coping
This was a fun project in lots of ways – not the least of which involved figuring out how to fit a skimmer into the system without completely disrupting the clean look of the coping-only treatment of the pool’s perimeter. Usually, of course, pools at grade level are
About 18 months ago, I began (but after a while moved on from) a series of blogs about specific features and details of watershapes that I like or dislike. Other than my tendency to have a short attention span, I don’t know quite why I stopped writing those articles – and maybe I’ll get back to them someday in a systematic way. For right now, however, recent personal experience makes me write about one particular detail that has bothered me
It’s a case of familiarity breeding neglect: Pool and deck contractors work with so much mastic through the years that it’s easy for them to take this wonderful material for granted. And that’s a shame, because I’ve run into plenty of clients who are plainly interested in learning what function these rubbery joints serve and why they’re a necessary part of the package. The video linked below offers an
In pool-remodeling work, it's very common to raise a bond beam to meet the needs of a new deck or edge detail — or simply to make the pool level again. As ordinary a step as this may seem, it can be trickier than you might think because, in applying
"A smart man learns from his own mistakes, a wise man learns from the mistakes of others." If you follow that Latin proverb, then you might conclude that the watershaping industry is populated by a fair number of smart people and a few wise ones. There are others out there, however, who
Oftentimes, I end up wanting to use irregularly shaped or large, dimensional stones as a coping for my clients’ pools and as a veneer in finishing their decks. I know in doing so, of course, that the deck and its stone veneer must be isolated from the pool structure and the coping. I also know, of course, that random or dimensional stone generally doesn’t conveniently follow the isolation joint around the back edge of the bond beam. Nor, for that matter, will the stone pieces used in the deck align with
Sometimes, the main idea that will drive a design jumps to mind as soon as you see the site. That was the case with the project covered here: When I pulled up to the gate of the property - high in the affluent hills of Bel Air, Calif. - what I found wasn't a big, showy home of the sort that have increasingly come to characterize the neighborhood; instead, what I saw was a place defined by subtlety and elegance. It all started with the gate's beautiful brick pilaster, beyond which I could just glimpse a large, lovely home with the distinctive architecture of an English manor house. Even though I hadn't met the clients yet or seen the entire job site, I was already convinced that the project would be
Sometimes, the main idea that will drive a design jumps to mind as soon as you see the site. That was the case with the project covered here: When I pulled up to the gate of the property - high in the affluent hills of Bel Air, Calif. - what I found wasn't a big, showy home of the sort that have increasingly come to characterize the neighborhood; instead, what I saw was a place defined by subtlety and elegance. It all started with the gate's beautiful brick pilaster, beyond which I could just glimpse a large, lovely home with the distinctive architecture of an English manor house. Even though I hadn't met the clients yet or seen the entire job site, I was already convinced that the project would be
