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Does anyone have a baja shelf in their pool?

2 years ago

I am getting my pool re-done and I am considering a baja shelf. Does anyone have this water feature? Would you do it again? Pros? Cons?

I like them in theory but not sure if it adds to the amount of maintenance needed for the pool. I can imagine the floor of this area gets more dirty than the rest of the pool?

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Comments (5)

Anna Devane
2 years ago
not an pro but a pool owner. Why would that be any different than walk in stairs? we have stairs and our Polaris does a pretty good job of keeping them clean. Pools are meant to be used and when they aren’t you do get debris in the hard to reach areas.
uscpsycho
Original Author
2 years ago
I can easily imagine it would be very different than a stair where there is no standing water. On a baja shelf it seems like that would be mostly standing water even though it is the same body of water as the rest of the pool. Also, if the top step gets a few pieces of debris on it you don't notice but if you have a large baja shelf with lots of leaves and stuff, if might not look as pretty as what you see in the photos when everything is pristine.

Just trying to get some feedback with people who have experience. I imagine they love it or hate it and I don't want to experience the latter. Pool will only be done once so if I don't like it I'm stuck with it.
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Hi in Syracuse. We were surprised and happy to read your inquiry since it is so similar to our design issue and in the same area you are located. We are also in the CNY area and attempted to build a pool last year. We hit many issues-most having to do with our pool placement in our yard, that we have since changed. One other issue we had was the same as yours with the sundeck and how to do it. We have a pool ledge/sundeck in our design and we are wondering if you could share with us how yours was done and if you have success with it. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!! We wish to have it in the first step if it's possible. Our PB was not familiar with the sundeck and has since done one as well. (Maybe we have the same PB?). We are also wondering if you did install returns and if you felt you needed them. We are told we could have 6in water on first step and we are not sure if that's enough, although we think it is. Our sundeck design extends 6 feet. Any guidance/photos you could provide would be wonderful. Thank you in advance and we hope your pool turned out fabulous.
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My friend's pool is very much like yours, accept the circle is their spa. On either side of the circle, they put seats. What if you had your first two steps 6", then 12", then 18" in a straight line across the pool at the edge of the circle? Just an idea. Truthfully, my kids just loved my mother's steps when they were little. We have a small pool, too, and built a sunshelf that is hardly used. It is nice to look at, and highlights the spa, put if I could have a smaller step area I would. Maybe just making the top 6 " and the rest steps would be great. If you put it in the front right corner it would give you more pool space. I'll include a picture of our pool so you can see our circle idea. I can tell you're really working on a nice shape for your pool. Be careful with steps and shelves though, one time I was playing with my baby (13 now) and my 3 year old (16 now)was on the step right next to me. I turned to look and he had stepped off the shelf and was underwater looking at me and reaching for me. I will never forget those eyes and how I was just a couple of inches from him. Steps are great to play on, but be so careful. Do you have any part of the pool raised for interest? I have a spa that is raised a little, but if I could do it again I would have raise the back wall a little for more interest. One other thing that I noticed. Your light in your deep end is just like mine. I was told that it wouldn't shine towards the house, but it does...and right at us in the spa. Yours is going towards your house and patio. You may want to put two and have them going out towards the house. That is one of my "I wish they didn't talk me out of it" things with my builder. I hate it everytime I turn it on. Good luck!
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tiffeslan, I have a baja shelf/tanning ledge on my pool that's big enough for two loungers. It's a new construction and our first year with the salt water pool. My first two concerns were ensuring that the lounger was all plastic so we wouldn't have to worry about corrosion and making sure that they weren't rediculously wide or heavy. I take my loungers in and out of the shelf area and move them to the deck area depending on if I want in the water or not at the time. I found a few options. Some that were $200+ from various online retailers ($300+ for same ones at my local outdoor/pool stores), or some basic white plastic lounge chairs from HomeDepot (Adams is the brand I believe). We've had them for about 3 months now and they're never covered. They sit in direct sunlight for about 13 hours a day right now. They're light so I can move them really easily, but heavy enough that they don't blow around in the wind (Oklahoma gets windy). Best part, they are cheap enough that if my kids tear them up I'm not going to be as mad at them as I would if they cost me $200+ each. You're thinking may be different than mine, but for the price they hit all the functions I needed.
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Tanning ledge (sun deck/baja shelf) or.... tile the whole pool
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Comments (10)
In order to accomplish your wish list, first, the entire plaster finish must be removed. The best way is by a water jet blaster. It will completely remove the plaster and expose the original concrete shell or substrate. This will allow for proper prep and adhesion of a tile finish. It's an expensive process. Chipping the material off never gets every last bit. It's not advisable to apply a bond coat to existing plaster and then apply tile. Too many layers in my opinion. A bond coat is necessary on a re-plaster though. Second, in order to add a sunshelf or any step in an existing pool, the new structure must be reinforced with rebar. Adding the steel rebar means one must also tie into existing rebar, make a connection to bond the steel as per National Electric Code (NEC) Not reinforcing will most definitely result in failures in the form of cracks. Third, tiling an entire pool is more expensive than plastering. Tiling an entire pool takes special skill and it requires a special prep. Yes, it will last much longer than a plaster job. And yes, they are gorgeous when they're done. A sound plaster job will last 12-15 years provided the pool (chems) are properly maintained. Do you see yourself in that house beyond 15 years? I've asked clients in your position if they are comfortable with the additional expenses, then they should go for it. I make people understand what's involved in a project of such so there are no surprises. Hope this helps in your decision.
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Anna Devane
2 years ago
There IS standing water on my stairs. Do you have an automatic pool cleaner?
K R
2 years ago
Let’s see I’ve had my pool with a huge sun shelf (same thing) for 16 years and never a problem. It used to be great when my kids were little and could play on it and now it’s great for me to lounge LOL. We are building a new home now with an even bigger sun shelf. Your pool water is constantly filtering and moving around, I’ve never seen any issues with “standing” water. The only ‘issue’ I’ve ever had was a raccoon who used to hang out on it to clean himself (and poop), but we bought an alligator head that floats around and he hasn’t been seen since. 🤣 Sun/Baja shelves are VERY popular where I am (so FL), almost everyone who builds pools puts them in. I’d definitely do it, you’ll love it.
PRO
Mystic Pools, LLC
2 years ago
We install in-floor cleaning heads on the sun shelves in an effort to move debris to the pool floor. The auto cleaner can come around and pick up any debris.

We use the Caretaker System. Caretaker's tech support can provide a layout to builders based on the area in question to be cleaned from a scaled drawing. We don't use the collection system as the auto cleaner does that job.

The heads are activated in the off swimming hours, usually midnight and later for a number of hours, through a Jandy automated controller. This way heads are not up during swimming time to be a potential toe stubber.

Our sun shelves water depth is normally 6"-7".

In the past we would set small pipe returns at the tile line but this method worked better.

Some steps treads are best having the heads when cleaners can't get in.

There still will be brushing required, but not as much.

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