The pool site on day one!

Every vacation destination needs a pool! Right! Who in their right mind would rent a vacation condo that doesn’t have a pool. The pool is a focal point of every condo complex, or all inclusive resort , or private villa. Everyone tends to gather around to pool, even people who don’t swim still appreciate a well maintained and attractive pool.

The pool site two days of hard work.

At Casa De Compai I wanted that special pool. What makes a pool special, you ask. Appearance and usage. Sure you can get wet in any pool, I hear ya, but here is what I had to work with. I don’t have the space to build to size pool I would love to have. Although it still has to be big enough to swim, support people that want to do laps, and still have enough room around the pool for lounge chairs.

Again it was about using every square meter wisely. But something had to go. For a solid week I walk around the site thinking how do I lay out this pool. It’s a one shot, get it right job, there are no redos allowed. Haha. Just when I had it laid out , I realized I needed to expand the pump house. I won’t write what my first thought was, but I was back to square one. So , what does a developer do a pinch, go to the beach for a swim and a beer. Hey, it’s my safe place. but I do my best thinking there, and it worked. After a swim and a couple of beers it hit me as I was watching kids throw sand at each other, no shallow end! My market is couples and single travelers, not families!

Pool construction.

It sounded perfect, until I told my main contractor Roland. He laughed at me, really he did. Not a Swiss ( he is Swiss ) chuckle, a full blown your a jackass laugh. So I laughed with him, why not Compai pays the bills, and Compai gets what he wants. Hahaha.( I still laugh every time I go swimming. )

A couple of days later a crew of 7-9 guys was there with shovels in hand. Yup, shovels, no wonder Roland had a good laugh, no heavy equipment, and no shallow end for a pool 14′ ×30′. His crew had that hole dug in 3 days, I was in astounded, by the progress they made while I was at the beach , swimming, with a beer; brainstorming again.

The pool is reinforced concrete, with a blue pool paint and tiles stripe along the top. For the pool area we used tile made from local coral rock.The coral rock is more expensive but well worth the cost. Not only does it look fanstic, but it doesn’t heat up from the sun, but it doesn’t get slippery when it’s wet. That’s alone is worth the price. I liked the final look so much we used that tile for every outdoor area.

We also added tiled columns to give the wall around the pool some flair. I used the same tile in the pool shower. Oh , yes the pool shower has hot water. Why? Because I am sissy when it comes to cold water. Haha that’s another reason I love my home in the Dominican Republic, warm water year round.

The finished product.