Blue Haven Pools: Three Factors to Consider When Building a Swimming Pool

Completing a major home improvement project is a lot like building a house itself. How you start—the foundation you build—bears greatly on your final project outcome.

When it comes to adding a swimming pool to your property, the same is true. That’s according to Blue Haven Pools, a leading pool contractor. Experts with the company highlight three key considerations to nail down at the outset when embarking on a new pool.

First, consider how large you want your pool to be. Don’t allow dimensions to become an afterthought, as you may come to regret it down the road.

Imagine having a newly done pool and taking a dip in it for the first time with your family members. Your aquatic retreat looks great, but you suddenly realize that with one child swimming across the pool, two others splashing around in the shallow end with your spouse, and you trying to relax on the tanning ledge, it may feel surprisingly crowded.

Extra space would have been much better for accommodating everybody and his or her individual activities. Among pool buyers, Blue Haven’s specialists say that the leading “do-over wish” is larger pool dimensions.

Second, consider where the pool entry goes and its configuration. Pool buyers often miss the important nature of steps—where they are built, as well as their style and dimensions.

Their arrangement and position play a larger role than you might imagine. For example, poorly placed ones can obstruct a lap swimmer’s path and disrupt his or her routine.

Steps can also provide an opportunity to include an increasingly popular pool feature, a tanning ledge (also called a sun shelf). Ask your builder about creating a first step that does double duty as this functional feature.

If seniors or those with mobility challenges may be using your pool, consider making the steps wider; they offer more space for an easier foothold for greater balance.

Third, think about whether a pool alone will provide maximum use and enjoyment for your family; with the wonderful hydrotherapy its jets and warm water deliver, perhaps a spa would be an excellent addition as well.

If you decide to include a relaxing spa with your pool, take advantage of the design opportunities it provides as well.

For example, have your contractor build the spa elevated—higher than the pool. Doing so allows for a spillover that creates a sleek water feature above your pool’s surface.

Starting your pool project off right is as easy with help of a qualified pool designer. Along with the factors outlined here, your designer will carefully review a number of decorative options and functional feature that suit your family’s lifestyle.

Blue Haven Pools: How a Backyard Pool Promotes a Healthy Lifestyle

A swimming pool can enhance the appearance and value of your home, and it can also provide an avenue for improving your family’s health and sense of well-being, according to highly rated pool contractor Blue Haven Pools.

A private aquatic retreat can boost opportunities for healthy living in a variety of ways. First, using a public pool poses health risks your family can more easily avoid in your backyard pool.

Here’s why: The swim facilities at community centers, schools, gyms, and clubs are constantly in use—and by numerous bathers. Unfortunately, some may carry contagious pathogens from open sores and illnesses. Meanwhile, others who are healthy may not be exactly the most hygienic; they may not practice effective sanitary habits. (Need we say more?)

The ugly truth is that even chlorine can’t destroy all of the dangerous nasty microbes in some public pools. And some are not properly maintained. So, for the best odds for avoiding waterborne illnesses and infections, it’s best to swim at home.

Second, swimming is a superb activity for shaping up. You can do laps for a cardio workout or engage in other forms of aquatic fitness with special weights and fitness accessories designed for use in the water.

Because of water’s buoyancy, you can work out your entire body without placing stress on your joints. In fact, swimming is even more low-impact than exercises such as cycling, walking, doing yoga, or using a stepper, rowing machine, or elliptical

For that reason, swimming is particularly helpful for those with limited mobility or with conditions such as obesity or arthritis. And with the ultimate convenience of a pool just steps outside your backdoor, keeping a regular workout routine just got easier.

Finally, hydrotherapy can improve your quality of life in more ways than you imagine. Splashing in the pool with the family can be a lot of fun, and so can simply laying out on the tanning ledge to relax.

In some cases, you don’t even need to go in the water; you can simply listen to water flowing from your pool’s waterfalls and experience a dose of tranquility.

And if you love spas, include one when building a new pool. The warm water and massaging jets will take relaxation to a whole new level. A bubbling spa can help soothe aching muscles and help wash away the stress of the day. A hot soak before bed can lead to a better night’s sleep as well.

With a liquid oasis on your property, your family can access greater opportunities for feeling better, looking better, and ultimately achieving a more enjoyable, healthier lifestyle.