Last March we moved into our new house. Just in time for spring and summer. The back of the house, the side with the most windows, faced west and caught most of the afternoon sun. The warm days in late March and early April showed us we needed to reduce the exposure. So our first construction project consisted of adding a patio cover and sunscreens to help keep the house cool during the hot summer months.
| Next we needed to address the damage to back yard done by the previous owners Doberman. This consisted of adding a new sprinkler run in the side yard and adding sod to the exposed area. We then added weed block and bark to all of the flower beds to keep the weeds down. But before we started adding more plants, we wanted to observe the yard through the summer. |
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During the summer, to beat the heat, the kids spent a lot of time in the above ground spa. They were using it as a swimming pool: diving for things on the bottom, jumping from side to side, and kicking around in the water. It wasn't until a trip to Monterey in October and spending time in their indoor pool that we really internalized the kids desire for swimming. |
Maybe we should look into getting a pool. The problem was we do not have a large yard and putting a pool in the back would take up a major portion of the yard. On the flip side, we live on a cul-de-sac and the kids did not want to play in the back yard. They wanted to play in the front with their friends. So why not. They are at the perfect age and would get many years use out of the pool. We would also have a way to beat the hot summer days and nights - soaking in a cool pool. The one major requirement was that I didn't want just a hole in the ground; I wanted a design that would compliment the yard.
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 Backyard (From Corner Looking North-East)
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 Backyard (Looking Towards the Corner)
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 Patio |
 Side Yard |
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Experience the Pool Being Built
