5 Mistakes Homeowners Make When Designing A Pool

Next to your house, your swimming pool is your biggest investment.

It’s not a place to make mistakes.

But homeowners make them all the time when they decide on pool details without consulting a skilled pool designer.

What kind of mistakes? We thought you’d ask.

Here are 5 common pool design mistakes. Naturally, we’ll also tell you how to avoid them.

Hire a Landscaping Company That Specializes in Swimming Pool Designs

Yes, you read that right. The single biggest mistake when designing a backyard pool is calling a swimming pool company, rather than a landscape design company.

A swimming pool company is in the business of installing pools. A landscaping company is in the business of transforming design ideas and building pool environments with a cabana or Mediterranean vibe for your backyard. That’s a much bigger project than just a pool.

A pool company will tell you how much it will cost to install an inground swimming pool. But what about an outdoor kitchen? Decking? Hot tub? Patio? Lawn restoration? Lighting?

Those aren’t afterthoughts. They’re an integral part of your outdoor living space. A skilled pool designer weaves it all together.

Consider an Entertainment Space By The Poolside

When an outdoor pool designer sits down with you for a consultation, one of the first questions he asks is, “Do you entertain?”

No, we’re not angling for an invitation. We want to know how much space you’ll need.

Do you have 20 family members over every Sunday for dinner? Or just that nice couple next door over for an occasional swim?

The more people you entertain, the more patio furniture you’ll need. More patio furniture means a bigger patio.

Entertain crowds, and your outdoor space will need more spots to hold them. Different levels, maybe, or a spot for a fire pit.

Maybe you figure a 600-square-foot patio sounds about right. A Neave Pools designer will paint that amount of space on the ground for you, so you can see exactly how much space it fills.

That’s your chance to say, “Wow, that’s way too small” — BEFORE the backhoe shows up.

Ignoring Your Long-Term Plan

What’s your 5-year plan for your outdoor space? Even if you plan to do your project in phases, you want to think ahead and prepare now for your plans down the road.

That might mean deciding now to have $20 worth of conduit installed beneath your new patio so that three years from now you can snake in a gas line for a fire pit. Pass up that option, and you’ll be tearing out your patio in three years to make way for the pipe.

It’s also a good idea to have the plumbing installed for pool automation in case you want to add it down the line. A skilled designer knows all this and will help you think ahead.

Passing Up A Sun Shelf

A sun shelf is a shallow section of the new pool where kids can play and adults can relax and splash their toes in the water.
Don’t think you need one? Please think again. We promise you’ll love it.

A sun shelf is perfect for everyone. Grandmothers in lounge chairs who love splashing their feet in the water. Frolicking toddlers. Lounging couples. Install a built-in umbrella sleeve, so you can tuck in an umbrella for shade, and you’re on your way to sun shelf bliss.

Pass it up, and you’ll regret it. The good news: it adds less than $1,000 to the cost of your pool.

Deciding Against A Water Feature for Your Infinity Pool Area

Even a simple pool features add the soothing sound of moving water to your outdoor experience. It makes a huge difference in the enjoyment of your pool.

It could be a small jet shooting up, a bubbler under the water, a small waterfall.

You’ll love it.

A Skilled Designer Helps You Avoid Mistakes

Mistakes can be expensive. Or they can just cause regrets. (“I KNEW we should have gone with the sun shelf!”) Either way, the expert designers at Neave Pools will help you avoid them.

Here’s a good example: elevation. It’s common to look at your yard and think it’s flat. But over the course of 100 feet, it could slope a few feet. That might not seem like much, but in swimming pool construction, it means a lot.

Maybe you didn’t want any steps between your house and the pool. But if the pool is sited too high or too low, you’ll now need several steps. A designer takes elevation into consideration as part of the entire custom pool design. An accurate, well-planned design will minimize unforeseen costs.

Why All The Questions?

When a Neave Pools designer sits down with you at your kitchen table for a pool consultation, he’ll ask a lot of questions. That’s not him being nosy.

Every question is designed to find out exactly how you’ll use your outdoor space. Do you have kids? Pets? Is your style contemporary or traditional? How many people do you entertain?

All of that information goes into his notes to help design your perfect, custom outdoor living space.

At Neave, we’re in the business of designing outdoor living environments. We’ll create the perfect plan for you — make no mistake.
But don’t just take our word for it.

Neave Pools ranked #1 in Pool & Spa News “Top 50 Builders 2016 in New York and Connecticut” and #13 in the U.S.

We also received “Best of Houzz 2016” for excellence in customer service. In 2015, Neave Pools took home seven awards for our design and construction work from the Northeast Spa & Pool Association.

We’d love to hear from you.

If you’re in the Hudson Valley, call us at (845) 463-0592. If you’re in Westchester County, call (914) 271-7996; from Connecticut, dial (203) 212-4800. Or, fill out our web form, and we’ll contact you about setting up your free consultation.