Posts made in July 2018

Pool House

Add A Pool House For Poolside Fun

You’re looking at your swimming pool and outdoor living space and wondering, “what can we do this year to make this area even more enjoyable?” Having a pool house constructed might be just what your outdoor living space needs.

Whether you want to invest in a pool house for showering and changing into and out of swimsuits or if you want it as additional living space, a pool house can fulfill both of those roles and perhaps more. A pool house can extend the living space of your home and enhance the versatility of your outdoor living space. At one time, pool houses were primarily paired with luxury homes and luxury swimming pools, but they are becoming more affordable and are added to more backyard swimming pool projects than ever before.

If you’re a do-it-yourselfer, you could potentially construct your own pool house. Most pool owners, however, opt to work with their swimming pool builder to incorporate it into the initial design. Put together a budget for your pool house so you will know not only the size of the structure you can afford, but what amenities you will have in the pool house. Decide on the type of amenities you want in the pool house – shower, kitchen, washer and dryer, etc. – before you sit down and talk with the pool contractor.

What are the benefits of a pool house? Here are a few:

  1. Expand the living area of your home.
  2. Use it as a guest house for visitors and a place to change for swimming.
  3. Your pool house can be recreational and storage space or living space. Note: you may need to obtain permits from local code and zone officials prior to construction.
  4. Complement your home’s architectural style or contrast it completely as a way to set the pool and backyard living area as a separate entity.
  5. A pool house can make using the pool even easier. Guests won’t have to dash in and out of your house to use the bathroom or change before or after swimming if you have a pool house.

To add pizazz to your outdoor living space, this may be the year you consider a pool house!

 

Outdoor Kitchen

Add An Outdoor Kitchen

If you own a swimming pool there’s a good chance that you don’t want to have to tear yourself away from the fun to go into the house and cook meals, right? When you work with the swimming pool contractor and designers at Hawaiian Pool Builders you can discuss an outdoor kitchen space so you never have to leave the pool and its fun!

Cooking in an outdoor kitchen space instead of inside an overheated kitchen is an idea that many swimming pool owners are embracing as they find that their indoor living migrates to the outdoors during the summer and they want to extend the time spent out there.

If you have an outdoor kitchen constructed, here are some ideas on how to utilize the space:

  • If you have a grill you can make pizza if you invest in a pizza stone. Imagine pizza without the oven!
  • Invest in a set of mesh or perforated stainless steel pans; having a set of cooking supplies for the outdoor kitchen alleviates the need to rush back and forth from the house to prepare your meals. Stainless steel pans allow you to fry, roast and grill and most of these pans are dishwasher safe.
  • Look for all in one grill roaster racks that will let you stack items you’re cooking such as potatoes or various fruits and veggies.
  • A salt plate is a cooking platform that is placed directly on the grill and makes an ideal place to grill meat or seafood. It not only cooks evenly but imparts a unique flavor from the salt that is embedded in the plate itself.
  • If hot dogs are more your style, look for a hot dog roller. This device lets you roast hot dogs or sausages evenly while leaving the prized grill marks.
  • Look for flavor-imbued wood chips to enhance your grilled foods with subtle flavors.

Consider installing weather-proof outdoor cabinetry as an easy way to equip the outdoor kitchen with your cooking utensils as well as serving and plating items. A backyard swimming pool combined with a spa, outdoor kitchen and other relaxing features will make your summer that much more enjoyable.

Hot Tub Maintenance

7 Ways To Keep Your Ohio Hot Tub Healthy

When you talk with your Ohio swimming pool and spa service contractors, they will share with you that one of the benefits of a hot tub or spa is that it can be used year-round. As a matter of fact, hot tubs and spas can be even more enjoyable once the weather has cooled off.

Here’s seven ways to keep your Ohio Hot Tub Healthy: Continue Reading

Fire Pit

Tips For Heating Your Outdoor Living Space

When the sun goes down, it’s not necessary to move the party indoors and away from the swimming pool. Together, we can design and create a space for a fire pit or other heat features on or around the swimming pool deck area.

An outdoor heater can allow you to extend the time you and your family spend in the outdoor living area without having to wrap up in blankets and shiver poolside. Because you’re heating an open area as opposed to an enclosed, indoor area, it’s important to note that there are specific types of heat that need to be used and that heat is called, “infrared radiant heat.” Infrared heat is transferred to objects, it is no dispersed through the air as with traditional heat. This means that if you’re in direct line of the heater you will feel its effects much the same way as you feel the effects of the rays of the sun.

To heat an outdoor living space around your swimming pool will require the installation of infrared heat because convection heat will simply dissipate into the air without providing any benefit. If you are looking for heat and ambiance, you may want to consider a wood burning stove. These devices offer both convection and radiant heating and also allow for the roasting of marshmallows.

Other types of heating units for your outdoor living space to consider include:

A patio heater. These are portable devices that you have likely seen in restaurants that offer outdoor seating. They work well and produce no smoke. These devices retail for anywhere between $200 and $700 depending on size and style.

A fire pit will radiate heat but not as effectively as a patio heater. These do offer more ambiance and natural lighting to the area. In many backyard landscaping designs a fire pit is the centerpiece of the outdoor living area. They can be designed of stone or brick and built to your unique specifications. A fire pit will require the homeowner to have to have a place to store the wood he will purchase to burn in it. These can cost between $150 on up to $3,000 depending on the style.

A fireplace.  This is different from a fire pit in that a fire pit typically offers areas for seating around the pit while a fireplace is typically nestled into a corner and the seating is placed around it. A fireplace is most often used to heat a smaller seating area than a fire pit. A fireplace gives the outdoor area more of a “living room” feeling in that it creates a more intimate and cozy atmosphere. You could chose to power a fireplace with gas or wood. Plan to spend between $350 up to $7,000 for the unit.

Feel free to call or come in to discuss the best heater for your outdoor living space, your budget and your current landscaping design.

 

Swimming Pool Fire Features

Add a Fire Element To Your Swimming Pool Space

It’s been said that fire and water don’t mix, but we think you’ll disagree with that saying once you see how creative you can be when you add a fire element to your swimming pool space.

The time will soon be here when you can open your in-ground swimming pool from Hawaiian Pool Builders. Perhaps you read our article about enhancing your backyard retreat and thought you’d like to incorporate a firepit or other fire feature to your pool area this year. Firepits or fire features are one of the latest trends in outdoor home improvement. Adding the right fire feature creates a warm, inviting place for your family and friends to gather.

There aren’t many things that are more inviting than the warmth, crackling glow of an outdoor fire. As a pool owner in Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan, you know that evenings can be cool in the spring and fall. Installing a fire pit can extend the time you can enjoy your backyard. Create a welcoming gathering place with a handful of chairs drawn around the fire and plenty of hot cider and nibbles, and your guests may be tempted to linger well after sundown.

High end pool builders have long understood that the addition of a stunning fire feature, whether in the form of a designer fire pit or a fire bowl accessory, enhances the time spent around the swimming pool, especially once the sun goes down. From the addition of a fire bowl or a water bowl, or both you can heighten the aesthetic appeal and the overall beauty of your swimming pool.

Imagine spending time around the pool once the sun goes down enjoying all the nuances of a fire, with the gentle sound of the pool water spilling over your added water feature.

Either of these features can be situated on a pillar that your swimming pool contractor can build for you or they can be placed at the corners of your outdoor seating area.

If you would like to make a statement with a fire accessory, consider the addition of a rectangular fire pit over which you could cook a meal, or simply settle in and relax with friends while you listen to the snapping and popping of the wood in the fire pit. The material to construct your fire pit can mirror your pool deck and design or can be a complementary color or design to set it apart and make a more dramatic statement.

If you enjoy eating outside, why not add a brick oven to your backyard? This is a fantastic option when it comes to cooking outside, but even when it’s hotter in the middle of summer, the fire still adds a beautiful glow. A brick oven would be a nice feature set back by the fence line.

Fire walls are one of the newest in-pool fire features. Most of these walls have flames that come out of the top and light up the night sky. They can even be tied together with a small waterfall to bring all the elements to play in your backyard oasis. A fire wall can also act as a retainer and stabilize the foundation. Adding a linear insert to your pool may be just the right fit. You can have one added to the edge of your pool, or perhaps at the edge of your patio.

Installing a cozy-corner fireplace may fit your space just right. A quarter-circle-shaped concrete fire pit is slotted into this corner nook and makes every spot along the benches a front-row seat for the warm glow. For built-in seating and fire pit arrangements, be particularly careful how you position the seating in relation to the fire feature — once it’s in place, there’s no flexibility to change it. Having the benches close enough to your fire pit allows your guests to put their feet up on the sides, and relax.

Hawaiian Pool Builders works with the professionals from Grand Effects Inc. when they recommend a fire or water feature because of the high-quality products they produce. When you’re making improvements and undertaking renovations to your swimming pool and are adding in statement accessories, you want to go with high quality, high-end products that will only serve to enhance your outdoor living experience.

The accessories you add don’t have to stop at fire and water, you can add a planter water bowl accessory or Tiki torches, or even old-time era quartz pathway lamps to light the pathways to and from the pool.

Consider how you use your outdoor living space, the environment you want to create and then talk with your swimming pool contractor about incorporating those ideas into your outdoor living space through the addition of water and fire features.

Whatever style you choose, a fire feature may be exactly the extra touch you are after for this year’s swimming pool season. One of our experts can guide you on how to make the best choice. Stop in the showroom, or call to make an appointment today. We look forward to serving you.

 

Swimming Pool Quartz Finish

Color Quartz Finish Enhances Pool Beauty And Durability

Swimming pool designs and the options available to pool owners are sometimes mind boggling! When planning a new gunite pool, choosing the right material for the interior finish is one of the important decisions to be made. The pool’s interior finish is the agent that waterproofs its more porous gunite shell. It is also the coating surface that swimmers will feel when they brush up against the walls of your pool. And most of all, it contributes to the overall appearance of your pool. Continue Reading

Swimming Workouts

Make The Most Of A Swim Workout

The idea of jogging or other outdoor exercise may not appeal to everyone when the sun is high in the summer sky. Swimming pool owners often find that a workout routine in the family swimming pool is a fantastic way to stay fit and trim year-round. Swimming is also a form of exercise in which the entire family can participate. It’s also a form of exercise that even individuals suffering joint and muscle pain can partake in, allowing them to make the most of a swim workout. Continue Reading

pool_party_ideas

Party Pool Ideas

For most of us, it is hard to think about our swimming pools without thinking of our own childhood, or noticing the children and grandchildren who are “hanging around our pool” having so much fun.

Their screaming Marco Polo or, just screaming in general, with joy is delightful. But every once in a while, there has to be a time out for No Kids Allowed type of party. Here are some thoughts on that event.

Often, there’s at least one or two folks who does not want to get in the pool. They just want to hang out on the deck … which is pretty awesome too but the real fun is in the water. Here are some thoughts on getting everyone involved. Continue Reading

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