The Right Choice

Once you decide to buy a pool, your enthusiasm will be as hard to contain as an over-inflated beach ball under water. Nevertheless, take a deep breath and relax. You'll have plenty of opportunities to injoy your pool, but only one chance to make sure it's built right.

The most important part of building a pool is the planning phase. This is when you'll decide the overall look of your pool scape and hire a pool contractor. Though some pool builders are also skilled landscape designers, it's common to bring in a landscape architect to create a master plan that details the pool, landscape and any other amenities, suck as a pool house, outdoor kitchen, fire pit, entertainment space, lighting, etc. If you plan on soliciting bids from several pool builders, a master plan is key to ensuring that each builder is bidding on the same project.

A landscape architect or pool builder can walk you through the design process, but it helps if you have a general idea of what you're looking for. See more...