Considerations before contacting TLC about your new pool

There are many things to consider before deciding to have TLC build you a pool. We are not trying to deter you from having TLC build your new project, but the following could potentially alter your decisions and/or ideas along the way. TLC would like to have customers fully informed at every step of the way, and hopefully as an end result, the customers will always be happy at a later stage, both with our work, and their project.

Consider the work involved in maintaining the pool. A couple of hours a week unless you have an automatic cleaner, which TLC provides as standard with every pool we now build.

You will need to be aware of children in your yard at all times, regardless of fencing.

Who will look after the pool if/when you go on holidays.

The wrong shape or sized pool could be a disappointment some years later. Your little children now, will neither be little forever, and may not want to use the pool or be at home to look after it. You may want it deep now, but when you get older, you will want the pool to be easy to maintain and primarily for relaxation. A mixture of a beach (shallow) area and a deep area can be timeless, useable by all ages, and add resale value to your property no matter whether a potential buyer has young or old children.

A pool close to the house is easy to watch over, but it will be noisy when there are 10 people splashing around in it. A pool set further away needs visibility to keep an eye on children, but will give you more room between your house and pool for things like decks or BBQ areas.

Do you want paint, pebble or tiles, or a mixture? Paint is the cheapest, but not necessarily the most natural look, and will require to be redone every 3 to 5 years, so allow for that added cost over the years. Pebble is the most commonly used finish, looks good, and is free flowing therefore hiding slight deviations or angles in the structure, and provides a natural look, a compliment to rock waterfalls or rock features. Tile is the most expensive, slow to complete, but can have all sorts of patterns and designs to make your pool totally unique.

What do you want on the coping? (The edge around the pool). The most commonly used is pebble interior to the pool which just continues up and "rolls over" the coping. Again, a very natural look, that blends in to surrounds. It should be pointed out at this point that pebble finishes have come a long way over the years, and they don't look like your exposed aggregate driveways anymore. You can also use brick, stone, pavers or non slip tiles on the coping, but this of course increases the cost of your pool overall.

TLC cannot by law begin to fill your new pool until pool fencing has been completed, so it is important that fencing be thought of early in the project stages. In most cases, TLC is asked to quote on the fencing at the same time as the pool, but some people either have "friends" who are going to do it, and in some cases, the owner wants to install the pool fencing themselves. It does not worry TLC which course a client chooses, but be aware that whilst you may have weekends free or knock off work early each day now, this may not be the case at a later time when the pool is nearing completion, and the fence MUST be fully installed before TLC can fill your pool.

If possible, have a clean area around the pool without too many plants, as plants will drop leaves and flowers into the pool, increasing the need for cleaning, and at the same time increasing the cost of chemicals you will require to use to counteract the plant matter and foreign material that will get into your pool. A reason why many clients decide on decking to surround as much of the pool as possible.

Do you want/need a spa?

A swimming pool is fun, but a spa means relaxation. You can either have a spa built into or alongside your pool, or as a totally separate item. For best results if you want a heated spa, it should be a separate item, as otherwise you will be in reality heating the whole volume of water of your pool. If you don't need heating, do you want water jets or bubbles? Bubbles can be achieved simply by having a blower seat built into the pool. The most common and cost effective method.

If you want your spa ready to use at any time, and with least amount of heating cost, then possibly you could consider a standalone spa, either on the surrounding deck if you are planning one, or close to the pool area. A standalone spa is usually well insulated with a small electric heater which operates on standby to keep the water to the required temperature with the use of an insulated cover. If you want to heat the spa quickly when you want to use it, then a gas heater is what you need.

Don't YOU deserve a little TLC?

Gregg Hales T/as TLC -  Don't YOU deserve a little TLC? 
Specialist in small jobs - assistance for owner builders
Concreting - Exposed, Decorative or Plain - Refurbishment/Restoration/Cleaning of Pools and Decks
Decks, Patios, Paving, Retaining Walls, Pool Fencing, Landscaping and general earthworks
Cairns, Tablelands, Far North Queensland

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