#video
For almost as long as I've been in business, people who are interested in swimming pools have also usually been interested in having a spa or hot tub to go along with it. It's always been a natural combination, and as watershapers we've found myriad ways to meet thegeneral demand. In the video linked below, I offer a quick discussion of two key factors homeowners need to consider in
In my experience, watershapers have a tendency to focus a bit too narrowly on one or another aspect of the craft - some on pools and spas, others on ponds or fountains. You get the idea: In speaking with clients, there's an inclination to play to one's strongest cards - and I think that can be
The trouble with conventional approaches is that they can take the creativity out of watershape designs. Almost always, for example, spas are placed directly adjacent to or within the walls of a swimming pool. For a couple generations now, this has led designers to specify open spillways to move water from the spa into the pool, thereby creating a single body of water so far as
These days, it seems like just about every homeowner wants to get something special with their pools and spas. More often than not, that means some form of water in transit, whether it's a cool spillway, a vanishing edge, a bubbler on a thermal shelf - or, as in the case highlighted here, some sort of jet that will
It's been a while since I shared a video with you through WaterShapes.com, but it occurred to me (even after a good, long gap) that this one fit perfectly into the series we once offered on the subject of site access and the ways equipment and the products of demolition and construction can be moved from place to place under
As I mention at the start of this video, setting the edges is just about my favorite part of the pond-installation process. As is true with juggling and placing big rocks, there's an art to getting things just right and making the setting look as natural as possible - that is, as though the pond not only belongs there but has also been there for uncounted years.. As the video discusses, there are
As becomes clear in watching this series of videos, pond installation involves a bunch of specialized skills, from working with the liner and circulation system to moving large rocks and, as we'll see soon, arranging aquatic plants. But completing the project also involves a range of common job-site skills. As we've seen time and again, for instance, you need to know how to measure, fit and glue pipes, and you also need to
Some building sites are just tougher than others - and there are few of them that will complicate the construction process as much as the steep slopes discussed in the video linked below. To be sure, top contractors love these difficult sites: Not only do they give us the opportunity to incorporate nearby and distant views into our design vision, but they also
Installing a pond pump is a fairly simple process - and, as you'll see in the video linked below, represents one of my last big chances to sound off on the importance of basic pipe-connection skills. Yes, I'll admit that I'm a perfectionist and maybe a bit compulsive about making my pipe connections look right in addition to fitting right. In the operation covered here, however, there's good reason for care: If you're sloppy with glue application while installing a check valve, there's always the possibility that
For the most part, the equipment sets that power pool and spa systems are placed outdoors in spaces near their watershapes. Maybe that's behind a gate along the side of the house, or behind some shrubs or a wall in a corner of the yard. Wherever they go, these equipment clusters should be positioned so that the noise made by various motors and pumps isn't so pronounced that it
