Rock on the Wild Side

Shehan Pools put a 5-horsepower Pentair pump behind the waterfall to bring the heavy volume of water needed for the pool's 50-foot-long slide, which can be seen on the right side of the photo.
Shehan Pools put a 5-horsepower Pentair pump behind the waterfall to bring the heavy volume of water needed for the pool's 50-foot-long slide, which can be seen on the right side of the photo.

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"There are many reasons why I use Pentair, and the way it all works so well with the automation is one of them. With the right relays, we can also hook up lights, ceiling fans, and anything else thatโ€™s electric so the customer can control everything with a cell phone. Not all automation systems are like that.โ€ โ€”Bob Shehan, owner, Shehan Pools

 

Bob Shehan, owner of Shehan Pools in Florence, Ky., designs and engineers majestic poolscapes for demanding and discerning clients all over the globe. He builds for a range of budgets, but his best work is the kind few can afford.

A couple of years ago, he fielded a call from a fellow Kentuckian whoโ€™d been pitching his pool ideas to area builders, looking for someone special who could build the very ambitious backyard he had in mind. The centerpiece of his vision called for rocks framing a large natural-looking pool to match what heโ€™d seen while staying at high-end resorts, and he was having a hard time finding a reliable partner. Shehan says the customer was losing hope and about to give up.

โ€œHeโ€™d been talking to some other builders, including one who said he could do what the customer wanted, but I think after he looked into it a little the guy realized his company hadnโ€™t done anything like it previously,โ€ Shehan says. Essentially, the builder planned on figuring things out once heโ€™d secured the lucrative contract.

โ€œIn the pool industry, thatโ€™s not something you want to just try to figure out on the fly,โ€ Shehan says. โ€œThe rock in the project we completed for him is all man-made, and thatโ€™s what we specialize in. The other guy he was talking with wanted to use real rock. Well, thatโ€™s a massive amount of weight and height for a structure the way we do it, much less one with actual rocks.โ€

Shehan assured the client he had the know-how and experience to pull the project off. His portfolio of work for well-heeled homeowners and for commercial clients such as theme parks, water parks, zoos and resorts provided the proof. For added measure, the client made the three-hour drive from his home in southern Kentucky to see some of the local work Bob did in and around the greater Cincinnati area he calls home. He left knowing he had found the right builder for the job.

โ€œThatโ€™s where weโ€™re a lot different than most swimming pool companies,โ€ he says. โ€œBecause we also have that commercial experience, and we are able to make these big resort-style features available to our residential clients at a more-residential cost.โ€

Well Equipped

In addition to framing the pool and providing space for the grotto and swim-up bar, the meandering slide, a tanning shelf perched high above grade, and a special touch Shehan calls the Fire Majilis (Arabic for โ€œsitting placeโ€), the massive rock wall effectively hides the equipment, which sits on a filter pad at grade thatโ€™s four feet wide and about 35 feet long.

โ€œAll the equipment is on the back side of the waterfall,โ€ Shehan says. โ€œAnd thereโ€™s a lot of equipment on there!โ€

Shehanโ€™s choice for this project was Pentair, which he specs on about 90 percent of the companyโ€™s jobs.

โ€œWeโ€™ve got one recirculating pump, three waterfall pumps ranging from 7.5 to 10 horsepower, and one large 5-horsepower pump for the slide,โ€ he says. โ€œThat slide requires us to get a lot of water up to the top of that wall.โ€

In addition to those five pumps and a small one for the automatic pool cleaner, the pad has two electric Pentair heaters, a Triton sand filter and automation to tie it all together.

โ€œThere are many reasons why I use Pentair, and the way it all works so well with the automation is one of them,โ€ Shehan says. โ€œWith the right relays, we can also hook up lights, ceiling fans, and anything else thatโ€™s electric so the customer can control everything with a cell phone. Not all automation systems are like that.โ€

Shehan says heโ€™s got the experience to spec the equipment โ€” both commercial and residential โ€” without any outside help, but stresses that itโ€™s important to keep up with industry education.

โ€œWe go to the yearly APSP shows to make sure weโ€™re current with the new technology that Pentair and the other manufacturers have,โ€ he says. โ€œBecause things are constantly changing โ€” especially lighting and automation, which change by the month!โ€

This 20-foot-tall manmade rock wall conceals a 140-square-foot equipment pad with five pumps, two electric heaters and a Triton filter, all from Pentair.This 20-foot-tall manmade rock wall conceals a 140-square-foot equipment pad with five pumps, two electric heaters and a Triton filter, all from Pentair.

 

Fantastic Features

The signature feature of the the 100-foot-long, lagoon-style pool is the rockwork that rises a staggering 20 feet above the water level. Look closely and youโ€™ll see the variegated and textured surface that set it apart from the budget work many backyard builders do. Itโ€™s something Shehan takes great pride in, and he considers it his companyโ€™s calling card.

โ€œAll of those different colors and textures have been embossed right onto the rocks to give them that authentic look,โ€ he says. 

The rock feature that towers over the scene houses a grotto, which the customer knew he wanted from the get-go, and the swim-up bar located inside, an idea Shehan came up with during the design process.

โ€œWe set it up so that you can swim up to it by going through the waterfall,โ€ he says. โ€œAll of it was built in conjunction with the pool, and everything to the right and left of the grotto is an addition to the house. The pool ties everything in the property together.โ€

The pool itself has the naturalistic look the customer was after, varying in width and topping out at about 22 feet wide. The depth averages six feet.

Though the client had a grand vision going in, he couldnโ€™t have envisioned the imposing height of the rock in the finished project. That was one of many areas where Shehan Pools and its principal designer, Bobโ€™s wife, Sarah, exceeded the clientโ€™s lofty expectations.

โ€œA good part of what he wanted changed once he realized we could do even more than he was imagining,โ€ Shehan says. โ€œWe we met with him to do the original concept, and then we added some things along the way.โ€

Among the additions was a long slide that snakes from the top of the wall down to water level. Here, the customer had the main idea, but Shehan built upon it and created one of the projectโ€™s most distinctive features.

โ€œHe wanted a pretty long slide to begin with, and in order to do that we really needed to get some elevation,โ€ Shehan explains. โ€œHe was thinking about 10 feet long, and we just added another 40 feet to it.โ€

Finished Project

All told, the construction took 14 months. Winter intervened, but by then crews were able to work inside the grotto, carving rock for the swim-up bar and they werenโ€™t delayed by cold weather.

When the final pieces were put in place, the client threw a huge party that attracted a big part of the cityโ€™s small population. โ€œHalf the town was there!โ€ Shehan says. โ€œI get calls to this day because of that job. Just last week he sent me a text telling me heโ€™s sending somebody our way who saw his pool, and now theyโ€™re going to call us. Heโ€™s probably done that four or five times. Iโ€™ve gotten a lot of new customers that way because he is just thrilled to death with the pool.โ€

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