Building a Garden Pool: Location, Size and Fitting It to Your Garden

Leaves and pollen fall onto the surface, the skimmer baskets fill up several times a day and the load on the filter goes up. Species such as poplar and pine do this every day.

The real problem is the part you cannot see: the roots. The root spread of a mature tree goes beyond the width of its crown, and over the years it puts pressure on the pool shell, the pipework and the surrounding paving. Cracks in the shell, lifting in the paving and leaks in the plumbing start this way.

If you want to keep an existing tree, a root barrier has to be planned before excavation. This cannot be done once the pool is finished; after the shell is poured, there is no way to fit a barrier in between.

Leave at least 1.20 metres of walkway on every side of the pool; on the side where sun loungers will be lined up, this goes up to 2.50 metres.

For homes with a garden under 100 square metres, 3x6 metres is a good starting point. We also build 2.50x5 metre plunge pools; you cannot swim laps in them, but you can get in the water all summer and they do not swallow the whole garden. The concrete advantage of a small pool is its low water volume: it heats up fast, needs less chemical and takes less time to maintain.

In narrow gardens, place the pool along the long side rather than in a corner. A pool set into a corner leaves unused triangular scraps on either side. A pool aligned with the edge leaves behind a single, usable terrace.

Find this out before digging starts; a pool design pushed up against the neighbour's wall gets sent back at the permit stage.

Whether a building permit is needed also depends on the municipality and the status of the plot. For detached houses in Turkey, most municipalities treat a pool as an annex to the building and ask for a project. A pool built without a permit causes problems when the property is sold and at the occupancy permit stage.

Noise is also an issue for pools built near the boundary. The plant room and the heat pump's outdoor unit should not face the neighbour's side; a heat pump blows out cold air and runs constantly.

If an excavator cannot get in, digging is done with a mini machine or by hand, and the labour time multiplies several times over. If there is nowhere to set up a concrete pump, the concrete is carried in by wheelbarrow.

If you are considering a one-piece fibreglass pool, access for a truck and a crane is essential. A narrow street, a low power line or a crane that cannot reach into the garden rules this option out completely. In that case the choice is between a prefabricated panel system and reinforced concrete.

Access also determines how much of the garden will be damaged. Grass, paving stones and irrigation lines along the excavation route get torn up. It is better to discuss this at the start and put landscape repair into the budget than to face a surprise once the work is done.

A drainage line, a sump and a buoyancy load calculation are needed; the shell gets thicker and carries more reinforcement. We have seen groundwater shift an empty pool out of place on site; it happens mostly to pools drained over the winter.

Garden levels also need to be rethought around the pool. If rainwater runs towards the pool, soil and leaves are carried into the water. The surrounding paving is laid with a slight fall away from the pool, and a drainage channel is set around it.

If you have an irrigation system, make sure the sprinklers do not spray water into the pool. Garden water carries fertiliser and soil, and the pool chemicals have to clean that up every time.

Plan the two as a single project.

Plants are also chosen with the pool in mind. Species that shed leaves, bear fruit or drip resin are not planted around a pool. Species with aggressive root spread lift the paving from underneath. Grass is not brought right up to the pool edge; there should be a strip of hard surface in between, otherwise grass and soil get carried into the water.

Lighting, irrigation and electrical infrastructure are laid while the excavation is open. Digging up the garden a second time after the pool is finished costs more than doing it all together the first time.

A safety cover, a child barrier or a separate fence within the garden: one of the three has to be in place. If you choose a cover, note that a safety-rated cover and a thermal cover are not the same thing; the second will not hold a child who falls onto it.

If a separate children's section is built, 30 to 40 centimetres is enough, and it must be physically separated from the main pool. A children's section added as a step inside the main pool means a child is one step away from deep water.

The pool edge paving has to be non-slip when wet. Polished natural stone looks good in a garden but is dangerous when wet. Check the slip resistance class, not just the appearance.

As a pool grows, its water volume, heating load, chemical use and cleaning time all grow with it. The first summer is enjoyable; from the second summer on, the large pool starts to stay closed.

The second mistake is leaving the plant room until later. In projects where a location is looked for after excavation is finished, the solution always turns out badly: the pump ends up far away, the pipes get longer and the noise moves closer to the house. The plant room should stay within 8 metres of the pool edge.

Before deciding on a size, ask for these three figures: the water volume in cubic metres, the hourly turnover flow rate and the net space needed for the plant room. With these three in hand, you can compare quotes and avoid surprises once the pool is finished.