Pool Decks, Patios & Hot Tub Surrounds in Chicagoland

Chicagoland Poolside Living

There is nothing like the calming feeling of water. Whether the water is trickling in a water feature or inviting you for an evening dip in the pool, poolside living takes relaxing outdoor living to a different level. What is a pool without a poolside structure to sit or lay on to enjoy your space? While you may initially think your poolside surround options consist of not much more than a paver pool surround, you have many more options in outdoor living by your backyard pool.

Are you considering adding a pool to your Chicago-area home this summer?

If you’re considering adding a pool to your home, you may be debating whether to add an above-ground or in-ground pool. There is a dramatic price difference between the two making an above-ground pool quite compelling. After doing research on where you are going to lay your towels, set poolside chairs and set down your beverage, you may come to the financial and practical conclusion that an in-ground pool is the best option. Poolside living is about a lot more than just swimming, floating and hanging out in the pool itself.

How do you decide what you need in addition to your pool for the ultimate poolside living? The most important question is how you want to live outside.

When deciding to add an outdoor space to your Chicagoland area home, it’s important to think about how you want to live outside. Does your ultimate backyard experience include a space to steal away with a good book tucked quietly and peacefully in a comfy chair? Does your perfect weekend day include the wafting scent of grilling and a meal or two by the pool? Do you have a big enough brood that the perfect weekend includes giving the noisy and high energy folks their own area to hang out while more refined outdoor living takes place in its own outdoor area? Don’t be fooled into thinking the loud group is the younger ones. An evening poker game or long awaited girls’ night can produce the same volume as a group of kids leaving the rest of the family looking for their own separate outdoor living space. If your family is like most and you are outdoors a lot, most of your time is spent viewing the pool rather than swimming in it. Designing the right space to enjoy your outdoor time and interact with the pool makes a significant difference in your experience.

Here are some questions to help you determine how you want to live outside. Do you want to…

• Eat outside? How often? How many people?
• Entertain outside? Will you entertain frequently? How many will you entertain?
• Lounge outside? What type of outdoor furniture do you envision for your lounging?
• Sunbathe? Do you also want a place for daytime shade?
• Get away? Would you prefer a space remote from your home for some added privacy or quiet?

Now that you’ve answered the questions above, you can start to make some considerations about designing your outdoor living space. Let’s look at each of the above because they’re all very important.

Hot Tub & Spa Decks

A hot tub is one of the few outdoor features you'll actually use year-round in the Chicago suburbs — there's nothing like soaking under the stars in the middle of winter. But a spa is only as good as what it's sitting on, and that's where having a real builder matters.

The first thing people underestimate is weight. A filled hot tub with a few people in it weighs thousands of pounds, so the deck or pad underneath has to be engineered to carry that load safely. Dropping a spa onto a deck that wasn't built for it is a genuine problem, not a cosmetic one. We design the structure for the actual weight from the start, so you never have to think about it.

A few other things we plan around when we build a spa deck:

• Placement and access. A hot tub needs clearance to get its side panels off for service, so we leave room to reach the equipment instead of boxing it in.
• Getting in and out. Steps, a recessed (inset) install so the spa sits flush with the deck, or a surrounding bench all change how easy and safe the tub is to use, especially on icy nights.
• Materials and footing. Wet feet and cold weather call for surfaces that drain well and hold up to the freeze-thaw cycle, and the framing has to be built to code underneath.
• Privacy and shelter. A pergola, a privacy screen, or a partial wall can turn an exposed tub into a tucked-away retreat — and cut the wind on cold evenings.

Whether your spa stands on its own or sits alongside a pool, a patio, and a covered area as part of a bigger backyard, we'll design the space so the hot tub feels built-in rather than parked. Call us at (847) 250-4100 or schedule a free design consultation to talk it through.

Reach out to the Archadeck team today at (847) 250-4100.