Limestone Pool Terrace

The project

A limestone pool terrace with granite copings, detailed with a shallow fall away from the water and a slip rating chosen for wet bare feet rather than a brochure.

The effort behind it

Copings were mitred and drilled off site to a template taken by laser after the pool shell had cured and settled. Every unit was tested for slip resistance from the actual delivered batch, not a sample, and the terrace was laid on a full mortar bed with a movement joint every 6m to cope with summer expansion.

Challenges faced

Ground conditions at Surrey set the terms for everything on Limestone Pool Terrace. Levels had to be remodelled, drainage designed in rather than added on, and heavy materials moved through restricted access without disturbing the parts of the garden that were staying. Weather windows governed the finishing trades, and the schedule was rebuilt week by week around them.

Team & involvement

A core landscaping crew stayed with the project from first excavation to the final sweep, supported by our in-house stone masons, electricians and planting specialists. Because the same team set out, built and finished the work, the detailing stayed consistent across every square metre — and the client dealt with one foreman and one phone number throughout.

A successful outcome

One season after completion, the garden at Limestone Pool Terrace has settled exactly as designed: drainage performing through the wettest months, paving uncracked and planting establishing ahead of schedule. The client's own verdict, at the twelve-month aftercare visit, was that it looks as though it has always been there — the highest compliment a landscape can earn.