Swimming Pool Building & Design
SwimmingPoolSteve.com is user-supported. In order to keep this resource about pools and spas available for free to all readers I earn commissions for purchases made through links on this page. For more information see the full disclaimer page. By using this website you are agreeing to the terms and conditions.
Swimming pool consulting & design - The world of pool design and installation goes pretty deep. It would be hard to make one page that covers everything you might need to know about building pools and installing them...so instead this page will cover a lot of content about building pools, how to do it, merits of different technical process etc. as it relates to all swimming pools - concrete pools, vinyl liner pools and fiberglass pools.
If you are planning to install a pool yourself, or plan to hire a pool installer to put one in for you, you should definitely review the information on this page about pool building and design, but you should also consider signing up for the Swimming Pool Steve pool installation consulting service. With this service I can help you to make better choices for design, technique and technical process, efficiency improvements and help protect your interests throughout the interview and subsequent installation process. No time limit, no question limit, and a knowledgeable swimming pool specialist in your corner helping you to make the best decisions for your new pool. The amount of headache and uncertainty I can help remove during the pool installation process is appreciable. I genuinely believe my design and efficiency tips alone will easily pay for my entire consulting cost and likely a few times over.
Optimizing Pool Skimmers, Returns & Lights
Let's just jump in (pun intended) with some swimming pool design fundamentals. Questions about layout for skimmers, main drains, lights and returns will apply to every type of pool regardless of whether it is concrete, vinyl liner or fiberglass. With all of these pools failure to locate the suction and return ports correctly (or optimally) can and will cost you extra effort and frustration in trying to maintain and keep your pool clean. If your pool is not clearing floating debris properly then this will end causing a chlorine demand on the system and creating more work for you (scooping and vacuuming). Having a pool that is effectively designed and well laid out to clear floating debris is one of the first things you would want to evaluate with a new pool design plan.
Even just deciding on the number of skimmers and returns your pool will have, and whether these will be shared underground or will have isolated pipe runs back to the filtration pump is a huge consideration and quite honestly one that gets completely missed with the average swimming pool installation. Pool owners really never even think to ask about this level of detail in the pool construction instead putting trust into the builder to put in a pool that functions. The problem with this approach is that the best optimized pool and the pool which functions but makes the builder the most profit...well these are pretty much always two different pools. Much like other areas of life you have to advocate for yourself and be hyper-specific about how you expect your pool to be built.
Pool skimmer orientation - First of all how many skimmers do you need anyway? This is one of those questions where the "by the book" answer will be applied to your pool by the builder, but in all reality you would benefit from more surface suction. One skimmer per 800 square feet of surface area is the minimum normally referenced with one skimmer per every 400 to 500 sf if surface area normally used for residential swimming pool design by those looking to do more than the minimum. In short, this means every pool needs one skimmer, unless larger than a 20x40' pool. Two skimmers in any pool over 400 sf of surface area would be a good formula to follow. Can you have too many skimmers? Like, yes, but I think it would be fair to say that most pools would benefit from more skimmers than they have.
So where are these skimmers supposed to go? They should be located where the prevailing winds from your yard tend to blow. We do not want to design systems that have to fight uphill, so to speak, when it comes to skimming surface water and floating debris from the pool. Skimmers should be 15 to 20 feet apart at minimum. Many more considerations here for how many skimmers to use and where to locate them optimally. For example - most skimmers are rated to 55 GPM and I prefer to use 75 GPM rated skimmers. Also most pool builders will daisy-chain multiple skimmers with one pipe underground. I always run pool skimmers as independent suction lines directly to the filtration pump...never share skimmer lines. So much lost potential flow efficiency, flow control and leak-redundance built in with isolated suction lines to your skimmers.
Pool return orientation - One of the most challenging parts of optimizing the return orientation for a given pool is simply that pools come in so many different shapes. If all pools were rectangles than it would be pretty simple to articulate where to put the returns. Kind of. First we would need to establish that there is more than one acceptable way to install pool returns. In short, one way is to space returns around the pool (corners) and aim all returns in the same direction to vortex the pool water in one direction. The other, is to install returns direction opposite of every skimmer and point the return directly at the skimmer. Then, place additional returns towards any potential dead zones. Either one of these methods would and could work. So how many returns is the minimum number? That depends on a bunch of different stuff all unique to your pool specifically, but let's agree that one return is the minimum. Yes, there are loads of pools out there that run on a single return, for better or for worse.
Optimally I like to see four return lines as the minimum for any pool. Again, I like to pay a little more for some extra pipe materials and run isolated pipe runs versus shared (or looped) return lines. My logic is that pipe materials are not all that expensive relative to a pool installation. A few dollars more on pipes will allow for more total flow potential, more flow efficiency, more leak-redundance, and most of all flow control to every return eyelet in the pool...something which can not be achieved with a looped and balanced return system. I like four returns somewhere near to each of the four "corners" of the pool all pointing up (slightly) and to one direction. I keep returns about three feet off of end walls and will sometimes utilize different eyelet sizes for returns blowing down short walls versus ones blowing down long walls.
Pool light orientation - Pool lighting and lighting layout has taken a drastic turn in recent years with the rise in popularity of accent lighting. It used to be pool lighting came only in large and small. Large for pools and small for spas and they were similar to a dinner plate and dessert plate in size...and they were as bright as the sun itself. Almost. Super bright. So bright in fact that only one light is really all any pool needed regardless of size. Two lights would make your pool visible from outer space. Modernly you just do not see this any longer. More than nine out of 10 new pool installations will only have accent lighting. Small, return port sized LED lighting which is bright...but nowhere near to as bright as the main pool and spa lights.
You can still get the larger, brighter pool and spa lights and in my opinion the best pool lighting design will include both a main light as well as accent lighting. The cardinal rule of pool lighting is to locate the lights on a wall / in location where they are not visible from the house or from the main sitting area around your pool. You want to be able to see the backlit water and not the point of origin of the light itself. This can obviously be challenging depending on the shape of your pool and layout of your yard but even with a half dozen or more accent lights instead of a main pool light I would still try to place them where the point of origin of the light is not visible. More is better when it comes to pool lighting. This is one of the few areas of your pool you will spend money and actually have something to show for it that you can use, see and interact with. The lighting system in your pool is a great place to spend more and get more in your pool design.
Pipe Size For Pools
Pipe size equals safety & efficiency - When it comes to pipe size for swimming pools it all comes down to safety and efficiency. Fast moving water is less efficient than slow moving water and too much flow (or too fast) can exceed design specifications for pool fixtures like skimmers and main drains which can create an entrapment hazard. The magic number to remember when it comes to pipe size for pools is six feet per second of water velocity. This represents a common reference point for both safety as well as efficiency of flow. For more information you can read this deeper dive on pipe size for pools.
When I am consulting about pool design people will often ask me what size pipe for main drains, or what size pipe for skimmers...and the truth is that I do not have a standard size for skimmers or main drains. The pool is evaluated as a whole, and the plumbing system broken down by pipe, pipe size, and water flow in each line. Larger pipe is used to slow down the rate of water velocity in the pipe, and also to allow for a greater total volume of water to be pumped. The Virginia Graeme Baker Act defines anti-entrapment measures in pools, of which there are many, but an important reference point is in relation to not exceeding 6fps of water velocity in any suction line. Add in a margin for safety and you might start a pool design by sizing the suction lines to operate in a real world (maximum) setting of 4 fps of water velocity. Past the suction side manifold where the multiple suction lines converge to one line, change the pipe size through the filtration system as you go to maintain less than 6 fps at all times.
Choosing The Best Pool Equipment
Pentair, Jandy & Hayward Are The Big 3 - The one shortest possible answer to how to choose the best pool equipment is to buy everything you need from one manufacturer, which will be a pump and filter, plus optionally a heater, salt system, chlorinator, automation system or peripheral sanitizer like AOP, ozone, germicidal UV or potentially a copper or silver ion based mineralizer system. Pentair, Jandy and Hayward are the main three full equipment line manufacturers to choose from and if you pick one of these three you are probably going to be good.
This video about choosing pool equipment would be a good watch if you are looking for more information about each, individual piece of equipment you are going to be looking at for your pool filtration system. Unfortunately it only touches about the top tier manufacturers together because there are many pool equipment manufacturers who make some great products but they only make one thing. Maybe a few products. In many cases these one-off products will not fully integrate with the rest of your pool equipment or automation panel. This is one of the advantages of staying within one equipment line on the equipment pad - compatability. If that can be solved, or is not an issue in your specific situation, there are a host of secondary manufacturers and specialty dealers / retailers that exist within the pool industry. The place where these all come together is in wholesale distribution where pool dealers and contractors shop. Often these buying sources are not availble to home owners directly.
What Is The Best Kind Of Pool?
Comparing different types of pools - Concrete, fiberglass or vinyl liner...three entirely different ways to build and install a swimming pool. Each one with a different technical process and fundamental approach to how it ends up in the ground. In the finished product all three look and perform very similarly. So much so that you might think that you could perhaps easily convert from one pool type to another. Like in this example where I converted an old vinyl liner pool into a new concrete (shotcrete) pool:
How to convert a vinyl liner pool to a concrete pool
Very little conversion happens, let me tell you. Mostly demolition, and then construction. At absolute most the old pool might mean less digging needed for the new pool. Otherwise concrete pools, vinyl liner pools and fiberglass pools are each, independently unique from the ground up and similar only in that they hold water and you get to swim in them. If you are choosing a new swimming pool and you are researching which is the best to buy then it would help you a lot to change the framing of the question to understand that your unique priorities for a pool and pool ownership, your unique budget expectations, design (size, shape, features) all will factor in when determining what is the best pool overall for you.
A big part of the equation here will be price. Availability of specialists in any given pool type will dramatically change the price you pay for one pool type versus the next. In most cases any of the three (concrete, vinyl liner or fiberglass) will be a viable option. Explore pricing and availability of these in your area. The more nuanced answer is that both vinyl liner and fiberglass pools have limitations - physical limitations (like size, shape) which excludes them from use for certain projects based on your design requirements. Concrete pools on the other hand can be used in all/any design but can be excluded from the running due to cost exceeding your available budget.
Want to know more what I think when you start really comparing different kinds of pools?
Concrete Pools VS. Fiberglass Pools - Which Are Better?
Vinyl Liner Pools VS. Fiberglass Pools - Which should you choose?
Fiberglass Pool Buying Considerations
Benefits Of Vinyl Liner Pools & Why You Might Want One
Hiring a Pool Builder Versus a DIY Pool - Another important consideration with the pool design and build process is whether you will be hiring out the installation or is this a do-it-yourself pool installation. A lot of people might end up considering different angles here simply due to the costs involved with having a modern day pool installed. For some it will be DIY or nothing. For others it might come down to wanting more from the pool than you can afford to pay someone else to do so you have to take it on for yourself.
Some people might find oversight of a pool installation project to be a fun retirement hobby to take on...lot's of different situations which will boil down to cost, and hiring out the job or doing it yourself. The type of pool that you end up getting will likely have a lot to do with the direction you go here with DIY versus hiring out your pool installation project.
Note, even if you hire out the job it would benefit you massively to come into the process with a strong understanding of both what you want and what you do not want with your new pool installation. When you rely entirely on the pool company to "sell" you a pool package that is exactly what they do. They design and build the most profitable, easiest to build pool they can which still (hopefully) meets your satisfaction levels. Unfortunately for you, you will not know if you are genuinely satisfied until long after the last check has cleared. This is why I advise anyone getting a new pool - self installed or hired out - to bring me in to help consult about your project. I can help you design the pool that will actually meet your needs and fit your expectations of function best.
New Pool Installation Consulting
With the availability of online resources being greater than ever I agree that the potential to build a high quality DIY pool is better than it has ever been. Potentially concrete pools, fiberglass pools or vinyl liner pools can be self-built with success. It's all relative to the skill and the ambition and dedication of the person building it. The vast majority of pools will end up being professionally built, not self built, and these are the ones where I am actually more concerned with quality. With a self-built pool you are obsessing about details and cutting zero corners. I would be being dishonest if I did not confess that the pool industry has a higher than average number of unskilled / underskilled people passing themselves off as great pool installers. Even the good ones are building the best pool for their company to build. Fast, easy, predicable and profitable. These are words that describe their ideal pool. Fun, unique, efficient and feature rich (added cost / complexity) are words that might describe your ideal pool. Getting the latter from the former is basically why my pool installation consulting program exists. Unless you are explicitly informed it becomes impossible to discern your ideal pool from their ideal pool. I can help you get exactly what you want with your pool project: Swimming Pool Consulting
Pool Design Options That You Need To Know
Much like buying a new car, or having a new house built, buying and installing a new pool will be a process filled with decisions along the way. At some point during the process you will end up deciding about every tiny detail about your pool and these all will add up to your total enjoyment of the pool and pool ownership experience. If you make the pool too shallow to swim or jump in this might detract from your enjoyment. Similarly if you make the pool too deep, or the shallow end too small, you might find that most of your total space goes unused or it is hard to play games. The choices you make in the equipment and filtration area will determine how easy or how hard it is to care for and maintain both your pool equipment but also the pool water chemistry. I think it would be fair to say that a lot of people building their own pool for the second time might do so a little differently than the first time.
What is the best pool shape - For me the only pool shape which is classic, timeless and cost efficient is the rectangle. The length should be exactly double the width, like a 20x40' pool for example. The reasons why a rectangle is best are numerous. Aesthetically you can fit the elegant straight lines of a rectangle pool into any design, modern or otherwise, but this is not the main reason that I like to endorse rectangle pools as the best overall pool shape. I like that they maximize both the swimming and playing space. I also like that they facilitate important things like pool covers, with a specific nod to automatic pool covers which are the holy grail of awesome (optional) pool upgrades in my opinion.
I would definitely consider non-linear dimensions like you would find in a lap pool design, like 8x40' or 10x30' as examples. I would also definitely agree that a freeform based shape for a swimming pool can be amazing but I like the functionality, cost effectiveness and versatility of rectangle pools more as a total package.
What size is an average pool? - In the 70's through the 90's it was fashionable to have giant swimming pools...as large as you could get them! Properties were larger, costs to operate pools were notably less, and heated pools were less common so the concern of larger pools being more expensive to heat was largely not an issue. Modernly properties in urban areas are small and densely built close together leaving small yards (and small pools) being more common. Add into this the fact that modern pools almost all have heaters, if not multiple heating sources, and pool owners tend to swim in warmer water than previous generations all leads to the modern pool installation being both small and shallow.
Diving depth pools at the residential level are exceedingly rare in modern pool installations simply due to modern safety standards requiring pools much larger and deeper than the average pool is these days. Of course older, larger pools still do exist, as do pools which are too small (or too shallow) for diving choosing to install a diving board anyway. 12x24' is one of the most common modernly installed pool sizes. 16x32' is probably the single most common size. 20x40' was the most common pool size in the 1970's and much of the 1980's with a consistent reducing in size ever since.
Optional upgrades for new pool installations - A swimming pool is just a pump, a filter and a body of water. Everything over and above this becomes a design choice as in an optional extra that you choose to add for comfort, convenience, cosmetic value or ease of use / lower maintenance. This includes all of the peripheral devices you can add to your filtration equipment like gas heaters or electric heat pumps, peripheral sanitizer systems like salt water, AOP, ozone, mineral systems or UV but also features like deck jets, bubblers, sheer descent waterfalls, LED lighting systems, automatic covers, app and automation control, attached hot tubs, chemical monitoring and automation...the list goes on and on! This does not even include things like fancy interior surfaces or stamped concrete / special tiles like terrazo, porcelain or glass tile, let alone advanced features like infinity edges or knife edge pool designs.
These optional extras are what will take a modest pool installation budget and multiply it by ten! When designing a pool it is a good idea to list out your priorities for the pool. Low maintenance, high quality, automated, easy, low-budget...your unique priorities are going to be how you actually go about deciding what features your pool should include and which you can likely cut from your plan and live happily without.
New pool options to avoid - I know I sound like I am no fun at all when I say forget about getting a waterfall or a water feature on your pool that includes falling water. Firstly, waterfalls are a huge source of leaks in pools...pretty much all of them. Next, they adversely affect the water chemistry in that falling water causes massive heat and chemical efficiency losses, as well as increasing the pH of the water as a function of the aeration of the falling water. For concrete and natural stone water features you will also be adding minerals which can result in staining and scaling, and stagnant water from seldomly-used water features is a reality for the majority of pools out there now. Think extra long and carefully about adding a waterfall to your pool. I like them too. A few modest sheer descent falls tastefully added and zoned in with automation to flush every day...well that I would approve of. As long as the budget allows for it!
A few linear feet of sheer waterfall could be powered by borrowing flow from your filtration pump and pool returns. More than this and you will want a dedicated system which means independent suction points (main drains) as well as pump and filter exclusive to the sheer descent waterfall system and this is a notable cost increase versus modest water features borrowing from the filtration pump on occasion. I also do not endorse in-floor cleaning systems even though I have installed dozens of them myself going back as early as 2002 or so. I just feel the extensive (and large) plumbing below the floor of the pool is high in liability, and the power / flow needed to drive the in-floor cleaning systems is appreciable. They are good, just overkill for most residential pool applications in my experience.
How To Hire & Vet Your Pool Builder
Interviewing & hiring a pool installer - The process of interviewing and hiring a pool builder is probably the single most unexpected part of the entire process for home owners looking to have a pool built. By this I mean that every stage of this process you will have an idea in your mind for what it will be like and the interviewing and hiring of your pool builder will diverge the furthest in reality from the ideas you have going into the process more than any other part of having a pool built. In short, you will reach out (still with hope in your heart) for a few local pool builders to meet with you and provide an estimate for your dream pool installation. None return your call.
In general it is harder than it should be to give someone a giant suitcase full of money to build a pool for you. You would think it would be easy but it's not. Plus, you are dealing with a ton of money and in industry with a reputation for scammers, fraudsters and fly-by-night companies. Good pool builders are out there to be sure. You just usually have to search a little bit to find them. You also should be realistic about your timeline for completion of your new pool. Rarely are swimming within a month or three. More like one to two years average from initial point of contact until first swim actually happens.
The information on this page is a great starting point for comparison and design points generic to swimming pools in general. At this point you would have to look more at the specific, unique circumstances for a given pool to determine more about optimizing and customizing the design. The type of pool matters. Your geographic location matters. Your expectations for longevity, efficiency, maintenance, safety...all of this will sway the direction of your pool installation. If you want help to make sure this gets done right the first time consult with me about your pool project: Swimming Pool Steve Consulting
Top content from www.SwimmingPoolSteve.com
Pool and spa chemistry crash course
New pool owner guide
The Swimming Pool Steve blog
Have a question - ask Steve
Swimming Pool Steve is an award winning, second generation swimming pool specialist from Ontario Canada and one of the most trusted voices in the swimming pool industry. With over 20,000,000 views on the Swimming Pool Steve YouTube Channel, winner of the Pleatco Pool & Spa Industry Leadership award and author of hundreds of pool and spa articles both online and in print. Steve is committed to helping pool and spa owners as well as pool and spa industry workers learn more about the technical side of building, renovating, repairing and maintaining all types of swimming pools and spas. Follow Swimming Pool Steve on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
Endorsed Brands From Swimming Pool Steve
The following links and products are to affiliates of the Swimming Pool Steve website. These are brands, products and services hand selected by Steve for endorsement. Please note that these endorsements can include monetary compensation, affiliate links and referral fees to Swimming Pool Steve, however there is zero additional cost to you should you use one of these products or services. Income generated from these links helps to keep this pool and spa resource available for everyone. To have your product or service considered for listing here as an endorsed brand email SwimmingPoolSteve@gmail.com.
Amazon Disclosure Statement - As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
www.PoolPartsToGo.com
New Black + Decker variable speed pumps are available online from www.PoolPartsToGo.com and they are a drop in replacement for many popular pump models including Pentair Superflo and Hayward Super Pumps. With an adjustable platform base, union connections included and a very strong warranty these pumps offer an impressive value to pool owners.
- Swimming Pool Steve
www.PoolSuppliesCanada.ca
When it comes to ordering pool and spa supplies online in Canada www.PoolSuppliesCanada.ca is by far the best option. They carry everything from chemicals to replacement pumps to entire pool kits, with free shipping options and more "in stock" items than any other Canadian online retailer.
- Swimming Pool Steve