If you are interested in purchasing a pool for your backyard but aren’t sure where to start, first knowing the common mistakes homeowners make can set you in the right direction. Every day, people end up purchasing the wrong type of pool, the wrong way, without any protection or way to turn the clock back around.
If you would instead not become one of the homeowners who wind up with a pool they don’t like, read about the common mistakes and how you can avoid them.
Mistake #1: Not Designing Your Pool for Its Intended Purpose
The term form follows function applies to pool purchasing; you need to know how to use your pool before you can design it or know what type is best for you. If you don’t yet have a concrete answer, ask yourself if you plan to use it for entertaining, strictly relaxing, exercising, or for your kids to play in the summer. Is it a combination of more than one keeping you on the fence? Write down all the reasons you want a pool, and you and your pool contractor can develop a design that incorporates all or most of your wants. For example, if you have young kids and would like to exercise in the pool, you can design an “L” shaped pool that accommodates a small area for shallow swimming and wading and a more extended area for swimming laps.
Mistake #2: Choosing the Wrong Pool Foundation
In-ground pools and above-ground pools are the two basic types available. Above-ground pools are less expensive and require less time to install. They can come in a variety of sizes. However, they are considered temporary and are not built to last. Above-ground pools also tend to be an eye sore since they often look out of place and do not blend with the rest of your outdoor space.
In-ground pools are the most popular choice because they can be customized to the homeowner’s taste, home’s aesthetic, and outdoor features. Gunite pools are popular among homeowners in Bloomfield because they are durable, sleek, and offer the most customization in shape, size, and design. They will last for years, often resulting in a property value boost.
Mistake #3: Choosing the Wrong Pool Contractor
Quite possibly, the worst mistake Bloomfield homeowners make is choosing the wrong contractor. Unfortunately, some pool developers use temporary workers to install pools; others employ installers or subcontractors without experience. Pool contractors consistently see a high employee turnover, so keeping sound, experienced staff around can be a struggle. It is your job to ensure the pool builder has a professional brick-and-mortar location and isn’t working out of their home. Ask them about their staff and for client testimonials. When you meet with them in person, be sure to ask them if they specialize in the type of pool you want if they’re licensed and hire certified contractors, if they can offer custom features, and if they can repair any landscaping they might damage during installation.
Hire a Bloomfield Pool Contractor to Design the Perfect Custom Swimming Pool
Custom, Gunite, In-ground Pools in West Bloomfield: Key Things To Keep In Mind
If you want to make your home more beautiful and functional, consider investing in a custom pool. Custom in-ground pools boost the value of your home and can be made to work around your outdoor terrain. You will also end up with a feature you and your loved ones will love. A custom pool adds elegance to any backyard space and makes the most use of it.
Whether you’ve recently decided to invest in a custom pool or you already have one, keep reading for some of the most important things to keep in mind:
Proper Chemical Levels
The hygiene and clarity of your custom pool will depend much on the type of chemicals you use, including the amount. Adding too much too often can harm the people using the pool, and not adding enough chemicals can result in dirty, murky waters. You will need to purchase chlorine reading tablets that read the chemical levels in the pool and tell you whether you need to add more or if there is enough. If these chemicals concern you, consider hiring a custom pool company to handle the administration of chemicals for you on a routine basis.
Pool Pump
The proper equipment goes a long way in terms of ease of maintenance and the health of your custom pool. A pump is one of these essential tools because it moves the water in your pool and ensures it’ll never be stagnant, which can form algae. The quality of the pool pump also matters because the lower the quality pump, the more energy it will use to function and the more money you’ll need to pay. A higher-quality pump will work much more efficiently and be much less noisy.
Pool Vacuum
The vacuum cleaner for your custom pool removes all dirt, debris, and leftover water inside your pool when it’s not in use. There are two different types of pool pumps available on the market. One uses a jet stream to activate the suction, remove dirt, and trap all debris in a cloth that needs cleaning. The other method uses a filtered suction that draws out debris from the pool and carries it through a filter, allowing the dirt and water to pass. The second method will require you to remember to change out the pump’s filter for it to work efficiently and keep your pool as clean as it can be.
Safety Cover
The pool’s safety cover may be the most essential equipment you can purchase. A cover will help prevent accidents around the pool, reducing the chances of anyone accidentally falling in and drowning. A cover will also reduce the number of leaves, dirt, and other debris that blow into your pool, decreasing the maintenance work you need to do, and keeping it clean for a longer time.
Custom, Gunite, In-ground Pools in West Bloomfield: Key Things To Keep In Mind
Consider each of these key components when designing or looking for ways to take care of your custom pool in the best possible way.
Many adults don’t get nearly the exercise they need. It’s easier to stay in shape as a child when you sign up for after-school sports and run everywhere. However, your schedule may not allow you to join an adult league, and running to do your errands looks a little odd.
You don’t have to sign up for a gym membership crunching weights when you can do many more invigorating things at home. Grab a friend or spend quality time with yourself and try some of these activities.
Swimming in Your Oakland Township Pool
Doing laps around the pool has many health benefits, including working your body without the harsh impact on the skeletal system, increased muscle tone and strength, and improved flexibility. If swimming circles in the pool are too tedious, pick up a few water aerobics DVDs, pick up a few exercises, and give them a go.
Playing catch
Remember how much fun it was throwing a Frisbee or tossing the pigskin around with your parents? You’re never too old to stop playing a mindless game of catch. It works your upper body muscles and could burn many calories depending on how far apart you and your partner are. Plus, you get bonus points for your brain health; doing activities with others is more fun with people. You can also throw a tennis ball on a flat-shingled roof and catch it on the descent for the same effect if you’re alone. HINT: Play catch in your in-ground custom pool!
Badminton
Badminton is a game similar to tennis, where you keep a shuttlecock (or birdie) from touching the ground using racquets, an old backyard game slowly gaining popularity. You need two or four players for a fair game. Setting up the “court” is much easier if you have a grassy yard with no obstructions like big trees. All you have to do is set up the net and hammer down the pegs to keep it up. Badminton, like catch, is excellent upper arm strength and cardio from some of the moving you’ll do to hit the birdie. If you want even more cardio, pick up a volleyball from the local sports store. The badminton net can double as a volleyball net. HINT: Play badminton in your in-ground custom pool!
Walking or jogging
Depending on the size of your Oakland Township yard, it’s possible to do your morning walk without leaving your property. Using a pedometer or smartphone app, measure your backyard’s size. Jogging will work best if it’s 1/2 a mile around or more significant, while you can get away with walking if it’s smaller. Suppose your yard has inclines and challenging terrain; that makes for an even better workout. Walking or jogging is a great way to wake up the brain, add cardio, and strengthen your legs. Pop in your favorite tunes, and get moving! HINT: Walk or Jog in your in-ground custom pool!
Oakland Township Pool & Spa Renovation and Remodel Contractor Near You!
If you have an existing in-ground pool that you are not happy with, please contact us and let one of our professionals help you explore your options. We can help make your existing swimming pool more energy efficient; ask us how! A pool renovation & remodel can make all the difference to your outdoor living space in Oakland Townhip. Sapphire Landscaping is Oakland Township’s choice as a Custom In-ground Swimming Pool Contractor — Give us a call today! Call: 248-469-0900.
When you begin designing your custom pool with your contractor, there are many decisions to make, including extra features and accessories. These options are smaller than the significant design decisions but can offer Bloomfield Hills homeowners energy-efficient, eco-friendly, and customized swimming pools. Here are some extra considerations when planning your custom Bloomfield HIlls, Michigan, swimming pool.
Swimming Pool Color
Colored pool finishes are a great choice because they make the pool more attractive and are durable and stain-resistant compared to a standard white coating. There are often multiple options, including various blues, blacks, sandy tan, and grays. Selecting a pool manufacturer who uses only a single application to apply the coating is essential. This is because it makes repairs much easier if you ever need them.
Security Covers
Many pool owners swap out their standard pool tarp for a security cover for long-term needs. So it may make sense to you to purchase one right away. Security covers cover the pool when it is closed for the winter. They provide safety so that no one can potentially fall in the pool, and they are low-maintenance and look a lot better than tarp covers.
Automatic Covers
One thing that may frustrate you when you use your pool is having to wind up the cover every time you use it and close up the pool. Automatic covers are great at keeping out debris, maintaining the water temperature, and protecting it against unwanted guests. However, if you have a customized or freeform-shaped pool, the track that slides the cover will need to be installed on top of the surrounding patio, which may be very unappealing to some pool owners.
Solar Pool Covers
Solar covers are excellent at extending the use of your pool past the summer season. They retain the heat at night from the sun absorbed during the day and are excellent if you’re concerned about energy efficiency.
Waterline Tile
The perimeter tile can make a pool pop and add color and contrast. They can be ceramic or glass and are attached to the pool’s surface with silicone.
Water Features
If your budget allows special touches like water features, they can boost your pool’s appearance. They make for a wow-worthy statement and can be kid-friendly and elegant. If you have young children, they would love a water slide, and everyone in your family can appreciate a waterfall.
Contact a Bloomfield Hills Swimming Pool Contractor
There are many things to consider when designing a pool. Hiring a Bloomfield Hills swimming pool contractor can help develop a design you love. Contact Sapphire Landscaping if you’re ready to get started!
Call Sapphire Landscaping Pool & Spa at 248-469-0900
How to Create an Entertainment Space with Your Custom Swimming Pool
If you’re considering how to use your yard in Bloomfield Hills as an entertainment space, it is worthwhile considering a custom pool to maximize the entertainment value of the area.
Not only is the pool itself great entertainment for all family members, but it can also be designed to create opportunities to hang out and entertain in your backyard. There are many ways of creating a pool design specifically for entertaining.
What Does Entertainment Mean to You?
An entertainment space can mean different things to different people. Just as inside your home, an entertainment space can mean a home cinema, a dining area, or a gaming room; there are many options when designing a custom pool to create spaces for different purposes.
Essentially, an entertainment space is an area where people can hang out, have fun or relax, and installing a pool is an excellent opportunity to create a space where you can achieve all these.
Hanging out in the Pool
There are lots of opportunities to have fun in a pool, but there are many additions to your custom pool that can allow you to hang out with friends and family:
Spa: A spa is an excellent place for hanging out with family and friends. As a spa is heated, it also allows you to use the pool area when the weather is unsuitable for dipping in the swimming pool.
Diving boards and water slides – Children love splashing around in a pool with their friends or family members, but adding a water slide or a diving board creates more opportunities for fun.
Water stools and swim-up bar – Relaxing in a pool with friends and having drinks is a great way to utilize a pool. Adding water stools and tables for people to sit around and enjoy their drinks is an excellent way of creating a different space to hang out.
Different depths to suit all members of the family
Create a safe space for everyone to enjoy by varying the depths of your swimming pool to suit family and friends of all ages.
Entertaining around the Swimming Pool
The area around the swimming pool can offer many opportunities to create entertainment spaces. The only limits to its potential are your garden size and budget.
The most popular is an all-purpose decked area that can act as a sunbathing area, a seating area, or even an outdoor dining or barbecue area for entertaining.
The addition of an outdoor fireplace can add warmth when using the space in the evenings. Including a covered area in the design can provide further protection from the elements.
Maximize the Functionality of Your Swimming Pool
A simple custom pool is a great entertainment space in itself. Still, with a clever design and a choice of additional features, the area inside and outside the pool can provide many opportunities to hang out and enjoy yourself with family and friends.
Interested in a Custom Swimming Pool in Bloomfield Hills?
Whether you’re seeking a relaxing, adult-oriented space, or a space that will entertain the whole family, there are many options available to you to build an outdoor space perfect for entertaining truly.
Creating an Outdoor Space that is an Extension of Your Home
We’ve all heard the phrase ‘extension of your home’ to refer to any outside space, such as a garden or swimming pool. But what does that phrase mean in practice, and how can we ensure our pool’s design and surrounding area can be used as an additional living space?
What does ‘extension of your home’ Mean?
When West Bloomfield homeowners invest in their properties, they like to maximize the use of the space inside and outside their homes. Technology and lifestyle trends have created opportunities for outdoor spaces to become comfortable environments where it’s possible to entertain, enjoy leisure activities, spend quality time with your family, and relax, just as families have been doing inside their homes for many years.
How can a Custom Swimming Pool Become a Favorite Family Spot?
It all starts with the design of your pool and the surrounding area. Careful thought must be given to what you want to use the pool for and how much space you have. In a large yard, it’s perfectly possible to have a pool large enough for swimming and a relaxing poolside area that could include an entertaining area for dining al fresco.
If you’re concerned that the local climate is too cold to enjoy your poolside area for many months, it’s also possible to incorporate an outdoor fire into the design. There’s no need to be concerned about not having the opportunity to enjoy your custom swimming pool area.
The Importance of Decking
Your outdoor living spaces will connect your pool with your chosen decking. Your design will link the living areas in your yard with your pool.
Your decking can link to your backyard’s overall design and the home’s exterior (if appropriate). Your custom pool and living areas will be an attractive yard feature. By providing outside space for leisure and entertainment, it will also provide a homely exterior environment for you to enjoy.
Reflecting on your Tastes
The rooms inside your West Bloomfield home will have been decorated to reflect your tastes and often feel homely. Your custom pool can be designed similarly.
For outdoor living spaces, choices of stonework or brickwork, finishes, tiling, and lighting can all be designed to reflect your tastes. Your outdoor space can be designed to create a space you enjoy spending time in as much as the rooms inside your home.
Suppose you’ve personalized your surroundings, and a custom design meets your needs decoratively and functionally. In that case, your outdoor space will become the extension of your home that it is designed to be.
Creating an Extension to Your Home
The phrase may be used often in interior design magazines, but a well-thought-out external space designed to meet your needs can become an extension of your home. It can allow you to entertain, relax, and socialize, just as you would in the rooms inside your property.
Looking for a Pool Contractor in the West Bloomfield, MI?
When you prefer to spend evenings around your custom pool rather than in your living room or kitchen, you know you’ve created what was promised: an extension to your home. If you have any questions about enhancing your outdoor living space with a swimming pool and you live in West Bloomfield, contact Sapphire Landscaping Pool & Spa today.
