CREATING YOUR DREAM BASEMENT POOL AND SPA

Balancing a busy lifestyle with finding time for fitness can be difficult, even though we know our health and wellbeing are important. Imagine being able to go down the stairs into your basement in London and have a swim or relax in the hot tub. It’s not an impossible dream, and here’s what you need to know to make it happen.

Your dream pool

If money and space are no object, then the options for a basement pool are limitless – Damien Hirst’s pool is 25 metres, the size you’ll find at the local gym or pool. There are also pools with retractable floors that make them safe for younger children by adjusting the depth of the pool, and retractable covers so the pool is completely hidden by a usable floor when not in use.

However, there are several options that are completely suitable for the kind of small basement conversion or construction to be found with mews, semi-detached or terraced properties. First and foremost you could invest in a swim spa which combines the benefits of both a hot tub and a lap pool in one convenient pool with a compact footprint. These can either be built in above or below ground level. Otherwise, if space is very tight, consider a small lap pool with a swimming current or else opt for a luxury hot tub.

Kickstarting the process

If you opt for an in ground pool and need to excavate your basement, you may need to seek planning permission. Under permitted development rights you can generally develop to the size of the footprint of your house without planning permission, but certain London boroughs have restricted basement developments after complaints about noise, mess and disruptions.

For example, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, your basement cannot be deeper than one storey or take up more than 50% of your garden. Westminster Council is currently in the process of releasing a suite of guidance including supplementary planning advice regarding the development of your basement in London.

The build process

Adding a pool or hot tub to your basement conversion doesn’t alter the essential process of converting the basement so you’ll still need a survey, design and planning consent if necessary and to secure a Party Wall Agreement with your neighbours if necessary.

Generally, the build process will take six to ten months and you’ll need to make a series of design considerations concerning your basement pool including making decisions about filtration, ventilation and heating and whether your pool will be floor standing or dug into the floor.

Decisions that you make now will determine how easy your pool is to maintain, clean and repair if anything goes wrong in future, so take the time to get them absolutely right.

Trust the professionals

At Noble Structures we’re experts in every stage of basement conversion and construction, so contact us now about creating your dream basement swimming pool.