My Own Pool During my part-time job opening, closing, and installing new liners on aging pools, I had the opportunity to visit some stunning back yards.Some of these outdoor living areas, according to my estimation, cost anywhere from $80,000 to $200,000If the project can be funded, great, but what should one do if it cannot?If the homeowner is willing to put in some effort, meticulously plan, and identify ways to reduce landscaping costs wherever possible, a beautiful, useful, and enjoyable outdoor living area can be constructed for a significantly lower cost.
decking labour cost ukThere is no avoiding the fact that putting in a pool in an outdoor living area is not an inexpensive endeavor.For instance, a minimum budget of $40.000 will be required in Canada;That sum will cover the cost of installing a medium-sized pool, which will also include the necessary fencing, an adequate plain concrete deck and patio, and electrical and gas hookups for the pump and heater.That budget won't have any money left over for landscaping, and since machinery will tear up the yard a lot, some landscaping will be needed.I was pretty much in that situation, and I had only about $500 to complete the task.Without going into too much debt, hiring a professional landscape company was out of the question.To do it myself, I needed a plan.I'll tell you the story of how I did it here.
I needed that strategy first.The first thing I did was assess my property and weigh my wants and needs against each other.My lot already had a flagstone walkway that ran along the house's back and was flanked by a raised garden with a retaining wall made of quarry stone.The lawn then slopped downward before becoming level until it reached the fence line.On the flattened-out area, I could install a 16-by-34-foot pool with room for a three-foot-tall walking deck on each side, a concrete patio for sunbathing at one end, and a concrete pad for a pool house and pagoda bar at the other.However, I would have to cut into the sloped portion of my lawn under this plan.I came up with a solution to this problem's logistics by carefully planning.
My advantage was that I already had the quarry stone that was used to make the current retaining wall and a lot more that had to be moved to make a garden area against the back fence.These stones were small enough to manually lift, but large enough to form a sturdy wall.I moved the available quarry stone to build a new retaining wall that covered up the slope that would have let rain directly into my pool area and extended the garden by about 20 feet.I set this wall back about four feet from the line that would run along the pool decking's concrete side walkway.All of this was finished before the pool was installed, so it was empty while it was being installed.
I dumped the topsoil into a pile inside the garden's retaining wall before the excavator arrived to dig the pool.I dug a trench alongside the concrete decking and installed a long drainage pipe that went under the fence at the end of the pool to the town ditch along the street after it was installed.I added a layer of 3/4-inch clear stone followed by a layer of 3-inch river rock to this trench area after covering it with landscape fabric.I was able to create a dry riverbed that surrounded one side of the pool and ran all the way out under the fence, solving the drainage issue.On the opposite side of the pool, where I didn't need a drainage pipe, I decided to add a 3 foot river rock border to balance the look and keep the garden area away from the pool decking.The final task I had to complete during the landscaping project's construction phase was to level out the topsoil I had piled into the extended garden area I had created.
My DIY landscaping project had three stages at its conclusion.In this brand-new garden area, I had to choose and plant the plants, trees, and shrubs I wanted.Also, I had to move a very heavy, 8-foot Japanese Maple that the excavator had dug up and set aside. It was a beautiful tree, and I was determined to keep it and move it.At last I expected to make a pathway down the slant along one finish of the raised nursery that extended from the upper walkway by the house down to the level of the pool deck and the dry waterway bed I had previously made.Each of these three initiatives tells its own story.
