It’s hard to imagine that there are truly “bad” swimming pool trends or designs that could offset the luxury and convenience (not to mention fun!) of owning your own swimming pool. And in our experience, there are not that many at all! We live by the philosophy of “to each their own.” That’s the beauty of being a custom pool design company. Every client and every pool is unique – as it should be. What one person may love in a pool, may not be the other person’s cup of tea, and that’s quite alright.

Instead, we wanted to take a humorous approach as to how you essentially can’t go wrong with your pool design, so long as you are using quality materials and working with an experienced and professional pool company. So what are the four swimming pool mistakes you should avoid at all costs? Take a look!

  1. Copying someone else’s pool – exactly.

Foremost, where’s the fun in this? The whole concept of choosing a custom pool company is the ability to custom design your very own swimming pool, one that is unlike anything anyone else has! While it’s perfectly fine, and often helpful to show your pool company pictures of other pools you admire and may want to pull design elements from, you should want to have a truly custom design. Second, every backyard is unique in its size, shape, slope and view. How someone else’s pool fits on their property will not be how your pool fits on yours. All the more reason to embrace the flexibility and creativity of a custom pool design!

  1. Choosing short-term solutions.

The next mistake is choosing short-term solutions in an effort to save on cost or time, and as a result you set yourself up for higher maintenance or increased costs down the road. Sure, you can technically skimp on some technical aspects of your swimming pool, but you will only be shooting yourself in the foot. If you don’t install an adequate filtration system, guess who will have to make up for the slack? You will through more manual labor! It’s so important to properly budget for long-term, common sense solutions and technologies for your pool, to make pool ownership a joy and convenience long-term.

  1. Favoring glitz over function.

It’s so tempting to want to spend a large portion of your pool budget on features and finishes that provide that “wow” factor. And there’s no problem with doing so unless you then have to sacrifice function. Whenever you are making a design decision on your pool, whether it be its shape, size, depth, finish, and the list goes on, make sure you are also asking yourself (and your pool company), could this negatively impact the functionality of the pool. For example, if you’re not prepared for your electric bill to double due to the cost of maintaining and heating your pool and adjoining hot tub all summer (and possibly spring and fall), then you may wish to scale back on the depth or square footage to create a smaller pool.

  1. Not going with your gut instinct.

No matter how you slice it, building a residential swimming pool is a large project. There are many decisions you’ll need to make starting with what pool company you choose to bring your vision to life. The biggest mistake a potential pool owner can make is not listening to their gut instinct when it tells you what pool company will be the best fit, what budget is most reasonable for you right now, what design and finishes you should select, and countless other examples. Every step of the way you should be listening to these instincts and communicating them with your spouse or anyone else involved in your pool building project. To ensure you are fully happy with the finished project, your gut will almost always lead you in the right direction.

Is there another mistake you’ve seen made when people design their swimming pool? Share your experiences by leaving a comment below!