2010/10.2, October 20 — Expectations, Relief Valves, Ripples and more

October 20, 2010

WATERSHAPES.COM

FEATURE ARTICLE

When New Work Fails

When a problem occurs with a recently installed decorative concrete job, who is responsible? Chris Sullivan writes in Concrete Decor magazine: ‘I have personally witnessed many small issues turn into expensive legal claims because there was no clear understanding between installer and client on what was acceptable first-year wear and tear and what was not.’ [more]

LESSONS LEARNED

Singing the Relief-Valve Blues

If a hydrostatic relief valve is put in improperly or not at all, observes Scott Cohen in the latest installment of his ongoing series, it can result in a catastrophic situation that ‘leaves the homeowners with a repair bill so monumental, they’ll do everything in their power to extract the cost from the builder.’ [more]

NEIMAN MARCUS OFFERS
$1.5 MILLION SWIMMING-POOL
ART INSTALLATION IN NEW
CHRISTMAS CATALOG [more]

MY PERSPECTIVE

A Doorway to Emotional Value

According to pond designer and builder Dave Garton, ‘When the external appearance of a waterfeature truly reflects the internal vision of the clients (as interpreted and expressed by the creative talent of the watershaper), something magical can result.’ In this article, Garton offers his recipe for bringing clients’ internal vision to life. [more]

BOOK NOTES

Timeless Landscape Design

WaterShapes book reviewer Mike Farley evaluates Timeless Landscape Design by the husband-and-wife landscape design team of Mary Palmer Dargan and Hugh Graham Dargan (Wyrick & Co., 2007). Farley says the book may be too basic for landscape designers — but he also thinks that for anyone interested in expanding beyond strictly creating watershapes, ‘this is a great place to start.’ [more]

JOIN THE DIALOGUE

NM: Doing the Right Thing?

At a time when so many people are experiencing severe economic hardships, is it in bad taste for Neiman Marcus to offer a $1.5 million “pool sculpture” in its latest Christmas catalog? To express your opinion, click on Ripples (just above) and add a comment.