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Get Ready for Spring with a Stacked Stone Pool Water Feature
Whether Spring is in full swing or maybe where you are Winter is still firmly in place, there’s no better time than the first couple months of the year to start planning and executing on a backyard pool project. Getting started early makes sure that come peak summertime you’re going to be relaxing in a floating lounge instead of looking at a big hole in your backyard. This week’s featured project is a great inspiration as to how stacked stone can be used as part of a raised beam project. Let’s take a quick look at this project that used our Ochre XL Rock Panels and see why and how it’s a great use of stacked stone for a pool water feature.
The first thing that really catches our eye about this stacked stone pool water feature is the design of the raised beam itself. The beam actually has three separate levels stretching almost the entire length of the back of this pool. The lowest level introduces the stacked stone above the waterline tile and then the two highest levels step up and include beautiful waterfalls that create a sheer curtain of water into the pool. This multi step design not only looks great, but it really creates more elevation contrast than you might be able to reasonably create with a single level raised beam feature. That higher elevation really accentuates the waterfalls and makes that an impressive feature of the stacked stone pool water feature.
A subtle but important part of the design of this stacked stone pool water feature is the decision to keep the waterline tile the same all around the entire pool and opt not to use the stacked stone all the way down to the waterline. Norstone Rock Panels can be used in submerged applications, but from a design standpoint and an ongoing maintenance standpoint it makes a lot more sense to use the same waterline tile as the rest of the pool. The tile in this application is a standard 5x5 ceramic pool tile that is nicely color matched to the brown and grey earth tones of the Ochre XL Stacked Stone Panels. The ceramic tiles will essentially be maintenance free whereas the stone would need sealed in a waterline application, and by maintaining the waterline tile consistent all the way around the pool there was not awkward vertical transition point between the much thinner ceramic tile and the thicker stacked stone panels that would have needed to be addressed.
We talk a lot about our corner units and how easy they are, but are also always impressed when a contractor does a well executed outside corner miter cut we see in this project. With probably only about 3 total lineal feet of outside corners on this project, miter cutting field units into outside corner units is not particularly tedious or time consuming, and as you can see when done well, a miter cut outside corner on a stacked stone wall looks great.
One final thing we really appreciate about this project is how well the planter bed behind the stacked stone raised beam was landscaped. Stacked stone pool projects definitely fall into the “hardscape” category so it’s especially important to bring in other design elements to soften the space up. This was probably a little challenging with the higher than normal elevation of this stacked stone raised beam pool project, but a combination of tropical plants and a small palm tree do a fantastic job of softening up the hard look of the stone and paver coping while adding to the relaxed vibe that most backyard pools are looking to create.
We hope this quick tour around this fantastic stacked stone pool water feature has got you geared up and ready for some fun times this summer. Now is the time to get working on pool projects so that come summer you are enjoying your pool not waiting for it to be done. Contact our sales team today to learn more about how our stacked stone products can be used for all types of pool projects including raised beams and waterline tiles.
