AMS Landscape Design Studios, Inc. John Adams Construction,

Yes, you are right... for saftey (due to the depth of the basin and that children present), high strength plastic grate is fastened below the top of the basin edge. Then smooth rocks are used to cover / hide the grate. This allows the water to run through the smooth rocks and down into the recirulation basin and then through the pool equipment (filters etc.). So overall it is there for saftey and then decoration.

Hope this helps!

Drew Sivgals
AMS Landscape Design Studios, inc.

Kyeni Muli Fantastic idea. I like the way the pool edge is submerged yet visible.

AMS Landscape Design Studios, Inc. This is a natural stone from Cougar Stone (see contact info below).
The stone is called Shenandoah and it is 'tumbled'. There are a few different stones in this general color range.
Hope this helps.

Cougar Stone
Main Sales Yard and Showroom located at:
2250 Rose Drive
Placentia, CA 92870-1721

website: http://www.cougarstone.com/index.html


(714) 993-7360 • (714) 993-5926 Fax
info@cougarstone.com

Monday - Friday: 7am - 4pm
Saturday - call for hours

monique0709 thank you...it's gorgeous!

Annie Thornton Here is a firsthand account of french drain construction and maintenance. These are great for properties that lie at the bottom of a slope and may have to deal with runoff into the house:

1. I first dug a trench the length of the area needing drainage. Deeper and wider is better because eventually parts of the drain may clog with infiltrated dirt or silt.

2. I then layed weed barrier down on the whole area and forced it to the bottom of the trench. This helps keep dirt from clogging the drain. A smaller trench will have to run from the drain area to the street or away from the area that floods.

3. Next I put a couple of inches of gravel in the bottom of the main trench. I used 3/4 inch gravel for easier drainage.

4. I then put 3 inch perforated pvc drain pipe downt the length of the trench. The holes go down. Use a level to make sure the drain tube has some fall. The perforated tube connects to regular non-perf. that drains the water to the street. I put weed barrier over the drain tube to, again, keep the dirt out.

5. After I was sure everything was going downhill I filled the main trench with more 3/4 inch gravel . As this was behind my garage I gravelled the whole area . I think you could put more weed barrier over the gravel and lay down some topsoil and grow grass or some other ground cover. The solid tube to the street gets buried.

It's a lot of work to build but it helps a lot with drainage problems and it's out of sight. Ultimately mine needed to have the sand and dirt strained out of the gravel
(that's a ton of work ) but it's like a washable filter. It just requires periodic maintanence.

By the way, did you know that french drains aren't even french? They are American...From New England to be exact.