When we began our backyard pool project, I told the designer that I wanted the materials to be timeless. My hope was to have a space that would work well with antiques and feel organic. The goal was to steer clear of lots of concrete pavers, bright aqua water, and anything shiny.
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When I sent over inspiration photos, I included a photo of Martha Stewart’s Turkey Hill. I love the simplicity of the pool there surrounded by lush gardens. I emphasized to the pool designer the desire for a simple rectangular pool, natural materials, and the use of the color gray over brown.
Once we had the design locked in, I went to the builder’s facilities to look at the tile, grout, and pool surfaces in person. Additionally, I went to a couple of landscape facilities with the designer to finalize rock material choices. For those local to the Nashville area and wanting a resource for your backyard pool project, these facilities were SiteOne and The Rock Place.
We are getting closer to the backyard pool project being finished, and I cannot wait to show you the completed look! However, I thought it might be helpful to share the materials we used on this project now, for those of you who are starting a pool or thinking of building a pool. Hopefully, details of the pool building materials will help make your project a little easier.
Because our backyard had some complicated grading issues, our pool design did require some overall backyard reworking. Therefore, I have divided the selections into two categories—pool materials and backyard materials.
Pool Materials
Our pool measures 17 feet by 34 feet. (It is 5 feet, 6 inches deep.) We live in a neighborhood, so our lot is not huge. The desire was to get the pool as big as we could and still have yard space left for lounging, dining, parties, or yoga. We went with the following pool materials:
- Concrete—Instead of a fiberglass or vinyl pool, we opted for a concrete pool. Specifically, our pool shell was formed out of rebar and shotcrete.
- Indiana Limestone—This was used for our pool coping. The color we chose was silver-gray. It was ordered in 12” by 24” bullnosed slabs, but it was cut on site to look even around the pool perimeter.
- Venize Classic Tile—Originally, we chose the 2”x2” tiles in the Grotto color. This size was used around the perimeter of the pool. However, we had to pivot on the spa because of how the shotcrete was poured. It would have created too many cuts or too much grout spacing. The solution was this same tile, ordered in the 6” squares, cut into rectangles, and laid in a brick pattern.
- Laticrete Permacolor Grout—We used the 78 Sterling Silver grout for both the limestone coping and pool tiles.
- PebbleTec—This is the material used to finish our pool. Specifically, we went with the PebbleSheen in the Ocean Blue color. (This was a color that I compromised on with my husband. The darker shade of Black Onyx was my original choice.)
- Atlantic Waterfall Weir—These sheer descents are 36” in length, and we got three. They are labeled “colorfalls-color changing, and they were a last-minute add-on to drown out sound. (I am not sure how much we will use the different colors.) They were placed under the retaining wall capstone.
Backyard Materials
Because our backyard is sloped, we had to have a retaining wall and special attention had to be paid to the drainage. Before construction, our backyard grass would be soggy for longer than normal after a rain and little gnats seemed to always be swarming, and we wanted a solution to fix that issue. We went with the following materials for our backyard:
- Stone Veneer—This was ordered in Tennessee Limestone Gray. It was used on our retaining wall. I asked for thicker grout lines and the color to match the stones.
- Capstones—We had to run the retaining wall against the pool, so for that portion of the wall, we wanted it to look more intentional as opposed to necessary. To capture the “intentionality,” we added capstones on just this portion of the retaining wall. The stones are Gray Crab Orchard with chiseled edges and measure 18” x 24” x 2”.
- Flagstone—This stone was used to create two patios and the walkway into the backyard. The specific stone was Blue-Gray Crab Orchard, and limestone joint filler was used in between the stones. We had to limit our use of impermeable surfaces per the city, so this is why we did not use mortar as filler here.
- Cobblestone—These thick stones were used as borders for the patios, walkway, vegetable garden, and several flower beds. This stone was also used to mark our transition from turf to sod.
- Stone Steps—We got these in the Tennessee Blue Gray that measured 18” x 36”. They also come in a 48” and are about 4” to 6” thick. I asked for a pair of thinner ones, and we used them to access our round patio.
- Turf—We debated for a long time if we should do turf or sod. The two factors that lead us into saying “yes” on turf were (1) not wanting the odor and dead grass that would be right next to our patio and spa from our dog’s bathroom breaks, and (2) the need for improved drainage. The turf we chose was SYNLawn’s SYNAugustine X47.
- Wood—With all of the stone being used in this project, we wanted to make sure we had some wooden elements, besides our outdoor furniture.
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- Pine Fence—Per codes, we had to have a fence, so we went with wood since metal would have felt too modern. Originally, our backyard pool project was designed with a horse fence and wire mesh, but with a recent change in codes, we had to go with a privacy fence. Pine was selected since it was an economical choice, but we will see how it weathers and might replace it with cedar in the future.
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- Cedar Arbor—The fence subcontractor did not build arched arbors, so I purchased one online. This arbor will serve as the entrance into our turfed backyard and eventually have climbing plants on it.
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Related Posts, Pages, and Sources
- If you are in the process of purchasing outdoor furniture for your own backyard pool project, check out these items I have ordered for ours:
- If you want to see what decisions we made in the rest of the house, check out my Home Tour.
- If you are looking for more home building inspiration, check out these posts:
Backyard Pool Project Reveal
Was there a product we have selected for our backyard pool project that you could see using in your project? Is there a product you would like to know more about? Hopefully, I will be able to share the completed pool with you very soon. Be sure to be subscribed to my email newsletter so you do not miss the reveal!
