Pools with Waterfalls

[tthomass]

I've got a job to go look at this Saturday. From what I gathered on the phone.......the pool is currently or finishing construction. I am being asked to do various landscaping and hardscaping..........including a waterfall into the pool. Some sort of prep work may have already been done, I do not know. Any particulars anybody care to share on such construction? Different pumps to handle chemicals needed? My head is thinking ponds but this is a pool. Seems it will be boulder construction. If all goes through it will be a first for my company.

You now know as much as me. I have not seen the site.........Saturday.

[cgland]

Things to check for:
Will you be building the falls on top of the coping or did they stop the coping for you to build to?
Is the plumbing already there for the falls? If so, install a ball valve to adjust(slightly) the flow.
Will you be doing a liner or concrete? If liner, go w/ 2 layers (just in case)
Make sure your boulders are real clean, unless the pool is not plastered yet, then don't worry about it.
Try not to use Limestone boulders as they will affect (slightly) the PH of the pool.

Chris

[mrusk]

Make sure the people do not want something that is completely out of scale/unnatural looking.

[tthomass]

I want to say plumbing is done and that something was done during construction pertaining to the coping. The guy was hard to understand on the phone so I just got his address and made an appointment. What I can see will do volumes more then a phone call.

[tthomass]

Also, there is a 3" line for the water already in place. I will need a pump as I do not believe there is one to feed water. Will a pond pump hold up to the chemicals?

[tthomass]

Saw the pool today. Construciton is pretty much complete. The pool company builds just the pool and it is up to the customer to source the rest. The coping has been reinforced for the 18' span of where the fall will be constructed. The customer is wanting to use boulders and to have a 3-4' fall into the pool. There is also a bench built into the pool as they wish to sit there and have the fall cascade onto their shoulders......he saw it in a picture.

There is a slight mount of soil there. I know better then to just start stacking boulders

[tthomass]

my connection sucks.......after boulders it should read something like:

Stacking boulders I am concerned about settling and causing cracks wihch = leaks. My thinking is from the ground up, as the boulders are stacked, fill ever joint/void/hole with mortar......creating one solid structure. Any use of foam? My experience is with ponds and using foam.

[cgland]

The ones we have done I have built just like a pond falls. Liner, foam, riverstone, the whole 9. The only things i did differently was double liner, and quad foam! I let the liner overhang into the pool then when all is done, I go into the pool and trim the liner back then caulk w/ clear silicone. I don't have any pics though.

Chris

[tthomass]

What about vertical stabilization? Ponds I have done have been excavation, not elevation. How do you do about stacking the boulders......whats under then so they don't settle? What is between them?

[cgland]

Usually you will be using a large enough boulder that movement shouldn't be an issue. You just have to take care in stacking them. Use wedge pieces, grind, saw cut, whatever you need to do to stabilize the stones. Our base is the same as what a patio would be. I like to contruct them like a flexible system (liner/foam) this way any movement will not create a crack, which will turn into a leak. Plus if you do have problems in the future you can pull stones off to trouble shoot w/o breaking mortar.

[cgland]

Go to www.deckandpatio.com (http://www.deckandpatio.com) and check out some of theirs. This is the company Cedarcroft works for now. They do some nice work.

Chris

[JZap]

maybe these pics will help. I did not do the waterfall here, but I saw the whole process. The pool pump is what pump this water. A pool pump has valves to control the output, you switch to just jacuzzi, just pool just waterfall or combinations of any 2. This pool company poured a lip and base in the coping when building the pool and stacked boulders using mortar in between to match the boulders. Notice the set back cut out for the waterfall.
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b7cc33b3127cceb2dabe25bb6500000026100AYtWzZu1aNm MA
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b7cc33b3127cceb2dabe23bb6300000026100AYtWzZu1aNm MA
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b7cc33b3127cceb2dabe203a5000000026100AYtWzZu1aNm MA
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b7cc33b3127cceb2dabe21bb6100000026100AYtWzZu1aNm MA

[JZap]

Here's the after shots.
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b7cc33b3127cceb2dabf207ac800000026100AYtWzZu1aNm MA
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b7cc33b3127cceb2dabf21fbf900000026100AYtWzZu1aNm MA
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b7cc33b3127cceb2dabcfabbbb00000026100AYtWzZu1aNm MA
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b7cc33b3127cceb2dabcfb3a8a00000026100AYtWzZu1aNm MA

[JZap]

And if anyone cares here's the rest of the landscaping.
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b7cc33b3127cceb2dace9bbbe300000026100AYtWzZu1aNm MA
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b7cc33b3127cceb2dace99bbe100000026100AYtWzZu1aNm MA
We didn't do this walkway or wall, it's hideous.
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b7cc33b3127cceb2dace843acc00000026100AYtWzZu1aNm MA
Can you tell where the sod meets the weeds? The customer only did a 1/3 in sod don't ask me why. We also put in a large drywell system here with 8 drywells in a system.
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b7cc33b3127cceb2dace863ace00000026100AYtWzZu1aNm MA