—Guides
Guides to building, renovating and equipping a pool
What a new pool or a renovation involves, the decisions along the way, and how the equipment behind the water is chosen — written for the owner who is commissioning the work.
Planning a new pool? Start with planning a villa pool. Losing water? Start with how pool leak detection works. Looking after an existing pool day to day is not covered here; these guides are about building, renovating and equipping one.
01Topic
Building a new pool
- Planning a villa pool
- The stages of building a pool
- How long building a pool takes
- What drives the cost of building a pool
- Getting approval for a new pool
- The site survey for a new pool
- Excavating for a pool
- Getting machinery and materials to the pool site
- Forming the concrete pool shell
- Waterproofing a new pool
- The plumbing between pool and plant
- Choosing where the pool plant goes
- Planning power for pool equipment
- Fitting a pool into a small garden
- Building a pool on a roof or terrace
- Building a plunge pool
- Ordering pool and landscaping work
- Protecting the garden during pool construction
- The first fill and start-up of a new pool
- Snagging a new pool
- Adding a pool to an existing villa
- What a pool construction quote should include
- Building a pool in the Dubai summer
- Pool construction payment stages
02Topic
Design decisions
- Choosing the shape of a pool
- Choosing a pool depth profile
- Designing a lap pool
- Designing an infinity edge pool
- Designing pool steps and entry
- Adding a sun ledge to a pool
- Designing pool lighting
- Adding water features to a pool
- Choosing pool coping
- Choosing a pool deck material
- Choosing a pool interior finish
- How pool colour changes the water
- Designing a pool for young children
- Planning shade and sun around a pool
- Choosing a cover for a new pool
- Adding a spa to a pool
03Topic
Renovation and tiling
- Signs a pool needs renovating
- Retiling a pool
- Regrouting a pool
- Loose or hollow pool tiles
- Cracked pool tiles
- Replacing waterline tiles
- Re-waterproofing an existing pool
- Structural cracks in a pool
- Replastering a pool
- Upgrading a pool to glass mosaic
- The pool renovation process
- Draining a pool for renovation
- Replacing pool coping
- What drives the cost of a pool renovation
- Modernising an older pool
- Changing a pool’s shape or depth
- Pool work before selling a villa
- Combining renovation with an equipment upgrade
04Topic
Pumps, filtration and plant
- Sizing a pool pump
- Choosing a pool filter
- Upgrading to a variable-speed pump
- Installing a pool pump
- Replacing a pool filter
- Glass filter media
- Replacing pool pipework
- Redesigning a pool’s filtration system
- Pool automation systems
- Installing a salt chlorinator
- Installing automatic pool dosing
- Upgrading a pool plant room
- UV and ozone pool systems
- Balance tank design
- Keeping pool equipment quiet
- Pool circulation and returns
- Housing pool equipment
05Topic
Heating and cooling
- Does a pool in Dubai need a chiller?
- Sizing a pool heat pump
- Inverter pool heat pumps explained
- Installing a pool heat pump
- Where to put a pool heat pump
- Pool water temperature through the Dubai year
- What affects pool heating and cooling running costs
- How a cover affects pool temperature
- Keeping a pool cooler in summer
- Adding a heat pump to an existing pool
06Topic
Leaks and diagnostics
- How pool leak detection works
- The bucket test for pool water loss
- When a pool loses water with the pump off
- When a pool loses water only while the pump runs
- Persistently high filter pressure
- Persistently low system pressure
- Blocked pool pipes
- When a pool pump keeps losing prime
- Damp ground, wet walls or a lifting deck near a pool
- When an automatic top-up hides a leak
- Leaks around pool lights
- Pressure testing pool pipes
- A leak at the skimmer or a return
- Testing a pool shell after renovation
07Topic
Comparing the options
- Overflow or skimmer pool
- Concrete or fibreglass pool
- Tile or plaster for a pool interior
- Salt or conventional chlorine for a new pool
- Sand, glass or cartridge filtration
- Heat pump, chiller or combined unit
- Renovate or rebuild a pool
- Single-speed or variable-speed pump
- Solar pool heating or heat pump
- Pool automation or manual control
- Plunge pool or full-size pool
- Deck-level or raised pool
- Heat pump or gas pool heater
—NEXT
Not sure which guide fits?
Describe the pool, or the pool you want, and what you have in mind. We will come back to you.