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Rock Waterfall Swimming Pool Slides—Detailed Guide & Photos In San Diego
Incorporating a fun slide into your swimming pool, rock waterfall, or grotto waterfall will increase your backyard’s entertainment potential while also adding to its overall attractiveness.
Rock waterfall slides, often known as landscape slides, are permanent and more visually pleasing than free-standing slides. They satisfy most style preferences, fit into most backyard locations, and have an attractive, organic look since they are custom-built.
As a result, swimming pool rock slides are becoming a more popular option for homeowners looking for a fashionable outdoor living space. They’re also a great addition to a lagoon-style pool.
Are You Thinking About Including An Eye-Catching, Kid-Friendly Feature In Your Gunite Pool Project?
If that’s the case, find out what a rock waterfall pool slide is, as well as the benefits, building techniques, and concerns to keep in mind while designing one for your new aquatic playground.
What Is A Rock Slide In A Swimming Pool?
Unlike a deck-mounted pool slide, this specialty slide installation is a permanent element planned and built to border a pool’s rock waterfall or grotto.
The two ways pool builders use to create the rock slide are installing a prefabricated custom-ordered “landscape” slide or handcrafting the slide on-site using masonry materials. Let’s look at how these two ideas work together to produce a valuable and beautiful backyard attraction.
Landscape Slides That Have Been Prefabricated
Pool builders use a factory-produced slide flume to form the waterfall-slide structure in this method (runway). Contractors work with specialized manufacturers to order a flume compatible with the waterfall/grotto project’s exact dimensions and layout.
The manufacturer provides all of the necessary components and hardware for a seamless installation. Some prefabricated flumes include powder-coated handrails. Others have such high sidewalls that they don’t require rails.
Crews may place metal support poles (provided by the manufacturer) beneath the flume of the slide to correctly position and sustain it. Other flumes have brackets attached to them, and the team pours concrete pillars that connect to the brackets to keep the flume firmly in place.
A rock waterfall’s substructure comprises pre-cast cement blocks (cinder blocks). The metal support poles for the slide will be hidden once the surrounding rockwork is finished.
Because the flume isn’t equipped with stairs, your contractor will create them out of natural stone, masonry with concrete, or gunite or shotcrete applied with a high-pressure hose.
Using a prefabricated flume has several advantages. One is that a manufacturer’s warranty backs it. Another advantage is that the manufacturer has already created each safety feature, such as the pitch, contours, height, ride speed, and slip coefficient of the flume’s surface.
The steps leading to the top of a rock waterfall slide are generally custom-built.
A Variation On The Deck:
Use a conventional deck-mounted slide and build a rock waterfall around it as a variation on a pre-fab flume. The completely integrated steps and railings are included in the single-component deck-mount variant.
This method may be less expensive than constructing a specialized landscape flume. The disadvantage is that a free-standing unit will never match the amount of elegance and customization that a built-in unit can.
Even if it blends nicely with the surrounding waterfall and has a color scheme that matches the surrounding rockwork, it lacks the appeal and cohesion of a handmade installation.
Setting a free-standing slide into a waterfall is a more appealing option than leaving the device exposed on the deck in terms of aesthetics.
Making Masonry Pool Slides By Hand
Specialty craftspeople construct the slide’s flume on-site using masonry materials in this construction method. This type of construction assures that the flume has exact curves and specifications.
It offers the best level of customization and integration into a rock waterfall and the most beautiful, cohesive, and natural look for the slide.
Crews use cement blocks and other construction firms to build these handmade buildings. Steel bars and a strong wire-mesh form in the basic shape of the slide’s flume, including its sides, may also be used.
A slope or hillside will act as part of the foundation for the rock waterfall and slide in some backyards. If that’s the case, personnel could put some or all of the steel bars and wire mesh form on this raised ground.
One of two types of brickwork will be laid over the steel and wire skeleton. A masonry crew will pour a concrete mix to form the slide flume in one kind.
In the other, a team will fire gunite or shotcrete—the same material used to construct the pool—with a high-pressure hose. If your pool waterfall is made of gunite/shotcrete, the slide will likely be made of the same material.
The team will next sculpt the material to replicate the shape of real stone, whether it is poured masonry or applied gunite/shotcrete.
After that, they’ll dye the dried material in a hue that matches the nearby rockwork.
A customized masonry slide may give the closest possible color match to the natural or fake stone used in the next waterfall, depending on the natural or faux stone used in the nearby waterfall.
Finally, the slide will be waterproofed by applying two coatings of transparent epoxy to the whole surface. The epoxy surface finish gives additional benefit and water resistance: a wonderfully smooth surface for a comfortable glide down the runway.
Adding To The Functionality
Whether your slide is a prefabricated flume or hand-built masonry, the runway must have two extra elements to make it easy to reach and utilize.
The first is a flight of stairs. The stairway design will be influenced by the height of the slide, the position of the entry, and the design of the rock structure. The length and height that users must climb to reach the top of the flume will determine the stair position, amount, arrangement, and material.
To blend in with the rockwork, stairways can be created from brickwork, gunite/shotcrete, or natural stone. Rather than identical steps, using graded stepping pads of various shapes and sizes is a terrific approach to get a more natural appearance.
Plumbing is the second thing that has to be done. All slides require some H20 pouring down the flume to achieve a smooth glide. You may switch on the water and ride since plumbing has been built. A valve is included in the plumbing of a slide so that the flow rate down the flume may be adjusted for the optimum riding experience.
You have more options with a pool feature like this than you have with a factory-installed deck-mount device. The range of options will differ to some extent depending on the type of custom slide in your project—masonry or prefabricated flume.
Dimensions:
Waterfall slides are typically five feet tall, making them ideal for smaller waterfalls and grottos.
Low-profile slides are ideal for HOA areas with height limitations on backyard structures. They are often built taller in most backyards—around 10, 15, or 20 feet—with longer runways to use space in a large-scale waterfall installation.
A higher, longer slide is feasible in extra-large, high-end projects. Slides with a lot of space mean a lot of fun! On the other hand, Deluxe setups need larger backyards, pools, and funds.
You may splurge for longer, faster rides for the thrill-seekers in your family at the far end of the custom-slide scale.
Shape:
Some of the unique rock slides are completely straight. This form is ideal for any speed demons in your home because it has no bends in the glide path to slow the ride down.
Most pool owners, on the other hand, desire a curve slide. The flume’s bends provide the thrill of changing directions and the impression of “riding the walls” around the twists.
Color:
Flumes from the manufacturer come in a range of colors, including greens, blues, teals, and pure whites. Custom masonry slides can be stained; flumes from the factory come in a variety of colors, including greens, blues, teals, and pure whites.
Greys, creams, beiges, and browns are the most common choices in both types of slides. These neutrals mix in well with the surrounding artificial rock or natural stone, giving the space a more natural and harmonious appearance.
Most homeowners who are installing a high-end rock waterfall want earth-toned slides. Blue and white are popular alternatives for a splash of color.
Making Preparations For Your Rock Waterfall Slide
The design of your slide, as well as the rock waterfall or grotto that will surround it, will be a collaborative effort between you and your contractor.
The final design will be influenced by a number of functional and aesthetic elements, such as the height and length of the slide. The size of your outside area, as well as your pool budget, will be factors. Your children’s age and physical height will also play a role. After all, they’ll be the primary users of the slide (though “grown-up” youngsters also enjoy the sun-drenched pastime).
Your builder will plan the location of the slide in relation to your waterfall, as well as the “traffic pattern” that the slide’s riders will produce in the backyard.
Another factor to consider is the location of the slide’s “approach.” Riders should be able to ascend the slide easily. The approach usually comprises a route that leads to a set of specialized steps that ascend to the top of the slide.
Your builder will carefully plan the position of the slide around the pool, taking into account factors such as the pool’s form and interior features like stairs, spas, benches/loveseats, walls, and tanning ledges.
When riders splash down into the water, the space is free and unobstructed, which helps to maintain pool safety.
Do you own a piece of land with a hillside? While it is a backyard hazard that may affect pool construction, it may also be an opportunity.
Your pool builder may be able to use the slope as part of the foundation for your waterfall and slide in some circumstances. This method creates an outstanding backyard drama and makes use of an area that would otherwise be wasted.
Pool builders frequently employ slopes to create unique rock waterfall/slide installations that blend nicely with the surrounding scenery.
Your Route To Backyard Amusement
Custom rock waterfall slides need a larger expenditure than their deck-mounted counterparts. However, they are more appealing since they turn your pool into a swarm of trendy, sun-drenched enjoyment.
Incorporate one of these lovely elements into your new aquatic resort by speaking with your pool designer. They will provide you with recommendations for design ideas and pricing ranges in your location. Contact us today at Artificial Rock Contractor for more details.
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