ARTICLES Archives - Page 109 of 315

On the Ground Floor

I grew up in my father's pool business - a successful design/build firm based in Henderson, Nev. Even in high school, I was consciously preparing myself to get involved on the design side of things and had signed up for a drafting class to start developing the requisite drawing skills. But something big was happening in the late 1990s: I was all set for my drafting class and had equipped myself with the tools I'd need

Permeating Issues

'I've taken up a fair amount of my column space in WaterShapes with discussions of the wise use of water, and for good reason: What could be more important to watershapers,' wrote Bruce Zaretsky to open the April 2010 edition of On the Level, 'than knowing how to make the best possible use of the material that defines our profession? 'The common thread in all of this coverage . . . is that, ultimately, our aim must be to preserve the integrity of water, to cleanse it for return to the groundwater system and to

Water Dynamics

Given what I do for a living, it's fortunate that I have a deep and abiding love of water. I enjoy being in, on and near it. I even like water in the forms of mist and fog. I must declare, however, that living in the Pacific Northwest for more than three years in the early 1980s put me off a similar love of rain and, more specifically, led me to loathe

When Jim Wilder approaches a fountain project, his knowledge of basic hydraulics tells him to rely on balance and lay out his systems accordingly. But he also knows how difficult it can be to resist a bit of performance-ensuring overkill -- even when he knows better.

Trust in Balance

No matter where you turn these days, you'll find watershaping experts preaching the gospel of balanced hydraulics. In class after class, text after text, they all say that if you do exactly the same thing on one side of a tee as you do on the other, you will get the same flow on both side of that tee. If, for example, two main drains are connected to a single tee with pipes of the same length and diameter and the same fittings, those drains will both draw equal amounts of

The Aquatic Quiz #23

Not an Illusion: Famed Magician's Pool Flooods New York Building

Given its spectacular ocean views, Randy Beard knew that this home called for a pool and spa that didn't get in the way. But that wasn't all he had to consider in designing the watershapes and organizing this remarkable space for entertainment as well as private enjoyment.

A Seaside Gem

With hillside projects, it's generally true that lines of sight mean everything. No matter whether the views are up close or in the far distance, no matter if the space looks out over water, trees, rugged terrain or other structures, a design wins huge style points (and a client's gratitude) if you are conscious of the way your watershapes fit into their environments. The project covered in this article had almost every advantage in the view department. Set on a slope overlooking the Pacific Ocean at Dana Point, Calif., the home sits

Serendipity

Just recently, a business acquaintance suggested I would enjoy a meeting scheduled for a downtown Los Angeles hotel. I figured I'd go because the Museum of Contemporary Art is right down the street and I hadn't been there for a while. So off I went, braving rush-hour traffic, biting hard when I discovered it would cost me nearly $40 to park for the morning and doing my best to

Color Me Unimpressed

It's attention-getting, so it's easy to figure out why it's done. But in this case, my feeling is that just because it can be done doesn't mean it should be done. What I'm agitated about here is the peculiarly popular practice of coloring fountain water to commemorate special dates or events. You know what I mean: Think about all those fountains dyed red for Valentine's

Water has a will of its own, observes Scott Cohen, and takes advantage of whatever pathways it can find -- quite often to go where you don't want it to go. Unchecked, it can lead to staining that will seriously mar a watershape's good looks, not to mention a homeowner's good mood.

Water on the Move

In my work as a construction-defect expert witness, I see a certain problem in the design and construction of spillways all too frequently: When the system is initiated, the flow of water down the face of the dam wall will behave more or less as desired, holding to a narrow path into the pool or trough that awaits it. After a time, however, that water will begin to migrate, spreading out farther and farther beyond the desired pathway until the material - usually some sort of