Practical advice for pool owners and enthusiasts
The pool gets handed over. The water is in, the tiles are clean, and the garden around it is still bare ground. Pool landscaping starts months later, often with a different company, and by then the deck levels, the drainage falls and the equipment position are all fixed.
A pool design gets signed off in a meeting that lasts an hour. Shape, tile, coping, lighting, done. Designing a swimming pool in Dubai means settling a second set of decisions that are rarely on the table in that meeting.
Shape is the first thing most villa owners settle, and the smallest part of the decision. In Dubai, what separates a pool your family swims in every week from one that sits covered from May to September is not the outline on the plan.
If you own a villa in Dubai, or you're thinking about buying one, you've probably wondered whether a pool is worth what it costs to build and keep.
The white crust along your waterline is not dirt, and scrubbing harder will not remove it. It is calcium scale: mineral deposits left behind as water evaporates at the surface.
After a dusty spell in Dubai, most villa owners look at the pool, see grit on the bottom, and reach for the vacuum.
Most advice online gets this wrong for our climate. American and European pool sites say water loss above a quarter inch a day probably means a leak.
An architect hands over a drawing showing a rectangle in a garden, dimensioned and positioned, and assumes the contractor will handle the rest.
When a villa owner confirms a pool leak, the next fear is usually the same: they are going to have to dig up the garden
Most villa owners choose a pool contractor the same way: three quotes, a look at some photos, and the lowest number that still feels safe.
Ask most villa owners what their pool technician does, and the answer is "cleans the pool". Ask how they know, and the answer is usually "the water looks fine".
Most villa owners judge their pool by one test: can I see the bottom? If yes, the pool must be fine.