Jennifer Coppola At Home
The first part of the backyard design was the building of the inground pool. Thanks to a beautiful rendering from Seasonal World, we had the anchor for the entire backyard plan. The pool needed to be built first due to the intricate network of pipes that connect to the cleaning system, and construction began at the end of August 2024. John and I decided on an inground pool made of gunite and 20' x 40' large. The depth of the pool varies from 4 feet to 6 feet, so the majority of the pool is easy to stand up in as an average-sized adult. It’s perfect since that’s what I want to be able to do in my pool: stand, soak, maybe float, and some light swimming.
The next series of steps is not a how-to but more of what occurred during the pool construction. We left the construction up to experts at Seasonal World because there is no way I would attempt to build a pool on my own.
Part I: The Big Dig
Timeline: approximately 1 week
The first part of the pool installation was the big dig needed for the size of the pool and the cleaning pipes that connected to the cleaning and filtering system. The team at Seasonal World worked quickly and dug the entire pool site within a few days.
Part II: Concrete pour
Timeline: 2 days
Once the gunite was poured, the entire shell of the pool came to life. The gunnite gave us flexibility to choose the size and depth of the pool along with where we wanted steps. We added large steps on the shallow end of the pool that doubled as built-in seats. It’s a great option for when you’re in the mood for more soaking than swimming.
Part III: Drying and Curing
Timeline: approximately 4 weeks
This was the most boring part of the project: waiting for the concrete to fully dry. Absolutely nothing else can happen with the pool itself during this phase, so instead I began daydreaming of the following summer when I could swim in it.
Part IV: Finishing Touch
Timeline: Approximately 2 weeks
We decided on a very dark blue finish that is one hue down from black. The darker finish was what we wanted, and a bonus was discovered last week: the darker pool finish heats up the water faster thanks to sunlight. No need for the pool heater… at least not this month.
The waterline tile contains blue, orange, and yellow, which work nicely with the bullnose paving stone that was installed around the perimeter of the pool.
The pool was completed at the beginning of November, which was just in time to close it for the winter! This is why using the pool as much as possible this summer is so important to me. I have been patiently waiting 6 months to enjoy it, and I'm thankful those 6 months are up.
