PolyTEC Stone vs The DIY Pool Guy
2023 Case Study
“What started out as an alternative option,
quickly became our first choice!”
Lets put things in perspective.
Here’s Why…
First, here is a bit of brief history of my adventures in the DIY Plunge Pool construction world and my real world experiences comparing PolyTEC stone vs natural stone for the the use of water feature installs. This would being my second venture into plunge pool building and while my wife and I were very satisfied with the final outcome of the first pool itself. I was never really happy with the relatively small water feature that I built with natural stone. It was back breaking work due to the extreme weight of the stone and it was almost impossible to get the water to flow evenly throughout all the rocks without eventually leaking out somewhere. In the end, not that impressive for the amount of time and money spent. | Fast forward a few years, and of course a new home address has to have a pool right?
not do this again”
“Honey, can we please
Soo… against my better half’s usually sound judgement, I was at it again.This time it was going to be Bigger and Badder. I guess that’s what happens when you watch too many late night episodes of “INSANE POOLS”. This time around I wanted the pool more of an “Oasis feel” rather than just your basic plunge pool set up. I envisioned having large random sized rocks and a Water Fall hanging over the edges of the pool wall that spanned the entire length of the pool, which was approximately 30 ft. I thought to myself, how hard could that be? I’ve seen it done on TV. ( hmm…)
My biggest concern was that over time, the weight of this much natural stone would eventually (or immediately) crush the side walls of my pool. The installation complexity and associated cost of placing large natural stone boulders can be very costly.
Not for the faint of heart!
Feasibility-Complexity-Cost
I would surely need a team of professionals and some heavy duty machinery to place these large boulders in place. with the understanding that we we would need to get it right the first time, as once the heavy stones are put in place, there is very little you can do after the build is complete to rearrange things, At that point, you “get what you got” and learn to love it.
If you’ve ever watched a Youtube video with this type of installation in action… Well, let’s just say it’s not for the faint of heart. I was getting stressed just watching the video.(Ha!) - Was I loosing hope in my “Oasis Dream”, Not so fast…
Collateral Damage & Repair…
As I learned from my previous experiences, large machinery and heavy trucks rolling over your yard scape can cause some serious collateral damage to existing lawns shrubs and even driveways. Repairing these items starts to quickly add up in time and money spent.
I was skeptical, but honestly
After some extensive research. and a few sleepless nights, I came to the conclusion that using PolyTEC Stone for this project would actually allow so many more design options, at a substantially lower overall cost vs natural stone.
seeing was believing!
Because the stone composition is polymer based, I was able to trim and file the stones to get a really tight fit between them. Of course after sharing my work of art with my better half, there were numerous suggestions provided (hmm…) The fact that PolyTEC stones are relatively light weight, I was able to reposition stones to get the final placement just the way Shwe…wanted.
It’s ironic that what started out as an alternative option, quickly became our first choice!
The manufacturing of these polystones is cutting edge technology and expert craftsmanship at its finest, as the natural “Look and Feel” of these stones is truly remarkable!
It’s all in the details…
Once the core water feature and the surrounding stones were in place, there were some final touches of added such as PolyTEC planter stones, palm tree plants, large backdrop shrubs, flower pots and solar color accent lights to enhance the night time experience. And let’s not forget Herbie the turtle, our pool buddy!.
Lessons learned 20/20
1. Never jump into a deep excavation hole like you were a 20 year old karate kid, especially if you’re not.
2. Never put your fingers too close to a saw blade, even if you think you’re that good.
As a DIY guy that has accumulated a fair amount of experience in home renovations & repairs over the years, my creative design profession surly helped out alot when it came to this project.Though I must say, time can really get away from you if you don’t stick to your original design plans or run into issues during the construction phase. Building a DIY plunge pool from scratch with a water feature design of this magnitude can be very complex and a bit overwhelming at times. while you’re in the whole digging. There were many late nights shoveling stone around that I thought, I’m either going to finish this and it’s going to be spectacular or it’s going to finish me and I have just dug myself into my final resting place!
Your mileage my vary…
Keep in mind, the end result will only be as impressive as the original design that it was created from. It would be careless of me to suggest it was easy. So unless you are a creative designer, construction savvy or just extremely fearless, I might suggest having a project like this one, planned and executed by professionals with experience installing PolyTEC stone products.
Overall, I feel my plunge pool project has been a very successful & personally rewarding adventure. It has proven to be an excellent value for the amount dollars invested. Though somewhat questionable in the time to completion category. Coming in at just under 12 months, albeit in my spare time & flying solo - (not recommended).
My final 25 cents worth…
As for my decision to use PolyTEC stone products for this project, well…that was a no brainer! When comparing the key factors of Design Versatility, Selection, Installation Complexity and Overall Cost to that of using natural stone, PolyTEC stone was clearly the best choice.
What do you think?
