Swimming pools are no longer a luxury that only the rich can afford. Today family of middle income status can have a pool right in their backyard. But before starting to build one, a home owner or his representative in this case an architect, must know the laws and responsibilities governing pool design.

Depending on the local definition of a “private or residential swimming pool,” the zoning ordinance or association law may impose certain restrictions on how the pool should be built in the interest of the entire community. These restrictions may include - construction methods, design and size, location on your lot, among others.

After a thorough review of all the laws and restrictions, the builder must think of the best orientation for the pool with regard to existing structures and conditions.

a. Consider the relation of the house to the pool. After all restrictions have been met and there is no ample land space left for accessory structures such as a dressing room or toilet, the pool should be closer to the house.

b. Orientation to the sun. Put your pool where it will be “sun-sprayed” during the day. If you are adding a diving board, orient the board so the diver does not face the afternoon sun.

c. Orientation to the wind. To prevent chilly winds while swimming during cool months (October - February) consider using windbreaks such as trees existing plantings and shrubs or fences. These also serve to screen your pool from neighbors, sidewalks and roads.

d. Slope of the site. A relatively flat site is the easiest to build a pool on. Problems such as retaining walls, excavation, and water seepage present on steep slopes are eliminated.

e. Landscaping. The landscaping around the pool may vary from an amateur effort by the homeowner to a skilled professional such as a Landscape Architect. Consider utilizing natural site features as a first step. Then you can add or plant more trees, shrubs, hardscapes such as pebbled walks, stone walls, rocks, cascading falls or barbecue. Avoid overhanging branches or leaves near the pool.

f. Pool design and size. Community restrictions may limit your choice of a dream pool. But there will still remain a sufficient choice - from regular rectangular to more complex shapes. The complex ones such a kidney shaped pool will definitely add to the cost in contrast to a rectangular pool, however, they will look more pleasing and “natural.”

g. Safety. Children love swimming pools, consider putting slip resistant tiles around the pool’s surface deck. If space permits you can also have the pool depth designed in three stages: Non swimmers, swimmers, and divers.

It is always necessary to have extra money whenever you plan to build a pool, because the projected swimming pool, landscaping, accessory structures and utilities may be higher than you had planned. If you have a tight budget, consider building in phases. Start with the items you can finance and plan carefully how you will build it thereafter.

Imagination is limitless in the design field, take note of this house. The house is located at Galveston, Texas. Except for what looks like an iron or steel exterior finish of the structure, the materials are all standard fare with shingles for the roof and chimney, steel windows and doors. What is fascinating about this is the fact that it really resembles a kettle! From the top (starting with the chimney and the gutter resembling a lid) to bottom (the curved profile supported by the concrete base)

This goes to the record for one hot living!

The camera is fine, your eyes are fine, your seeing things just fine. It’s the picture that has a problem. It’s a house actually, and no, it was not toppled over by the tokyo earthquake

The image was submitted thru email by one of our readers, unfortunately no other information was given aside from the picture and a caption. This is a completely working house. Judging from proportions - with the door sized around 2100 to 2400 meters high, I’d guess that this is a three-level house with the last floor possibly an attic. This one’s definitely an eye catch!

In our previous article we talked about what a powder room is and what it does? We also discussed how putting in a powder room can add value to one’s home. Now we will pick the likeliest spots where we can put the half-baths.

In case you have a big or not so big home to locate a half-bath, you should consider rooms that are under used as prime candidates. In some cases, it may make sense to break through a hallway to borrow space from an adjacent room. Consider converting an underused closet to powder room space. Also, appropriating some garage space is still another possibility. If at all possible, try to limit the rearrangement of walls and doors to non-load bearing partitions since altering structural walls can be difficult and at the same time expensive.

If you can also plan a new powder room so it is above, below, or back to back with an existing bathroom, the cost and trouble of running the necessary piping will be kept to a minimum. Verify also with local codes standards for light and ventilation in bathrooms. Most codes stipulate that bath windows be operable and have a minimum of around 0.27 square meters of glass (roughly 600mm x 300mm). All bathrooms should be ventilated, if that is not possible consider installing an exhaust fan such as a “combination light-fan” fixture.

Access from a hallway is usually best, so you should consider traffic patterns within the house. Keeping them close to main living and entertainment areas will make them convenient for guests. Also when choosing a water closet, a siphon-flushing systems works best since they are generally the quietest.

Look at the illustration I have prepared above, the drawing shows a floor plan (ground) for a house with two full baths. The highlighted areas indicate possible powder room locations:

1. Replacing a hall closet and deepening it slightly yields a space for a toilet and lavatory. Hallway width is 1300 mm

2. Stealing some garage space and creating a new doorway in the hall makes for a possible powder room location. Verify that the two car garage should have a 30 square meter of space left.

3. Sacrificing den space and re-arranging the closet creates space for a toilet and lavatory off the foyer.

4. Space can be taken from a walk in closet to create a powder room with access from the foyer.

5. Space beneath the stairs can also accomodate a toilet and lavatory.

The notes above are mere guidelines; all it takes to put a powder room in most houses is a bit of imagination and ingenuity!