"Running from cliche is one thing, but ignoring basic composition without a suitable substitute is another. " Again, Laag, you have me hitting "file, save as..." and rethinking my ideas about foundation planting. Very nicely done. Yes, you should write a book. Woody's take on your audience is interesting... and that would be how you get to the design snobs. But it might be that yours would be one of those books at the checkout at Home Depot that normal people use to get good results and that snobs pick up just because they haven't had a fix for a while, and then it turns out to be the book they keep going back to (can you tell this has happened to me?). and that Bboy keeps telling people to look for in used book stores long after it is out of print. We always have a bit of a yen to write for an audience just like ourselves, when really, people just like us don't need our book. As for this house, I do not think the offset door is a problem. I have a door centred on my stairs, and when I am in the front yard with the door open, every passerby can see all the way through my house. I hate that. Finally, what about focussing on the shape of the lawn instead of the shape of the beds? I think that is one thing I don't like about the status quo. KarinL

Flagstone pool coping should be a minimum of 1.5", but the larger pieces are probably better in the long term (2" & up). They are a little more expensive to install, but since flagstone is sold by the ton, not much more expensive for your installer. My company does charge more for flagstone that is 3", but we consider anything from 1.5" to 2" as standard pool coping. You are correct, 1" would not be advised. Too thin, and will break easily. Also, drainage is CRITICAL around pools and houses. You are absolutely correct that you should drain away from both your pool and your house. In Phoenix, we deal with drainage issues all the time, and some landscaping and pool projects actually have the pool within feet of the house. In these situations, we use a DECO DRAIN, or CHANNEL DRAIN. It's not a V-groove as you describe, but similar. It's usually a plastic drain, 2" wide, and allows water to actually drop into the patio, and run out at least 1 side. My company website probably has some examples of this DECO drain - not sure how to link to a picture, but you can probably view some of my Arizona Backyard patio portfolio pics. If you need any more help, i can figure out a way to upload a picture of this CHANNEL DRAIN.... Hope this helps!

Thanks tfons1219. I was wondering about the how one is able to comfortably rest against the back. Funny thing is you can't always go by what you see out there because so many things are done "less than ideal" on other peoples pools in my area, it's hard to know what is correct or more desirable. Also, I've mostly seen the brick done back to back. You mentioned you did your overhang at 1 & 1/2 inches. How wide was your stone facing at its thickest? Since ours can extend as much as 2 inches do you think we should go based on the maximum thickeness? Has anyone else use stone facing with a wide thickness variance? What exterior overhang did you go with?

#1 You can reduce and pop in an eyeball after the finishes are in. #2 The light sits on that ring, and there is very little lattitude to mud past the niche. Often times it's the guniters that cause this they should straighten it out during the shoot, or when they go to flash the mud down. If you want it to be perfect you may have to blow out the niche and straighten it out. You might not have to completely remove the niche once you get the gunite removed around it. If you want it to be perfect, Thats a sloppy gunite job, but typically an all tile pool gets a completely different amount of attention at the gunite phase than a pool that is planned for plaster.