Nineteen cuts around a free-form pool. None of them show.
Pools & Water Features · Outdoor Kitchens · Pergolas & Structures $118,000 — $142,000
What we build
Pools & Water Features
Gunite shell · 3 cm granite coping · surround set on 250 mm base with 2% pitch away
NJ HIC # 13VHXXXXXXXXXLicensed & fully insured · $2M general liabilityGoogle 4.9 / 5 — 127 ReviewsTecho-Bloc / Unilock / Belgard AuthorizedHouzz Pro
We build the surround, the coping and everything the pool sits inside — the part that decides whether the finished thing reads as one composition or as a pool with paving near it. The deck pitches away from the water at 2%, always, so what runs off the surround does not carry into the pool.
01
How we build it
- BASE
- 250 mm compacted under the surround Deeper than a terrace, because the ground beside a pool is disturbed ground.
- PITCH
- 2% away from the water Non-negotiable. Runoff carrying into the pool is a chemistry problem forever.
- COPING
- 3 cm granite or bluestone Set on the bond beam with a compressible expansion joint at the shell.
- EXPANSION
- Continuous joint at the shell The deck and the shell move independently. The joint is what lets them.
02
The section
L3 — LIFTED 150 MM FOR CLARITY
235 MM
PAVER 60 MM
BEDDING SAND 25 MM
COMPACTED BASE 150 MM
GEOTEXTILE SEPARATION
SUBGRADE COMPACTED
Most of what we are paid for is under the stone.
Six inches of base is the difference between a patio that moves in year three and one that does not.
03
Materials
Granite coping
3 cm, thermal, bullnose or square
Unilock Rivenstone
Pool-rated surround
Bluestone
Full-color, thermal, sawn
04
Process
01
Coordination
With the pool builder
Shell, plumbing and electrical sequenced with the pool contractor before we mobilise.
02
Base & drainage
250 mm · 2% away
Compacted base and the drainage set to carry water away from the shell.
03
Coping & surround
Expansion joint at the shell
Coping set first, then the field cut to it and dry-laid before setting.
04
Lighting & handoff
12 V · 2700 K
The surround lit at grade so the water is the brightest thing in the frame.
06
Questions people ask
- Do you build the pool itself?
- No. We build everything around it and coordinate with your pool builder, which is usually a better outcome than a single contractor doing both adequately. If you do not have one, we will introduce you to the two we work with most.
07
Where we have built this
08
Start here
Planning pools & water features?
Four short steps, about ninety seconds. You will get a written range before anyone comes out — and if we are not the right fit, we will say so on the call.
201.555.0148 Mon–Sat · 7a–7p
NJ HIC # 13VHXXXXXXXXX · Licensed & fully insured · $2M general liability · Google 4.9 / 5 — 127 Reviews · Techo-Bloc / Unilock / Belgard Authorized · Houzz Pro