Professional Watershaping
In his year-end column five years ago, Brian Van Bower began by addressing the need every businessperson has to step back periodically and evaluate ‘where you fit within your corner of the industry.’ ‘To me,’ he continued, ‘understanding the Big Picture is a practical necessity, because failing to do so means I’m almost certain to miss opportunities and, just as bad, will not be prepared for conditions in the market that influence
When people talk about pools these days and have something ambitious in mind, many of the conversations focus on vanishing edges, perimeter overflows, infinity edges, knife edges, wet decks, disappearing edges and whatever other terms one might use in describing water-in-transit effects. In lots of these cases, if not most, these discussions are misdirected: Just because
Through the years, I’ve seen plentiful discussions of the fact that geotechnical (or soils) reports are required for proper watershape engineering. And it’s not just about complex vanishing-edge or perimeter-overflow pools: It’s about all swimming pools, spas, fountains and waterfeatures. Let’s consider that case closed. But who exactly should
Five years back, columnist Brian Van Bower wrote passionately about the opportunities he found in attending trade shows. At that time, the industry was doing very, very well, and it’s likely his plea had a tough time finding receptive ears. Is it possible that
It shouldn’t be too surprising that, as a designer and builder who cares about quality and craftsmanship, I’ve spent some time thinking about bidding and ethics. As I see it, bidding against other contractors to win the opportunity to install a project is a fair and worthy exercise if the project’s specifications are
In April 2001, as part of his “Details” column in WaterShapes, David Tisherman argued forcefully for constant, competent on-site supervision of watershaping projects. In his article, entitled “Super Vision,” he noted, “Call it quality control, attention to detail or perfectionism: There’s no
Even though most people think it’s simple, working with color in the presence of water is surprisingly complex. This is why I find myself calling up my patience when a client says, “I want the pool finish to be blue so that the water will
Just how much do swimming pool chemicals add to the total dissolved solids (TDS) content of the water? Do all chemicals of equal amounts (by weight) add identical amounts of TDS to swimming pool water? These are important questions, because elevated TDS levels can
The state of Rhode Island and the city of Richland, Wash., recently adopted the International Green Construction Code (IGCC) as part of their building codes for commercial buildings. That might not sound important if you don’t happen to work in either of those small markets, but it’s the tip of a big green iceberg
TO: You FROM: Santa 1. May your clients be patient and understanding whenever
