? Is the water dropping quicker than it can be explained by evaporation? The biggest mistake of many homeowners is they resurface the deck and forget about the interior of the pool only to be forced to rip up what they have just done a year later to seal a leak.
The step where you should consider structural integrity is at this stage. You may have to:
- Remove the old interior pebble or plaster.
- Examine the steel reinforcing (cancer).
- Test the pressure of your plumbing lines.
These are some ugly jobs to tackle before your new paving is laid down. In a lot of instances, the fixing of older pools will require a lot of remediation. This process is more than just a quick fix; it’s about making sure that concrete base is solid and long-lasting as you put your new design ideas into action. These pool repairs should be given priority during the project period to avoid the tragedy of cracking your newly built terrace because a pipe has burst elsewhere on the project.
Pool Drainage Solutions: Managing Runoff and Water Flow
Drainage is one of the aspects of outdoor design that might be left unattended. It is not a sexy thing and nobody asks his friends over to show off his new strip drains. Nevertheless, there is nothing that affects the extent of your renovation more than water management.
Swimming pool decks are exposed to several water sources:
- Much water splash-out by swimmers.
- Runoff of cleaning chemicals.
- Depending on the area, heavy seasonal rains.
In case that water has no place to go, it is on the spot. Timber is rotted, and the foundations of pavers made unstable by standing water, and the breeder of the mosquito. To make things worse, when it enters your area back to your home or swimming pool, it can cause the whole structure to be sunken.
You have to take into consideration the topography of your backyard. Do you have a swimming pool at the base of a slope? Then do you have sandy earth which slips, or clay which retains water? In suburbs with coastal or wooded areas, there can be the difficulty of maintaining the existing infrastructure clear. Horror tales of beautiful landscaping destroyed by inadequate plumbing design are commonplace with us–almost as infamous to us as are the Northern Beaches blocked drains that happen when tree roots and sandy sediment join forces to block the systems during a storm.
To prevent this, you need to plan the falls (angle of the ground). Make sure that your new deck has a slight inclination out of the pool and the house, which directs the water in specific drainage inlets. When you are expanding your paving area, make sure that the runoff can be accommodated by the pits that you already have. The cost of upgrading a pipe today is much less than the cost of a swamped living room due to another La Nina occurrence.
Heat-Resistant Pool Decking and Permeable Paving Options
Now we will speak about what you really shall walk on. Whatever you are going to use as a surround to your pool must be a multitasker. It must:
- Appears luxurious.
- Have a comfortable surface that is soft to the bare feet.
- Be grippy when wet.
- Not turn into a frying pan in the face of the blazing UV rays.
In the traditional selection, such products as concrete pavers or natural stone (travertine or limestone) have been classics because they are sturdy and cool. But they may be porous, and thus may be stained by spilled wine or sunscreen, and may break when the ground moves. Timber decking is warm and nautical in appearance only that it needs to be oiled and maintained every year to prevent it becoming grey and splintery.
One of the current competitors that are finding a lot of solutions to these headaches is permeable paving. This is a system that combines natural aggregates with a clear UV stable binder to give a smooth, seamless finish. Since it is porous, water flows beneath it immediately, getting rid of puddles in the process. Resin stone surfacing is becoming increasingly popular due to its combination of durability and structure, and this has a vast selection of natural stone colors without being too hard, like it would crack.
The great thing about this option is that it is versatile. It is sometimes placed on top of an existing slab, so that you do not have to demolish a slab and incur the expenses of doing so. In addition, it has a non-slip rating that is natural so this cannot be compromised in any region where wet children will be running.
Final Thoughts
Renovation of a poolside is an important investment, in terms of emotion and money. It is where your future summer memories will be, the place that you will relax after a hard week, and a big value-add to your property.
You will not run into the cosmetic details, but by putting your money on the basics, the structural health, sound drainage, and smart material selection, you guarantee that your oasis will be as clean as it was several years ago. It is not merely a pool that will be a nice picture in the after photo, it is an area that will work all year round with ease so you will have time to play with what is really important, who is bringing the ice?