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Stainless-steel vessels have grown dramatically in popularity over the past 20 years, observes Mark Holden and Jeff Freeman. That rise has created both opportunities and challenges: while stainless offers remarkable advantages, missteps in design or fabrication can lead to failures, costly remediation, or even litigation. Understanding both sides of the equation is essential for watershapers working in today’s stainless marketplace.
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RENOLIT has announced it is now offering a new, more robust 15-year warranty on its TOUCH and VOGUE Collections of 80-mil reinforced PVC membranes--offering Class C slip-resistant properties, a variety of colors, designs and textures--for new pool construction and renovating leaking or deteriorated pools. The new warranty offers pool professionals and their customers long-lasting protection backed by a waterproofing guarantee.
Learn more here.
Installing a beautiful and durable plaster or exposed aggregate finish begins with the surface upon which it is installed. Here Jon Temple breaks down the surface preparation process with a concise look at shotcrete and how it sets up a successful plaster installation.
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When designing landscapes around swimming pools, trees are among the most valued elements. They provide shade, scale, greenery, and privacy — all hallmarks of luxury backyard design. But the wrong tree in the wrong location can cause expensive pool and hardscape damage. Few species demonstrate this more dramatically than the ficus tree.
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The need to manage and control water is one of the defining challenges of human civilization. One visionary landscape architect believes the key to sustained success is to use natural processes to create “sponge cities” that ingeniously integrate manmade infrastructure with the widespread use of wetlands, rain gardens and green belts.
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Did you know bears love hot tub covers, specifically the smell and taste of vinyl? For hot tub owners in rural settings, it’s true that bears will sometimes steal covers and take a dip in the war water while they’re at it.
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Pool plastering veteran and instructor, Jon Temple, believes the industry needs to rethink its approach to the cementitious surface installation process. That transformation, he says, should start by changing some of the language used to describe how plaster and exposed aggregate finishes are formulated, placed and maintained.
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Reliably holding water without leaks is the primary function of a watershape structure. Achieving that goal for the long run can be readily achieved using reinforced PVC membranes, an option proponents say can save existing pools and set up new structures for long-term success.
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Steven V. DeBiasi has spent a career creating masterful landscape and watershape environments across the Pacific Ocean. Based in Honolulu with a business stretching island to island far west across the International Date Line, he shares the story of how he discovered success and adventure following distant waters.
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The Quietest War