In preparation for talking to our professional pool designers about your new concrete swimming pool, it’s a good idea to have an understanding of the type of questions you might be asked regarding your property, its accessibility for construction, lifestyle considerations as well as budget.
A free site assessment is the ideal way to address all the variables at play on your site (slope, light direction, amenity to house, trees etc), however, in preparation for this meeting some people find it worthwhile to do a little homework online.
Some clients have strong design ideas, while others take an open-minded approach, being guided by our expertise – which incidentally is unmatched in the industry! A little preparation helps you formulate in your mind what you do and don’t want in your new pool. Just like working with an architect, it’s helpful to have a good brief in mind as it aids the initial design process where we work with you in finding a creative response to your requirements. Our goal is to design a concrete swimming pool with function and form that’s been shaped by your property and lifestyle.
Tip: Some clients like to collect images of the kind of pool they’re after. From this, we can commence discussions over pool shape, features like blade edges, spillovers, fountains and more.
Collecting photos and ideas not only helps you decide what kind of concrete swimming pool you’re after (lap pool, plunge, spa, family, etc), it also helps you confidently find that balance between what you really want and what’s within your budget. In discussions, it’s always helpful when clients refer to our pools by their suburb and type.
Tip: Add features to suit your budget. Naturally, a concrete swimming pool will vary in price depending on the complexity of construction and amount of features and finishes included. Before you’ve even chosen your builder, our expert advisors can help you ascertain the cost-vs-benefit ratio of each feature you are considering so you can arrive at a pool you’re happy with.
When you compare all the inclusions and the unparalleled level of construction quality & craftsmanship that comes standard in all of our concrete swimming pools, we’re confident you’ll see the choice is Crystal. A better concrete swimming pool with quality durable materials and equipment, yet at a similar price to other builders.
Analyse your lifestyle for a better pool
Selecting a pool is exciting and the design journey can be fun. It may sound obvious, but in writing down your current and future lifestyle aspirations you will invariably uncover functions in your pool you didn’t realise you couldn’t live without! Writing a priorities list can be quite revealing and many people report it uncovered things they didn’t know they wanted (or didn’t want from their new concrete swimming pool).
Your priority list may be ranked using the following criteria
- Usable year-round
- What do you want the pool for:
- Suitable for laps?
- Suitable for entertaining at big family gatherings like Christmas?
- Economical to heat as possible
- Low maintenance, (i.e. be easy to brush and vacuum)
- Protected from wind
- Have a shallow shelf for small children to wade in
- Have places to sit and relax in the water
- Have a deep section
- Flow on one level from the back of the home (amenity to home)
- Visually merge with the ocean or bay
- Not obstruct our views from the home
- Improve resale value on the home for when we sell down the track
- Be easy to climb out of
- Suitable for wheelchair access
- Not impinge on access to the yard or landscaped surrounds
Sure you might want a concrete swimming pool that does everything, but once you’re sure of the primary functions for the pool we can bring that into wider consideration of the space and scale of the project (just as an architect would). Designing a pool that suits you and your family down to ground for years to come.
Is the pool to be part of an overall landscaping treatment of your outside space?
Crystal Pools is a highly experienced choice for working within a larger building project, right up to the scale of international aquatic centres, high rise apartments and resorts.
We also have a long track record working alongside some of Sydney’s premier landscape professionals.
Tip: Careful consideration of steps and ledges positioning will ensure your pool is comfortable as well as practical & safe. This is something you can’t control with a non-custom pool build.
Designing a concrete swimming pool in concert with landscape design
Almost every outdoor pool that Crystal Pools builds involves some aspect of landscape design. We are supremely experienced at working with Landscape Professionals and equally at home providing a Landscape Design Service within the process of designing your pool. We can supply you with ideas to maximise the usage of the pool as well as blend in with the surrounding landscape features. We advise clients as to the ease or difficulty you might have maintaining plants around your pool. Especially when the pool is close to a boundary fence and the coping (pool edging). Careful plant stock selection will ensure the plants don’t drop leaf and flower litter into your pool. Our pool designers can also work with you to bring in aspects such as decking, bbq areas, seating areas, paving, pergolas and more.
Improving resale value on your home
Typically inground concrete swimming pools have a more positive effect on the resale value of your home than other types of pools. The pools we build are often used as the showcase image when advertising a home for sale. Research shows some buyers are put off by properties with pools but this is more than offset by the fact that in a competitive marketplace a home with a beautifully designed and built pool will have that extra ‘wow’ factor to outdo other properties in the area. If property resale value improvement is a high priority for you, then choosing a pool type to suit the buying demographic of your area will further enhance value and saleability. Plunge pools are popular in suburbs with an older demographic, whereas family pools are desirable in areas with higher proportions of school-aged children. Suburb demographics can be found at www.abs.gov.au or by putting your ‘suburb name + demographics’ into a search engine or via one of the leading real estate sites.