Touch ups
Once the shell is complete, the coping and skimmer boxes were touched up and coloured to give them a natural look, and gunite skimmers were installed in place of the old vinyl liner skimmers. An aggregate surface was then applied to the pool shell, which comes right up to the bottom of the ‘rock’ coping inside the pool, just as it would tie into a tile-finish in a regular pool surface application. When completed, the water line lies on the coping, giving the pool a very natural look.
Additional features
In this particular project, the homeowner also wanted a natural rock waterfall flowing in to the pool. This feature was built using real boulders in addition to carved shotcrete, while a return line from the original pool supplied the water. The waterfall is built to tie into the coping, as if it were an original part of the setting.
Originally, the deck was finished in an outdated pea-gravel cement. Due to the deck’s size, as well as the difficult location of the pool, we decided to resurface the deck instead of removing it and starting anew. The concrete was surprisingly sturdy after 30 years, which allowed us to keep it intact.
We removed all of the original wood expansion joints and repaired several cracks with polymer filler. The joints were expanded to 229 mm (9 in.) and pavers were installed to add a more rustic look.
A polymer spray deck was then applied. In this application the material was sprayed on the deck with a hopper gun and then ‘knocked down’ to achieve the desired look. A colour sealer was then applied to the finished surface.
The end result gave the homeowner what appears to be a completely new pool, while minimizing the construction process. Old pool structures are not always as stable as this one, so it is imperative to investigate the existing pool before moving forward. In some cases, we will extract the original wall system and begin with a new shell entirely. This is a much more extensive project, but may be necessary at times.
A custom fire pit was also added, in what was originally a planter bed in the pool deck. We simply stacked and carved concrete around a block structure in the same fashion as the pool coping. Gas logs and a burner tray were then fitted for installation. A hot tub could easily be built the same way to add to the ambiance.
Our goal for this project was to create an atmosphere that appears as if there was a large rock in this area and we simply carved a ‘pond’ out of it. Decking options can certainly naturalize the setting greatly. In this project, however, we were limited somewhat by budget and proximity to reasonable logistics.
Thinking outside the box
The absence of heavy machinery makes for a much neater construction process overall, something not associated with most swimming pool projects. This is just one possibility for a pool renovation, which shows how ‘thinking outside the box’ can open many doors.
Brian Worley is the owner and president of Everclear Pool and Spa Company Inc., in Chattanooga, Tenn., a builder of custom concrete pools and spas. He can be reached at brianworley@comcast.net.
