Prevent Drownings with Good Vigilance, Proper Pool Fencing

Posted on March 20, 2012 by Scott Strader

Backyard swimming pools provide hours of fun and healthy exercise for people of all ages. Unfortunately, pools and spas also have the potential to cause injury and death when they are misused or if proper safety precautions are not taken. This means both installing adequate safety equipment and ensuring that the pool or spa is used correctly and with appropriate supervision for children.

State law requires anyone engaged in Arizona pool construction to give pool and spa buyers “a notice explaining safety education and responsibilities of pool ownership,” but too often pool safety education – and common sense – are ignored.

As anyone who watches local Valley news broadcasts knows, the main threat posed by swimming pools is drowning. Despite continuing public education campaigns designed to put an end to them, many pool drownings occur every year in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Also common are near-drownings, which can cause serious brain damage to survivors due to prolonged oxygen deprivation.

Small children who can’t swim obviously should not be have free access to a swimming pool, and even older children who know how to swim should use a pool only under adult supervision. In fact, adult awareness and supervision should be considered the first line of defense against pool accidents. No safety equipment can completely take the place of a responsible person keeping tabs on children’s whereabouts. That said, safety features are still important, and many are required by law.

For almost 20 years, Arizona statutes have required newly constructed pools at private residences with children under 6 years old to be surrounded by a fence at least 5 feet high. The state law does not apply retroactively to pools constructed prior to June 1990, but local governments are free to pass more stringent requirements, and many have. A Scottsdale or Mesa swimming pool, for instance, must be surrounded by a 5-foot (or higher) fence regardless of whether children live in the home. In Peoria, a fence is required if the residence has children under age 7. Despite any legal exceptions, however, the most prudent thing homeowners can do is to enclose their pools.

Pool fences should not have openings exceeding 4 inches, nor should they have horizontal bars on the outside of the fence that are spaced closely enough to aid in climbing. Mesh (chain-link) fences should have a mesh size no greater than 1.75 inches, also to deter climbing. The inside of any pool fence should be at least 20 inches from the edge of the water, and the outside should not be placed close to any structure in the yard, such as a playhouse, that could serve as a “stepping stone” to climbing over it. In addition to fence specifications, state and local laws also have other requirements aimed at restricting access to swimming pools:

Any gates in the pool fence must open outward from the pool area and be self-closing and self-latching, with the latch at least 54 inches from the ground
If the back wall of the house makes up part of the pool enclosure, there must be either:

a) a 4-foot fence between the house and the pool that meets all the other pool fence requirements as to bar/mesh spacing, etc., or

b) all self-closing, self-latching doors leading to the pool area (with no doggie doors), or

c) a motorized, key-switched pool safety cover

Hop Cassidy Pools has been building and remodeling pools in the Phoenix area for more than 25 years. We specialize in custom pool design and the construction of luxury pools for individual homeowners as well as for some of the Valley’s best contractors. Call us today at 480-905-8780 for a free initial consultation and price quote on your own very own swimming pool – one that’s designed and built using the highest standards of quality and safety by the professionals at Hop Cassidy Pools.

Add Water Features to Liven Up Pool Design and Delight Backyard Swimmers and Sunbathers

Posted on March 13, 2012 by Scott Strader

Swimming pool water features turn an ordinary pool into a more fun, more interesting and more relaxing place to spend time and beat the heat in summer. Water features create visual interest by adding movement to a poolscape. Kids enjoy the dynamic element of water cascading or spraying into the pool and they love playing in it. Adults appreciate the soothing sounds of trickling, flowing or falling water as they relax in or around a pool. And somehow the sight and sounds of moving water make everyone feel just a little cooler than a static body of water can.

Water features are becoming more popular in Phoenix swimming pool construction as homeowners seek to build backyard swimming pools that are unique reflections of their tastes. Adding a water feature as part of a pool remodeling project is a sure way to transform an ordinary swimming experience into something more like a dip in a resort luxury pool.

When it comes to water features, the options are many:

Fountains – Fountains can originate from outside the pool, from the edge of the pool or even within the pool itself. A fountain can be an accent piece that’s completely separate – perhaps issuing from an artistic sculpture – or it can be a part of the overall water circulation. The water can splash straight up just a few feet, or it can shoot in a stream that arcs high into the air before falling back into the pool. Or a fountain can spray in a cone or fan that rains down cooling water over a wide area of the pool surface.
Waterfalls and cascades – The choices for waterfalls are almost endless. Like a fountain, a waterfall can be a decorative center of visual interest on the perimeter of the poolscape, or it can be integrated with the pool. Waterfalls can flow over natural or man-made rock at the edge of the pool, flow through metal scuppers built into its side or stream out of the spout of an artistically designed stone or ceramic bowl with a spout that projects over the pool’s coping. A waterfall can flow at a musical trickle or cascade with force, perhaps into a secluded stone grotto built into the corner of the pool. Or it can pour from scuppers in a smooth sheet or curtain of sparkling clear water. Waterfalls are also a beautiful way to visually connect a spa/pool system, with water pouring from the edge or side of a raised spa into the attached pool.
Spouts – Spouts pour water into a pool through a hole that’s surrounded by a metal or ceramic accent piece. A spout can be a geometric or abstract design, or it can be sculpted into the shape of a flower, seashell, mythological creature or animal.
Jets & bubblers – In a pool or spa, jets and bubblers have a massaging effect as well as a visual effect by creating rippling, churning and bubbling at or just below the surface of the water.

Hop Cassidy Pools is an experienced Scottsdale swimming pool builder specializing in custom pool design and quality pool construction and remodeling for homeowners and contractors. Turn to Hop Cassidy if you’d like to create a pool with water features in your own backyard, or to redesign your pool to incorporate beautiful falls or fountains. Call us today at 480-905-8780 to get started on a unique pool that suits your sense of style.

Infinity Edge Pools: Spice Up Your Pool Design by Taking Some of the Edge Off

Posted on March 5, 2012 by Scott Strader

If you’re planning to install a swimming pool and you’re looking for custom pool design that’s different and especially elegant, consider a construction technique that will literally take the edge off your new pool.

Infinity-edge pools, also referred to as negative-edge, zero-edge, vanishing-edge or disappearing-edge, give the appearance of having no boundary on one side. The surface of the water seems to extend forever or float in space with nothing visible to limit it. The pool shell can’t be seen above the waterline – there’s a sense that no waterline even exists.

Infinity-edge pools are often strategically placed to take advantage of their location or the natural surroundings. Perched near a lake, or overlooking an ocean, the pool seems to extend into the adjacent body of water, blending with it at the pool’s “missing” edge. On a hillside or mountainside property, the negative-edge pool appears to drop off into space, its water merging with the blue of the sky.

Of course, these pools’ “edgelessness” is just an illusion, albeit a beautiful one. Infinity-edge pools create their stunning floating effect because the structures that retain and recirculate the water are out of the swimmers’ sight. The missing side of the pool is really there, but it does not extend up past the waterline like the other sides. If the pool has been constructed properly, water flows in a smooth, thin sheet over the submerged edge, called a weir, and lands in a catch basin or trough below. The basin or trough receiving the spillover connects to the pool’s circulation system, so the “lost” water is eventually pumped through the filter and back into the pool.

The negative-edge concept was pioneered centuries ago for reflecting pools built on the palace grounds of European royalty. Today, infinity-edge design is incorporated into luxury swimming pools at resorts and hotels around the world. As a backyard swimming pool, a zero-edge pool will instantly lend an exotic or upscale feel to a home’s outdoor entertaining space.

Naturally, this design adds to the expense of a building a pool, and not every Phoenix swimming pool contractor has experience building infinity-edge pools. Construction must be very precise, with the weir built extremely level and at just a small fraction of an inch below the waterline. Infinity-edge pools built on sloping ground are also likely to need extra structural reinforcement. But many satisfied owners of infinity-edge pools think the dramatic effect they create is well worth their extra cost.

Hop Cassidy Pools is a top Scottsdale swimming pool contractor with 25 years of experience designing and constructing all kinds of pools and spas for residential and commercial clients all over the Valley. We’re an award-winning builder of Arizona custom pools of the highest quality. Call the pool professionals at Hop Cassidy today at 480-905-8780 so that we can help you add the pool of your dreams to your property this season.