Slide, Diving Board, or Dive Rock?

15 years ago

Early on in our planning, we had ruled out a diving board, because flips and high dives make me very nervous. And, I've seen what my boys can do on a slide - head first, backwards, no hands! So we though the diving rock might be the safest (was that foolish?). And now that it's installed, I'm having second thoughts. It's huge!! I can just imagine someone slipping and hitting their head on it!

Are there any "safe" options for the deep end? I would love to hear comments from pb's and pool owners.

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Comments (5)

king_michelob
15 years ago
I think any object designed to be jumped off of has an inherent risk associated with it. Personally I don't care for slides since they have limited usefulness and are big and obtrusive (eyesore). I have a rock for my pool, from my point of view I don't see much more risk to that then the decking itself, but it is higher so I guess you could slip. Mine's almost surrounded by plants though so I think that helps limit the possibilities of falling (other than into the pool, that is).
golfgeek
15 years ago
hawkfive,
Kids seem to find the darnedest ways to make any safe product unsafe.
Pools wirh a rock used in place of a diving board must meet the same requirements as a pool with a diving board.
My son was told NOT to do flips off the side of the pool but, he did, and a trip to the emergency room and a few stitches later he had learned his lesson. The best advice I can give is try to provide good supervision when the kids are in the pool.
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I agree, furrysquid! VERY cool! If you don't want or can't have a diving board, a dive rock is the way to go. While I love me a bouncy, bouncy diving board I'm not willing to accept the liability. Especially in a household full of teen boys (and friends) that no matter how often they are coached in safety, are wired to act like fools on occaision. They just are. Anyway, for me, a jump rock gives me some kind of weird primitive joy - something about jumpping off a rock into the depths of a sparkling blue pool of water....ahhhhhh. Your picture, furryaquid, almost illustrates that feeling. Just add water.
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Interesting that the positives come from an owner point of view. From a repair/install point of view I think you'll find the opposite. It is a diving accident some years ago that bankrupted the nations largest association of pool professionals when they had nothing to do with it. Because of that, you will find that the nations largest association of pool service people are not insured to install or touch diving boards for one reason. Lawsuit exposure. Boards are great and when properly used, they are not a problem. But, court rulings have found that it is not proper use that determines liability. It is deep pockets and slick lawyers. Ultimately, the future pool owners pay for this in the form of higher pricing and lack of purchase options. In So Cal, you will be hard pressed to find boards these days that are installed by professionals as the risk of exposure is too great. My business is not worth making a few bucks on a board only to be sued later for something I had nothing to do with. Regardless of depth, injury is highly likely with a head first dive and it is the industry who ultimately pays. Just a view from the other side. I liken the whole situation to helmet and seatbelt laws. Put a helmet or belt on and statistics say there are fewer injuries. Swim in a pool without a board and the statistics ar better.
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I don't know about building codes in your area but here is something to consider. My sister-in-law has a pool with 3' of decking around the diving board, no matter how hard she trys, when her kids are playing they end up running through the grass, the grass turns into mud and it all ends up in the pool. When we did our pool this spring, we had them do a semi-circle around the diving board. We had the stamped concrete decking come out with a 6' radius from the bolt furthest from the pool. It has worked out great, when kids or adults are waiting they are not standing in mud & it is large enough for an adult to set up a chair if he is doing life guard duty.
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Hot diggedy dawg! Another one bit the dust. We LOVE seeing posts like yours, SEC. First, I was thinking back on EMT's Golden Gate, I forgot to answer your question re favorite books. My favorite is "Mosaics - Inspiration and Original Projects for Interiors and Exteriors" by Kaffe Fassett and Candace Bahouth. I bought it several years ago, and several since as gifts, from Amazon.com. Second, if you want to use the sheet rock for a substrate for wall art, I'd think it would work. Why not? It doesn't bend, flex etc., so of course, I'd use it. I found a piece in my garage yesterday while I was digging for something else, and I pulled it out for a project. That is, if I EVER get caught up on spring gardening/planting. I've even seen mosaic artists use framed canvases for substrates. However, they were ungrouted. Like CALAM said - anything that's not running around - just use your imagination. Yep - you're gonna lose some sleep. Welcome to our disease.
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trhought
15 years ago
ditto golfgeek's comments.

We have a large slide and multiple jump rocks around our pool, here's our experience:

Supervision is the best safety precaution when kids of all ages are involved, including adults who should know better but are judgement impaired.

When we have large get togethers, we always have a designated "life guard" on duty. We have found the most dangerous situation is when there are more adults than children....eveyone thinks the other person is watching and the result is no one watches.

Hope this helps!
sandrasmith140
15 years ago
There are no safe options when there are kids involved. Just put a crash helmet on them soon as they can walk :-)

I saw a friend's twelve-year-old kid at the community pool do a diagonal jump of the side of the pool and promptly hit the other side and need stitches. My kids never get hurt doing "high risk" stuff. It's always dumb stuff that you would not think of, but then again I have three boys (8,10.12) One tripped over the dog and broke his elbow last year. The other tripped in the bathroom getting off the toilet and cut his forehead on the counter top - five stitches. One fell off the couch and broke his collar bone and we ended up getting CAT Scans in case of a spinal injury since he could not move his head. The list goes on . . . And the funny thing is they ski and skateboard and never one E.R. visit for those activities.

golfgeek wrote: Kids seem to find the darnedest ways to make any safe product unsafe.

That is very true!!! They slide backwards, frontwards, and every which way off the rock slide. They also jump off the top of the slide when no friends are over. I say supervision at the pool is your best bet. I have a no diving policy at the pool, but they can jump all they want!!! We call the diving rock a JUMPING rock. I can deal with sprains, cuts and broken teeth, but spinal injuries . . . not so good.
nikkineel
15 years ago
We have a dive rock and so far - no trouble (knock on wood). We have had more people jumping off of the spa (much to my dismay) but at least they dive in the deep end. My husband thinks I worry too much, but then again, he's the worst about jumping off of the spa. AGGHH

Slide, Diving Board, or Dive Rock?

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king_michelob

golfgeek

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