Here comes the sun! And the timing is perfect for you to pave the way for an in-ground pool, surrounded by a sun-drenched courtyard and lush landscape.
WATCH: How to make your pool a design feature
Congratulations – you’ve decided to renovate or build a pool! The family is in raptures, imagining fun-filled days entertaining or relaxing poolside. But there are a few stages before you can start to enjoy, soak and unwind. Along with settling on a contractor and deciding on your pool’s shape and style, there is its colour and landscaping to consider, from hard surfaces to clever ways to introduce greenery.
Flawless flow
Let your home’s colour palette and architectural style influence your paver choice to ensure house and hardscaping are in sync. Here, same-type earthy tumbled travertine ensures traffic effortlessly flows between the home, timber-decked patio, outdoor kitchen and spacious courtyard, with plenty of room for lounging and partying poolside. There’s even a grassed area for youngsters, or those who yearn to lie on a towel and feel as one with nature. Shrubs help soften the boundary line. But as travertine is porous, it’s prone to stain, so must be sealed, which also protects it from chlorine and saltwater damage. PS, pool fencing is a statutory requirement. For resort-style views of the pool area with minimal impact on your design, opt for frameless (no posts between panels) or semi-frameless glass fencing.
Stone look
Looking to enhance your pool deck? If you’re veering towards the natural good looks of a stone pool surround, but your budget is capped, an economical alternative is matt stonelook porcelain pavers with a Microtec coating of fine granules that results in a smooth anti-slip finish. These porcelain pavers get a big tick for colour choice, durability and stain-resistance without the need to be sealed, so require little or no maintenance.
Unique approach
Turning a negative into a positive, pools on a sloping block can be a stunning feature, especially when you approach the design as an infinity pool, as here, where pool and views are connected and a water wall is a spectacular highlight. Paired with a quiet and on-trend textured greige terrazzo-look paver, the effect of shimmery, iridescent pool mosaics is heightened.
Budget tight? Step to it with judicious use of flexible, slip-resistant textured mosaics on pool steps or an in-pool seating platform alone. PS, hot for curves? Lure your guests in with rounded mosaic steps.
Expert tips
Rachel Gilding, Beaumont Tiles’ design specialist, shares her expert tips so you can make informed pool paver or tile decisions.
Good traction
As a rule of thumb, textured tiles – even mosaics – with a wear rating between 4-5 and a wet pendulum between P4-P5 are suitable for use outdoors and around pools. Beaumont Tiles Microtec range, especially Pompeii, is excellent for this as it feels like a P2, yet when wet provides the traction of a P4 tile. Coping tiles (the ones on the pool’s edge) should be P4 or above for plenty of traction underfoot.
Water line
Use decorative tiles as an accent to mark the ideal water level. These can be any tile with a water absorption lower than 0.5% and a pool suitability rating for chlorine or salt, widening your choices. Decided on mosaics? Not only do they come in varied shades but also shapes – fans, diamonds, piano keys, brick bond…
Water colour
The surface finish of your pool, be it tiled, pebblecrete or fibreglass, affects water colour. So, too, does its depth – the deeper the pool, the more intense the colour.
Twinkle toes
Light shades of travertine, limestone or sandstone can be 20-30% cooler than other stone or concrete pavers, making them kinder on your feet.
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