How the finder works
The plot a pool asks for
Every plan has a box: the widest its outline stretches, along it and across it, with the coping round the edge, which adds 13 3/4″ (35 cm) on every side. Add the deck beyond the coping and you have the plot the plan asks for: the rectangle the designer draws as the deck, and the one each plan page quotes as its plot.
The finder lays that rectangle in your yard, longer side along longer side, so a yard can be turned: 39 × 26 ft (12 × 8 m) and 26 × 39 ft (8 × 12 m) are the same yard. A plan fits when its plot is no larger than the yard, and a yard exactly the size of the plot fits.
How much room is room to walk round it
A new design in the designer starts with 7′ 3″ (2.2 m) of deck on every side of the coping: room to walk round the pool, to set a lounger and a table on the paving and not to step off it into the border. That is the margin the finder uses unless you ask for less.
The narrowest deck the designer allows is 19 5/8″ (50 cm): a path, with no room for furniture. It makes every plot much smaller, so it shows what fits when every metre counts, and it is worth a look for a plunge pool or a small garden. Choose “Tight” to see it. Either way the deck goes with the plan into the designer when you open it from here.
What the finder does not check
It checks the ground, not the permission. How far a pool must stand from a boundary, the house or a tree, where pipes and cables run underground and whether a fence is required are decided where you live. Measure the part of the yard that is free to build on, not the whole plot, and leave room for the digger to get in.
It also assumes the pool is set square to the plot, the way the designer sets it. A pool turned at an angle takes more room than its box, not less.
The yard common sizes ask for
| Plan | With room to walk round it | With the narrowest deck |
|---|---|---|
| 4 × 2.5 m Rectangular | 30 × 25 ft | 19 × 14 ft |
| 6 × 3 m Rectangular | 36 × 27 ft | 25 × 15 ft |
| 8 × 4 m Rectangular | 43 × 30 ft | 32 × 19 ft |
| 10 × 5 m Rectangular | 50 × 33 ft | 38 × 22 ft |
| 12 × 6 m Rectangular | 56 × 36 ft | 45 × 25 ft |
| Ø 4 m Round | 30 × 30 ft | 19 × 19 ft |
| 8.5 × 4.8 m Kidney | 45 × 29 ft | 33 × 18 ft |
| 8 × 4 m Oval | 43 × 30 ft | 32 × 19 ft |
| 16 × 32 ft Rectangular | 49 × 33 ft | 38 × 22 ft |
Frequently asked questions
- How do I know if a pool will fit in my yard?
- Measure the free ground, the length and the width of the part of the yard a pool may use, and enter them above. A plan fits when the pool, its coping and a deck on every side make a rectangle no larger than that ground. The finder does the sum for every plan in the library and lists the ones that pass, grouped by shape, the largest first.
- How much space do I need around a pool?
- The designer starts a new design with 7′ 3″ (2.2 m) of deck on every side of the coping, which leaves room to walk round the pool and to set furniture on the paving, and it goes down to 19 5/8″ (50 cm). Your local rules may ask for more distance from a boundary or a building, and a builder will want a way in for the digger.
- Will a 10 × 5 m pool fit in a 12 × 8 m yard?
- Only with the narrowest deck. A 10 × 5 m rectangle pool needs about 50 × 33 ft (15.1 × 10.1 m) with the designer's default deck and 38 × 22 ft (11.7 × 6.7 m) with its narrowest, so a 39 × 26 ft (12 × 8 m) yard holds it at the narrowest and not at the default. With the default deck the largest rectangle plan that fits is the 6 × 2.5 m.
- Do I measure the whole plot or only part of it?
- Only the part a pool can have. Take off the house, the setback from the boundary, trees and anything buried that cannot be moved, and measure the largest rectangle that is left. A yard of any other shape still gives the pool a rectangle of its own, which is what the finder asks for.
- Does the finder know my local rules?
- No. It works out whether the ground is big enough, not whether a pool is allowed on it. Setbacks, fencing, easements and buried services differ from place to place, and your builder or local authority has the figures that apply.
