Build Your Own Vanishing Edge Pool ?

Infinity edge, negative edge, vanishing edge and knife edge pools should only be designed and built by reputable watershape designers, aquatic consultants or experienced contractors. Paolo Benedetti discusses WHY "building your own" pool is a foolish mistake...

Don't be penny wise and pound foolish!

Knowledge and Training
Pool builders who specialize in these complex "water in transit" designs usually have a few hundred hours of training in the intricacies of constructing these pools. Most have been building pools for years, prior to attempting their first water in transit design. And when most build their first one, they usually hire someone with more experienced to consult or assist them.

Why? Because even they realize that there is a really big DOWN SIDE, if things go wrong.

So why in the world would a homeowner even attempt to build one of these complex pools on their own?

Free advice on the Internet
There are countless websites, that purport to assist homeowners in building their own pools. Homeowners post questions, based upon their limited knowledge and ability to describe issues, and countless other nimrods give their free opinions.
When a sub-contractor asks for directions & the homeowner does not know the answer, what are they going to do? Post a question on the internet & select the first answer posted?
When things go wrong, who is going to assume the blame and correct the resulting problems?
Are they going to sue the guy who gave the free advice?

Hillsides & Slopes
Since most of these pools are constructed on hillsides to take advantage of the resulting views, there are a myriad of intricacies that MUST be adhered to to keep the pool on the hillside! If you are not intimately familiar with setbacks, deepened foundations, drilled caissons, step foundations or micro-piles, now is not the time to learn. A mistake here can result in a structural catastrophe.

This is also not the time to avoid spending money on a soils engineer. Since soils conditions can vary significantly on a single property, it is important to know what you're dealing with BEFORE you even dig the hole.

Site drainage is critical, as is the discharge of any accumulated rainfall. Undermining the slope below the pool can cause major issues.

Structural engineering needs to be specific for your project. What that means, is that the structural engineer has reviewed the slope topography and soils reports, and has prescribed the proper foundation design required for the issues unique to your project and site conditions. Oftentimes, they can actually provide generic pre-designed plans from their design library.

It is best to leave these decisions to those who specialize in these complex issues?

Sub-Contractors are not doing you any favors
The same goes for the pool construction industry's collection of sub-contractors. There is a reason that they are sub-contractors...
And their opinions are limited to what they have seen or done, right or wrong!
The more expensive sub-contractors are expensive for a reason - they usually do things correctly. But DIY'ers are not usually seeking the best... they are almost always seeking the cheapest!

And, human nature being what it is, sub-contractors are not always going to do what is proper, which is oftentimes a more difficult and costly method of doing something. They will take the path of least resistance - the easy way out. And is the property owner going to know any different?

Who's going to tell the homeowner that the following cannot be used to build an in ground pool?
non-site specific structural engineering (generic engineering without regards to the soil conditions)
wire mesh inside freestanding walls
drywall forms
flex pipe
shotcrete/gunite rebound & trimmings thrown into the benches, stairs and floor
insufficient strength shotcrete/gunite
sand lenses in the structure
epoxy coated reinforcing steel (in most instances)
brick as reinforcement supports
wire mesh on the ground of concrete flatwork
and hundreds of other potential mistakes that are made on "normal" pools

If the sub-contractors follow directions and do as they are directed by the "General Contractor" (Owner-Builder), then the Owner-Builder assumes the ultimate responsibility for the defects. They will have to show that the sub-contractor was grossly negligent in their work... but if the Owner-Builder does not possess the knowledge of what is right or wrong, then how are they going to know what was sub-standard??

Accountability
When a property owner acts as their own general contractor, the law assumes that they possess the knowledge required to supervise the construction and maintain the quality. I know, just ask the sub-contractor to do it the way they always do it (which is usually the wrong way)?!

So when the compacted soil settles...
The pool cracks...
The uphill slope shifts the decks & cracks the tiles and copings...
Termites eat the flex piping...
The concrete decks crack, because they put wire on the bottom...
The upper pool back siphons into the lower catch basin & floods the property below...
The mud slides into the downhill neighbors living room...
A neighbor child drowns because the gates swing the wrong direction or the latch is too low...
The family dog is electrocuted due to incorrect bonding...
The tile delaminates from the vanishing edge wall...
The decks heave from expansive soils...
The pool pump makes a lot of noise and cavitates...
The edge does not flood correctly...
The catch basin does not catch the water going over the vanishing edge...
The catch basin does not hold enough water and is sucked dry when the system comes on...
Dirt and debris blow back into the pool, when the vanishing edge pump turns on...
The spa jets do not siphon any air...
After cleaning the pump baskets, they do not prime...
The auto-fill device in on the upper pool...
Who is performing the hydraulic design, sizing the pipes and selecting the proper pumps...
Who is ensuring that the line velocities and feet per second of flow is acceptable...
Who is ensuring that the drains and properly spaced and that their covers meet the acceptable flow rates...
Who's specifying the waterproofing and ensuring that it is being installed in the mandatory places...

Who is responsible??? The homeowner is!!

Warranty or Lack Thereof...
The warranty for the structure is the responsibility of the General Contractor (in this case the Owner-Builder). So if the pool cracks, shifts, settles or sustains some other major defect... then the financial responsibility for making the repairs falls upon the Owner-Builder.

Correcting the Problems
Most problems with vanishing edge pools are VERY EXPENSIVE to repair.
$20-30,000 to strip, waterproof and re-tile a catch basin...
$20-50,000 to tear out a pool...
$30,000 to re-plumb one, after the decks are installed...
$15,000 to strip the plaster, waterproof & re-plaster...
$10-15,000 to seal around leaking pipes, penetrations, and fixtures...
$10-70,000 to level the pool...
$40-50,000 to remove & replace a vanishing edge wall....
$30-60,000 to remove & enlarge a catch basin.

SO, go ahead and paint your own house, but...


Paolo Benedetti - Aquatic Artist
"Creating water as art."™
Aquatic Technology Pool & Spa©
www.aquatictechnology.com