Tulsa Pools : Smooth The Process

Cody: Welcome to the Dive Time show. I’m your host, Cody Albright, and here with me as always is my lovely co-host.

Rachel: Hello.

Cody: Rachel Albright, my wife. Tulsa Pools Together, we are owners of Sierra Pools and Spas of Tulsa and you can find us online, www.sierrapoolsandspas.com, or you can give us a shout, a phone call, 918-884-8427. Again, that was sierrapoolsandspas.com or a phone call at 918-884-8427. Today, we are going to be talking about creating a plan for your backyard paradise.

Rachel: Specifically, your Tulsa backyard paradise.

Cody: Oh, your Tulsa backyard paradise. I apologize.

Rachel: Yeah, so when you’re thinking about getting a pool, a Tulsa pools, there is a lot to think about and not just a Tulsa pools, but say you want to totally re-haul your backyard, you want a brand new backyard, a brand new Tulsa backyard.

Cody: Okay, I’m with you.

Rachel: Okay, so there’s a lot to think about and you know, the contractor or whoever you hire to do your construction work or your pool work, they’re going to help you figure that out. So, we at Sierra Pools and Spas, we’re going to help you create a plan.

Cody: We’re with you every step of the way. We don’t want you to be hurt or confused. We don’t want you to not know what’s going on. So, we hold your hand politely and take you with us on a journey to a new backyard experience, your backyard paradise.

Rachel: Yes, to a new paradise. Yes, so we can, if you have no idea what you want, we can and will create anything for you.

Cody: Because there’s some people out there that they don’t know what they want. A lot of teenage girls Tulsa Pools.

Rachel: Teenage girls …what?

Cody: Well, you know, those girls that never knew what they want. I just thought that was a thing.

Rachel: Okay.

Cody: Okay, kind of like you and I, our story. You didn’t know what you want and then …

Rachel: Okay, well yeah, we’ll not get into that.

Cody: Getting back on topic.

Rachel: Yeah, but there are also some of you out there who you do have an idea of what you want. So, it’s good to create a plan for yourself because we will help you, but the more help that we have, the smoother the process will go, the smoother the consultation will be and the better … it will help us better understand your wants and your needs, and we will create an amazing design for you.

Cody: Right.

Rachel: Your pool or your spa, your Tulsa pools or your Tulsa spa is going to be your main focus of your outdoor living area. The first thing you want to think about is placement. You want to think about where you’re going to put your pool in your backyard and this will depend on a lot of factors if you have a slope somewhere in your yard, you may not want to put your pool over there. If you have other structures in your backyard, you want to think about how you’re going to put the pool in there. You want to think about putting it somewhere in a convenient spot. One thing that you want to think about, a complaint, that some homeowners have after they built a pool is that they wish they put their pool closer to their house because a pool that’s close, it makes entertaining and bringing food and drinks from the house, it makes it easier so you don’t have to track a mile out in your yard to the pool. It’s just right outside your door. People can enjoy and come out and it’s right there.

Cody: Right and if you don’t want to build it close to your house, we also offer to build you an outdoor kitchen, but we can get in that to another podcast. Just throwing that out there. If you want a paradise away from your home and build your pool away from your house and you know, you’re doing parties and serving guests and you don’t want to be running in and out of your kitchen, well, I would recommend building an outdoor kitchen.

Rachel: That way you don’t have wet footprints, going in and out.

Cody: You don’t have to run in and, “oh, I forgot the ketchup”. You’ll have mini-fridge there, pull out the ketchup, put on the hotdogs you’re grilling in your outdoor kitchen, but we’ll get that to another podcast.

Rachel: Yes, so one thing that will help you create a plan and will really help us as well when we come to meet with you in your consultation, is having a copy of your plot. Basically, your property line and most homeowners should receive this when you purchase it, when you purchase your house, but if you don’t have one, you can always request one from your tax assessor’s office.

Cody: Yeah, no big deal if they can’t find it.

Rachel: Yeah, not a big deal, but what this will do, it will help save us time taking measurements because it will show us where the property lines are. It will show a footprint on the house and it will show other significant structures. It will also show us easements in the location of utility lines which is really helpful because we don’t want to build a pool on top of the utility line. That will be very, very bad.

Cody: Yeah, we want to know that information about  Tulsa Pools…

Rachel: If you don’t have it, again, we will get all that so don’t worry about it, but it is helpful. Some items to include in your plan … like I was talking about earlier would be some existing structures so if you have a tool shed, if you have a deck, if you have any existing patio or fence, we’ll add that on the plan. Also, trees and shrubs … so any trees that are existing in your backyard, we’ll make sure those are included in the plan. Also, any plants that you may want in your plan, we’ll include that because we also offer landscaping services so that’s another thing.

Buried utilities, we talked about that, the slope of your property. Tulsa Pools you have a … my uncle actually, my aunt and my uncle have a really big slope and it’s really, it’s consistent so it goes all the way down their backyard and they want a pool. One thing that they have to think about when they’re building the pool is with that slope, how are they going to keep the water from going into their pool and so, they will have to insert a … some sort of drainage system into their deck to keep that water from going into the pool. You definitely want to consider any slopes that you have in your pool and we’ll take that into count as well.

Another thing that you want to think about is the sun and wind patterns. You want to think about when it’s 2 o’clock in the afternoon on a summer day, where is the sun hitting your yard and where do you want your pool in relation to that. The goal is to consider the local conditions when choosing the site for your pool. If the spot you have in mind doesn’t get much sun, you may want to find another location especially if you live in a cold place, but luckily here in Oklahoma, we’re pretty warm.

Cody: We don’t have to worry about that.

Rachel: You don’t really have to worry about that. In fact, you may want some shade over your pool because it can get pretty hot. Those are some things you want to take into consideration when you’re thinking about creating a plan for your pool.

Once you have kind of the layout of your property. Your house and any existing structures, trees, shrubs, all those things, you’ll want to actually add the pool to the plan and we will do this as well, but if you’re creating a rough sketch up for us, this will be the next step is to kind of draw in where you want the pool. You don’t have to be too worried about getting everything perfect because we’ll have suggestions about where to locate the pool, but it’ll help you get started on your overall design. You want to try to be as accurate as possible though when drawing the plan. This means that you’ll probably need to take some measurements or again, reference that survey map.

You can use a series of kind of ovals and circles to show the relative size of components and their relationship to other things in the yard. No one’s actually going to be able to build from this type of plan, but these sketches can be starting points for us to actually make the real design and the real construction work up and get your pool located where you want it to be.

There’s also design software that we use. We actually use 3-D software and this software allows us to actually put your home into the software in 3-D and also add any trees, any of those existing things that we talked about, we can add all those in. Then on top of that, we design your pool in that software and then when we come to the design meeting, we will bring you that 3-D design and you’ll actually be able to see what your backyard is going to look like Tulsa Pools.

Cody: You just get to see it on the computer screen or …

Rachel: Well, you can see it on a computer screen or we also offer virtual reality.

Cody: Virtual reality.

Rachel: Yeah, the future.

Cody: Awesome.

Rachel: Yeah, so we do have virtual reality headset which is really cool and really fun. It just gives you that much more of an experience at seeing what your background is actually going to look like when it’s all said and done. That’s a really cool thing and we uniquely offer that. I’m not aware of any other pool companies that’s currently offering that.

Cody: It’s just a little perk we like to throw in there.

Rachel: Yeah, it’s fun. The kids really love it.

Cody: Yeah, if you have kids, they’re going to smile and walk into the television set on accident, but you know that’s part of the joy.

Rachel: Yes. Another thing you want to consider in creating a plan for your Tulsa pools or your Tulsa backyard paradise are some practical realities. It’s fun to daydream about your lazy afternoons in the pool or the spa, but you can’t ignore some practical realities. So, you still have to live in reality with your pool.

One thing that you want to consider is privacy and this is often a concern for many pool and spa owners. You want to pay particular attention to where you need to show the view and how you can add privacy so if there’s a big, ugly house behind your yard and you don’t really want to see that …

Cody: Or you don’t want to see the people. Maybe you don’t like the neighbors.

Rachel: Yeah, maybe you just you know, you’re a hermit and you like to have your own space.

Cody: Yeah, I like our neighbors, but when I’m out swimming, I don’t want them to see me in my Speedo and I want that to be private, it’s a privacy … just kidding, total joke. I don’t wear a Speedo.

Rachel: Yeah, so if you don’t want your neighbors to see you in a Speedo, you should probably consider including plantings of either tall shrubs or some trees to kind of shield your view or some fencing. That’s one practical reality.

Another thing you need to consider are access to electric and water services. Obviously, you’ll need both of these for your finished pool and while the work is under way, you’ll have to plan on an electrician running circuits to the pool area and you’ll need water obviously to fill your pool because what’s a pool without water?

Cody: It’s a hole in the ground Tulsa Pools.

Rachel: Or a skate park for some kids.

Cody: Oh yeah, that would be cool too.

Rachel: Another practical reality is access for building equipment. So when we are digging a hole for the pool, this requires some pretty heavy duty equipment – some back hoes, some trucks, some different things that have to get back in your yard so you need to consider where these things are going to come in. The clearance that they need is probably about ten feet so … you’ll have to think about where they’re going to enter into your yard and making sure that damage won’t be done to surrounding areas. You’ll also have to plan for removal of the excess dirt and just leftover materials.

Another thing in your plan is you’ll have to think about codes and really, you won’t have to think about this as the customer because we’ll do all that for you, but just so you guys know as customers, we do follow all Tulsa codes, Tulsa pools codes, and Tulsa zoning laws. We acquire all the necessary permits and plans for those. You won’t have to worry about those.

Couple things … couple last things you want to think about on your plan are things you want to add now to your pool and things that could wait later. There are some things that you need to add right away.

Cody: Yes … yes. I’m sorry, what happened?

Rachel: We’re talking about things you need to add to your pool when you’re building it.

Cody: Yes.

Rachel: There are some things you need to include during construction. These will be pumps, filters, ladders, steps, diving boards, slides, covers, lights, and maintenance equipment. Those are all things you have to think about and again, we will help you with all of this so don’t stress out too much about it. Just some things you can think about.

Some things that you can always add later are things like pool heaters, but we definitely recommend those in the beginning. They’re great and they can also be … you can run some of them in reverse to cool down your pool in the summer. Some of the things are some that you don’t have to add right away, you can add later- automatic cleaners, decks and patios landscaping, automatic controls, time clocks, shade structures, and chemical feeders. Those can all wait till later. All of those things are just things to consider when you’re thinking about planning your Tulsa pools and again, Sierra Pools and Spas can help you with all of this and make it a very simple, easy, and fun process.

Cody: That’s awesome. Yeah, creating a plan for your backyard paradise. That’s some good information. Well, I think that wraps up our time for today so thank you for joining us. My name is Cody.

Rachel: I’m Rachel.

Cody: We’ll see you next time.