David Tisherman
‘Throughout recorded history,’ wrote David Tisherman in the July/August 2002 edition of WaterShapes, ‘people have tried to control the elements in every which way they can. We plant trees to block the wind, build levees to hold back rising river water and dikes to hold back the seas. We build skyscrapers that defy gravity, winds and earthquakes.
‘For all of this ingenuity, however, we sometimes don’t do a very good job. When our efforts to control the elements fail on a large scale, we witness catastrophes that change people’s lives and the course of entire societies,’ he observed. ‘The problems are compounded for us in the watershaping business, because the most common of the damaging, corrosive, erosive forces in nature is the water we seek to contain – and those forces are at their strongest and most unpredictable in the forms of precipitation and ground water.’ He continued:
***
‘When it comes to watershaping in residential settings, we see all sorts of mistakes and errors of omission related to runoff and ground water that can lead to a wide set of serious problems. We see decks and pools set at elevations and angles that make sense for the pool and deck – but direct all runoff directly into the house. We see yards designed without any consideration of how the soil will interact with and direct the water; we encounter leaching problems in concrete structures; and we find situations where water runs down a slope or is transferred via subsurface bedding planes to attack the outside of our gunite structures.’
***
‘When reviewed as a laundry list of possibilities, it seems like common sense that these would be things that will have been considered and dealt with for every successful project. But controlling the water outside the pool takes more work and costs more money – and it becomes an easy “oops” when a contractor is trying to squeeze a few extra dollars of profit out of a contract.’
***
‘I bring this up because drainage is a major issue in the project we’ve been watching in the past few “Details” columns. It’s a beautiful composition with all sorts of interesting aesthetic elements – and none of it would be worth a soggy damn if we allowed nature to take over every time it rained.’
***
‘When I was brought into this backyard – a narrow strip of flat land at the bottom of a very steep slope – it was eaten up by an oversized pool and a concrete deck that ran about six feet wide around three sides of the vessel. In all, there were about 550 square feet of nasty-looking concrete with just two drain heads. What’s more, the pool itself lacked any overflow system of any kind. It was not a good situation.’
***
‘My rule of thumb: “Use drains, and lots of them!” On this project, for example, we went with drains every eight feet or so and are in complete control of any water that flows over the deck. These drains are all connected to a lateral pipe that runs to the street, with each drain head and each plumbing run carefully set at the proper level and pitch to ensure that the water will always keep flowing, out and away.’
***
‘Water does fall directly from the sky, too, so there was one last component to be added to the drainage-control system: the overflow line we placed at the waterline of the pool. . . . The bottom of the overflow dictates the maximum water level in the pool. In this case, the overflow is installed relatively high on the pool wall because I want the water level to be as high as possible. When the water rises to that level, the overflow is just another lateral connected to the main drainage line that flows out to the street.’
***
‘To be sure,’ he concluded, ‘none of these measures are overly complicated or difficult – but they do require a basic understanding of pitch and grade as it relates to drainage. Yes, they add to the cost of the overall project, but what these things save in terms of potential damage is truly immeasurable. Proper drainage may not be the sexiest of all possible details, but it might just turn out to be one of the most valuable when the rain begins to fall.’
Tisherman added a sidebar in which he declared that he never saw ‘drains and drainage as casual parts of my designs.’ Ten years later, is this a sentiment that all watershapers share? What’s your approach? To comment, scroll down.
David Tisherman is the principal in two design/construction firms: David Tisherman’s Visuals of Manhattan Beach, Calif., and Liquid Design of Cherry Hill, N.J. He can be reached at [email protected].
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David Tisherman
‘Throughout recorded history,’ wrote David Tisherman in the July/August 2002 edition of WaterShapes, ‘people have tried to control the elements in every which way they can. We plant trees to block the wind, build levees to hold back rising river water and dikes to hold back the seas. We build skyscrapers that defy gravity, winds and earthquakes.
‘For all of this ingenuity, however, we sometimes don’t do a very good job. When our efforts to control the elements fail on a large scale, we witness catastrophes that change people’s lives and the course of entire societies,’ he observed. ‘The problems are compounded for us in the watershaping business, because the most common of the damaging, corrosive, erosive forces in nature is the water we seek to contain – and those forces are at their strongest and most unpredictable in the forms of precipitation and ground water.’ He continued:
***
‘When it comes to watershaping in residential settings, we see all sorts of mistakes and errors of omission related to runoff and ground water that can lead to a wide set of serious problems. We see decks and pools set at elevations and angles that make sense for the pool and deck – but direct all runoff directly into the house. We see yards designed without any consideration of how the soil will interact with and direct the water; we encounter leaching problems in concrete structures; and we find situations where water runs down a slope or is transferred via subsurface bedding planes to attack the outside of our gunite structures.’
***
‘When reviewed as a laundry list of possibilities, it seems like common sense that these would be things that will have been considered and dealt with for every successful project. But controlling the water outside the pool takes more work and costs more money – and it becomes an easy “oops” when a contractor is trying to squeeze a few extra dollars of profit out of a contract.’
***
‘I bring this up because drainage is a major issue in the project we’ve been watching in the past few “Details” columns. It’s a beautiful composition with all sorts of interesting aesthetic elements – and none of it would be worth a soggy damn if we allowed nature to take over every time it rained.’
***
‘When I was brought into this backyard – a narrow strip of flat land at the bottom of a very steep slope – it was eaten up by an oversized pool and a concrete deck that ran about six feet wide around three sides of the vessel. In all, there were about 550 square feet of nasty-looking concrete with just two drain heads. What’s more, the pool itself lacked any overflow system of any kind. It was not a good situation.’
***
‘My rule of thumb: “Use drains, and lots of them!” On this project, for example, we went with drains every eight feet or so and are in complete control of any water that flows over the deck. These drains are all connected to a lateral pipe that runs to the street, with each drain head and each plumbing run carefully set at the proper level and pitch to ensure that the water will always keep flowing, out and away.’
***
‘Water does fall directly from the sky, too, so there was one last component to be added to the drainage-control system: the overflow line we placed at the waterline of the pool. . . . The bottom of the overflow dictates the maximum water level in the pool. In this case, the overflow is installed relatively high on the pool wall because I want the water level to be as high as possible. When the water rises to that level, the overflow is just another lateral connected to the main drainage line that flows out to the street.’
***
‘To be sure,’ he concluded, ‘none of these measures are overly complicated or difficult – but they do require a basic understanding of pitch and grade as it relates to drainage. Yes, they add to the cost of the overall project, but what these things save in terms of potential damage is truly immeasurable. Proper drainage may not be the sexiest of all possible details, but it might just turn out to be one of the most valuable when the rain begins to fall.’
Tisherman added a sidebar in which he declared that he never saw ‘drains and drainage as casual parts of my designs.’ Ten years later, is this a sentiment that all watershapers share? What’s your approach? To comment, click here.
.
David Tisherman is the principal in two design/construction firms: David Tisherman’s Visuals of Manhattan Beach, Calif., and Liquid Design of Cherry Hill, N.J. He can be reached at [email protected].
David Tisherman