It's human nature to want something most other people don't have. At least, that's true of most of the homeowners I work for these days. For the past several years, I've deliberately nurtured a reputation for a my unique style of work, an approach based largely on the way I include artistic and otherwise unique details and features.
So far, it's worked out pretty well. In fact, as it stands, I've been turning away some clients and have been forced to make others wait longer than I or they would like. That's a great problem to have and it's all because as word spreads, more and more people see how interesting swimming pools can be — especially those given an extra dose of creativity. These days, approximately 90 percent of my customers come from referrals and almost all are interested in details that set their pool apart.
While I'm very proud of our company's success and the way we've made it happen, there's a takeaway I think is worth sharing: For many clients, it's the unusual details that more often than not cause them to fall in love with their aquatic spaces.
IMAGINING ON THEIR BEHALF
The sorts of details I'm talking about can be tough to describe as they cover a fairly broad range of ideas. On the smallest level, we do a lot with different hardscape treatments, using different types of stone, tile, statuary and reclaimed materials to create vignettes some people feel evoke various forms of folk art. In other situations, those touches are much, much larger in architectural scale but no different in spirit.
Large or small, simple or complex, those details work together to create tapestries that are defined by finely crafted visuals. For some projects it might just be a touch here and there, and in these cases, the costs are relatively modest. In the more expansive treatments, it's not unusual for the costs to climb deep into six figures.
Regardless of project scope or budget, in all of my projects, the big idea is to create an emotional connection with the work that clients enjoy each and every time they step into their backyards. Unique details give them something to talk about with their relatives and friends, interesting narratives that serve as both points of pride and fodder for conversation.
That ongoing interest and affection my clients have for these project details is, I believe, one of the keys in creating an interesting experience. If you look at the work with an open mind and creative spirit, odds are you can always find something special to suggest.
To show you what I mean, here's a small set of details, finished and in process — each aimed at giving the work a type of mystique that stirs the imagination.
RE-IMAGINING THE EDGE
It's interesting when you have the opportunity to remodel your own work. That was the case with this pool, originally built by my dad many years ago with a 56-foot vanishing edge.
After living with the pool for several years, the clients decided they didn't really enjoy the edge all that much, nor did they appreciate the hefty electric bill that came with running the edge pump.
As part of a larger renovation, we closed off the edge with this unusual countered seating and lounging berm that now serves as a great place to relax or for kids to crawl around and play on.
We also added a broad sun shelf with small bubbling basalt columns, umbrella and LED-lit laminar jets. And I threw in the small turtle tile mosaic as a surprise.
A SECRET STREAM
This square cast-concrete spa might be considered somewhat ordinary, were it not for the finish material and the "secret stream" coming out of the spa. When I suggested it to the clients, I'm not sure they knew exactly what I meant but trusted me anyway.
I created the illusion that water is spilling from one corner, but in fact, it's a completely separate loop so it can be turned off while the spa is still running. A large cleaved basalt boulder forms the vertical stream course with tiny pebble inlays in the channel, a perfect example of an extremely small yet attention-getting detail.
The spa sides are clad in an amazing faux-wood ceramic tile the client found at a local store. Even up close it's tough to tell it's not the real thing. The spa's interior is finished in lighter color of the same type of tile.
THE JUMPING SLAB
This feature is still in progress at this writing. Here, the clients wanted a diving rock that's natural and sculptural, meaning it doesn't look like a diving board. That led to this unusual slab/runnel feature that we're currently getting ready to mount over the deep end of the pool.
It's an interesting feature from a visual standing but it also presents some technical challenges. Chiefly, knowing that it's going to be used for diving, we had to make it safe. That meant two things primarily: First, as a long, flat piece of stone, there could be the chance it would break at some point, which could be disastrous. So we're developing a metal plate fixture that will support the stone from underneath.
Second, because it's going to have water flowing over it, we had to provide enough traction so no one would slip. So, we're working on different techniques that will provide a rough, non-slip surface. We're also making custom wooden handrails leading up to the rock.
When finished, the feature will have a naturalistic while still being safe!
HAND RAILS AS SCULPTURE
Having artists, sculptors and craftspeople as friends can be a big help when it comes to developing special details.
On this project the client wanted some kind of creative handrail treatment and asked me if I knew anyone who could create something out of metal. I turned to my good friend and welder/metal artist Randy Ortiz. We worked together with the client to develop these two works of metal artworks that function as handrails, one by the pool and the other by the spa, the latter based loosely on the shape of a trombone.
The handrail on the pool is adjacent to a dry stream of extremely colorful, smooth river rocks.
The pool itself may be a basic kidney, but with the rails and the hardscape, it certainly qualifies as something no one else has.
A BARREL OF FUN
As I mentioned at the top of this discussion, artistic details can come in all shapes and sizes. This 18-foot "barrel slide" qualifies as one of the largest creative features we've done to date.
Let's face it, slides are great fun, but they're not always the most attractive visual features. Some builders go to great lengths to conceal them, but in this case, we did the opposite by calling attention to the tubular structure with a rustic, faux-barrel design.
We started with a black, 2 ½-foot wide PVC culvert pipe and skirted it with real cedar planks banded in metal to create the barrel look. Culvert pipes are typically ribbed and not suitable for use as a slide. As luck would have it, a friend of mine works at the shop that makes those types of pipes. I paid a visit and found these huge pieces of plastic sheeting we welded to the inside of the pipe to make it smooth.
The structure includes fiber-optic lighting and pressure- washer nozzles that shoot water in front of the slide. Waterfall stones with LED lighting flank the slide on each side.
Interestingly, these elaborate features surmount a vinyl liner pool, not something you typically see in a so-called "package pool."
BUDDHAS ON THE SHELF
This is the fourth project I've done for this client, a relationship stretching back almost 20 years. This time around he wanted a design that was informed by his experiences in Hawaii experiencing all things Zen, including his stay at a resort that featured images of Buddha.
He didn't want the happy, fat Buddha, but instead the younger, thinner and more serious version. Finding the perfect figures at the right size was not as easy as I thought it might be. I went on a search looking for the Buddha statues in at least a dozen stores and eventually found these in a tiny statuary store in Portland, Ore.
They're made of cast concrete, which we stained with two colors of acid stain to create the mottled gray and green finish. They were then sealed so the color wouldn't change over time.
We also had to come up with something interesting for the statues to sit on, which eventually resulted in the unusual design you see in the photos. I found these wonderfully colorful smooth rocks in Washington state, and basically followed my imagination to create this sort of undulating edge structure. It also includes pieces of broken glass and Pyrex balls we found at a local grocery store. There are also beautiful caramel-colored rocks we found at the bottom of the pool during excavation that we used throughout the project.
On a whim, I included three vertically perched brass fire hose nozzles mounted on hand-cut pieces of stone grouted in hand-mixed Hydrazzo. Water spouts vertically and you can actually play with the nozzle's flow by putting your hand on one, which then makes the others rise. It's an interesting interactive feature that both kids and adults love — it's like playing a musical instrument.
Because the nozzles are metal, we had to come up with a custom bonding attachment.
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