Pool designer/builder: Brian Cullingworth Custom Pools & Spas.
Next, cleaning and maintenance must be considered. It’s tough to brush around bar stools, and a robotic cleaner might get tangled in the columns, so both Cullingworth and Oliver use in-floor cleaning heads around the bar, placing them between the stools as well as in front of them.
If the client doesn’t want to invest in a complete system, Cullingworth sets a few heads around the stools. For the ultimate in comfort, he also likes to feed heated water through the cleaner heads there. “It just provides a really warm environment and takes a few degrees off the chill,” he says. “It’s nice to have warm water around your feet and rising up around your body.”
Keeping it dry. On the dry side, you may just want to place store-bought barstools and use standard counter height, between 40 and 42 inches. Make sure this leaves enough room for the stool to fit under the counter. Ideally, the surface will also sit about 30 inches higher than the pool floor or shelf. Cullingworth likes to locate the counters so the tops are almost the same elevation as the water, so they appear to be floating.
You can place as many amenities on the dry side as you wish. Some have full kitchens with grill, sink, refrigerator, and even a television. If so, keep them as far away from the water as codes dictate. Oftentimes, when you consider the width of the counter and then the vault or floor, it is easy to get 10 feet of space between electric equipment and the pool’s bond beam.
Provide some kind of shade, if possible. If a permanent structure won’t work, at least install an umbrella sleeve in the floor so that homeowners have that option when needed.
