Between a rock and a hard place: how a fiberglass-pool builder created a 100-ton paradise in an irregularly shaped backyard

Pool & Spa News, Dec 13, 2002 by Rebecca Robledo

Klohr figured out another way to retain the shell's shape. The workers laid the 4-by-4-inch wooden beams across the pool's width. Spaced about every 6 feet, the beams were wrapped in carpet, to avoid scratching the shell. The crews could then place the scaffolding posts between the beams. They would have to rearrange the wooden beams a couple of times throughout construction to accommodate the scaffolding posts.

Klohr also knew that working over and around the empty shells could result in two stained shells. "You have to be careful of all the droppings and stains so they don't get into the pool," he observes.

So his staff masked the entire surfaces of the pool and spa. "We did it with plastic, tape and carpet," he says. "We laid carpet on the bottom, then plastic over it, then we taped it. It takes a lot of time, then it's constantly getting torn because they're working in there with scaffolding."

Hard as rock

Prepping the shells for the rockwork may have been arduous, but the hard work didn't truly begin until crews started building the rock. The preparation and rockwork combined took about five weeks.

At this point, everything had to be done by hand; there wasn't even room for a concrete pump. "It was all wheel-barrowed and hand-laid because you really couldn't get in there," Klohr says.

First, they had to pour the concrete footing system to support the rock. Each rock would straddle two footings: one directly against the vessel and another set several feet back to hold the back of the rock. The crews poured the footings 3 feet deep to native soil.

The workers then formed the steel cages in the shape of the rocks, applied paper-and-wire lath and coated them with five layers of concrete. They added a waterproofing compound in the concrete for the last two layers. Then they went meticulously over each "rock" with 12-by-12-inch stamps to give them a ruddy surface. The grooves and cracks were hand-carved.

The craftsmen built the rock to hang slightly over the swim spa and pool. To anchor the rock to both, crews drilled holes in the lip of the shells and doweled the bottom of each rock through the pool and into the footings with No. 4 rebar. This arrangement still allowed some independent movement between the pool, rock and footings.

They then painted the rock with six colors to achieve the right coloration. Klohr provided the craftsmen with rock samples from southern Utah, Las Vegas' Red Rock Canyon and Sedona, Ariz., to show which hues he wanted.

Finally, they sealed the joint between rock and pool with a silicone caulk to prevent water from absorbing underneath the rock.

Mission accomplished

With everything finished, did Klohr's plan work? Did he have the best show pool he could?

One customer certainly thinks so: He wants a duplicate. "He just wants the environment," Klohr says. Others borrow elements for their own pools. "They might say, `I like that cave' or `I want that rain curtain.'"

Klohr also takes two to three customers a week to see it--at their request. "I run this picture in my advertising and everybody wants to see it," he says. "People see it in the ad and they say, `I want that.' You put it with 50 pictures and they put that in the top two or three every time."