Pool decoration: how to do it

Gusevsky Andrey Anatolyevich

Modern pool with original design

Anyone who has the opportunity to build their own pool, wants to not just be able to swim in it. For a good rest, he wants that not only the bowl, but also the area around the pool have maximum comfort and individual design.
In our article, we will talk about what constitutes the design of this structure, and how the decoration of the pools is made. Let's talk about the materials used to decorate this room.

Design features of the pool

This structure is a complex hydraulic structure, which includes: technical room with special waterproofing; pump; filter device; engineering system linking all equipment. This is not the case when an object can be built with your own hands.
So:

• The optimal length of the bowl of the home pool varies from 6 to 10 meters, with a ratio to width of 2: 1. The price of a completely rebuilt pool can be comparable with the cost of a luxury car.
• The classical technology of arranging such a structure provides for a certain order of work. First, dig a pit where a wooden formwork is installed, and a monolithic concrete bowl is constructed, with reinforcement and pipes walled in it.
  The bowl can be made of brick.

Concrete bowl formwork

• After the concrete has set strength, they proceed to the construction of stairs for launching into the water and finishing works. There are not so many materials that can be used for lining the pool bowl.
  And number one, in this case, are various types of ceramic tiles: clinker, glazed, glass, mosaic.
• One can not even talk about the remarkable properties of this material and its tight connection with a concrete surface. Each house has ceramic tiles in the bathrooms: if not walls, then the floors are accurate.

There is also a more modern technology, according to which the pool bowl is finished by covering its walls with a polymer film. If the classic technology requires about three months of trouble-free operation, the polymer coating can reduce the construction period to four weeks.
If you use not wooden formwork, but plastic, this period can be reduced by another couple of weeks. There is such a technology when the pool is made of prefabricated metal structures.

Classic finish technology

All hydraulic structures belong to the category of objects of high complexity, due to constant loads arising from the pressure on them of a mass of water. Water, in itself, is an aggressive environment for the pool and, accordingly, for all materials used in its construction and decoration.

Waterproofing

Based on the foregoing, it is not difficult to conclude that one of the most important points in the construction of the pool is its waterproofing: both outside and inside.
So:

• The technology for performing these works is not much different from similar works carried out in rooms with high humidity. Only the properties of the materials that are used in this case differ.
• The usual penetrating compounds that are used today for waterproofing load-bearing structures in buildings are powerless here.To process the pool bowl, elastic soils are required, forming a continuous water-repellent coating that will protect concrete or masonry from cracking.

Bituminous waterproofing of the pool

• The most famous and long-used material for these purposes are bituminous mastic and liquid glass. They are used for both internal and external surface treatment.
  Although now there are many other waterproofing compounds - after all, the building materials market is developing rapidly, offering many new products.

These are cement-polymer mixtures and polymerizing impregnations, which, penetrating deep into the pores of concrete, crystallize and form plastic. Such materials not only insulate the concrete bowl, but also strengthen it, being an excellent basis for applying a leveling layer.

Plastering and cladding

At the end of construction, the pool walls have an uneven and rough surface that needs to be made as smooth as possible so that you can begin to finish.

Pool wall section

So:

• Tile decoration of the pool requires careful preparatory work - the surface of the walls is sandblasted. You can watch the video to understand how this is done.
  The next stage of work is the application of a waterproofing composition to the surface.
• After it has completely dried, they begin to plaster the bowl with a special solution. Plaster dry mixes with water-repellent properties are sold in a large assortment of a wide variety of manufacturers.
  Before starting work, they are simply mixed with water, as prescribed by the instructions.

Waterproof plaster mix

• Put the plaster on a reinforcing mesh, which is attached to the base surface with dowels. The layer of plaster should be even and without the slightest defects.
  The grid is used only if the decorative decoration of the pool walls will be done with ceramic tiles.
• If the mesh is metal, it is treated with an anti-corrosion compound. You can use a fiberglass mesh, which is not afraid of corrosion, but it will come out somewhat more expensive.
• Naturally, the glue used for tiling the pool and grouting for joints should also be waterproof. To provide additional waterproofing, special waterproofing mixtures of the "Aquatron" or "Penetrat" ​​type are added to the plaster and compositions used for tile work.
  They also process the plastered surface before starting the cladding.

Glue and grout for laying tiles in the pool

• Ceramic tiles laid on a special glue create a waterproof sealed layer on the surface of the pool bowl. The masonry process itself is somewhat different from tiling bathroom, because the walls of the pool bend by several millimeters under water pressure.
• Therefore, the glue and grout for the tiles have a certain degree of elasticity, and the tile itself is laid not close to each other, but at a certain distance. This is done to avoid the formation of microcracks on the decorative surface.
• In the decoration of the pool you do not need to use cheap ceramic tiles. Its porous structure will facilitate the growth of microorganisms and algae.
  For indoor pools, glazed double-fired tiles are excellent.
• But she is afraid of temperature changes, so in outdoor pools it is better not to use it. But glass tiles: smooth or mosaic - an unsurpassed option for any type of pool, because it does not absorb water at all.
• When finishing the corners in the pool, mosaic tiles are the most convenient option. If the whole tile does not fit, it does not need to be cut - part of the tile is easily separated by hand.
• Glass mosaic pool decoration generally looks stylish and expensive. It gives the best aesthetic effect, especially if such decoration is combined with a panel on the bottom or walls of the pool.

Panel on the walls of the pool

• As for the stairs for launching into the water and the platform in front of the stairs, it is necessary to use anti-slip tiles to finish them, as in the photo below, which has a rough and corrugated surface. Beautifully decorated side gives the pool a finished look.

Antiskid tile

• The pool needs care: once a month it needs to be cleaned, monitor the condition and temperature of the water. It is advisable to redecorate the coating every five years, then the service life of the structure will be at least fifty years.

Design decoration for the pool

If we talk about the room in which the pool is located, then there is simply unlimited scope for design. The main decoration of its interior can be a chic ceiling, and elements of landscape design - yes, anything.
Can also be performed wall decoration with decorative stone.
It all depends on the financial capabilities and preferences of the customer.