Tap into the electricity and install an inground light.

What do your pool people suggest? They must have some standard ways to deal with this that work well with the surroundings.

I'm with Darby dog. A bench seat with lighting and some plants could be great.

I have a pool too and if my diving board was broken, I would replace it for resale reasons. Kids love diving boards and sometimes adults do too. I would not get rid of it and would not put a bench there either. NO FUN

I think when you have a diving board your insurance goes way up, probably the safety/removal idea.

Our electric box is in almost the same spot but it is inside a short planter, (that has seen better days) that I plant annuals around in the summer.

This is a perfect opportunity to justify installation of a pool slide and rope swing.
[houzz=]

haha okay just kidding, but I agree with the rest of the houzzers...make it into a built-in planter, bench or even just a little table that you can flank with a few patio chairs.

How about turning it into some light balls ;)

If u get rid if it then they will dive into the shallow end. At least if they
Dive or jump off the board u know the water is deep and they wont hit their head.
I dont see the advantage of getting rid of it. I think
It is safer to have it.

totally agree with your decision to get rid of it:) planters and bench could look great!!

It is insurance related. Our pool company said they don't put them into 9 foot pools any more. One bolt broke off so to replace it we'd have to dig up and replace the concrete...

Sounds like it is not worth replacing. A nice bench or two lounge chairs would be great too.

Maybe set up an inexpensive table and chairs there for a short time just to see if it works for you.

Temporarily, put a table and chairs there, or bench. Then, build a gazebo or shade arbor across that end of the pool, with a table in that spot to keep the box out of traffic.

I'd replace the board with a slide or small not-bouncy diving platform and jump-off spot.. Most residential pools don't have a big enough deep end for good diving.

How about a diving rock? Set a large rock in place of the board. This gives a place for diving and can be customized around the box to conceal and give access.

I like adams1581's idea. You still want to keep that as the spot where kids/people dive in as it is the entrance to the deep end. If you block it with decor items, they will cannonball in more shallow areas.

Kim, can you send another much closer-up pic of the innards of that diving board base? --- I suspect if you remove that stylized housing around it to expose only the remaining elec. box, there'll be more pooldeck room with which to decide what to do to it. While I agree w/ other commenters that some kind of diving rock or such would be fun there (I have kids myself), I'm not a big fan of that idea: don't forget you'd need to keep access to the electricity, but even more so, the pool look we see in your pic suggests it needs something much more classically-styled. How about a nice timber arbor, especially with a flowering vine, that spans equidistantly across the gate/ Espec. since the plain end of the house we see in the photo looks like it really needs some overhead ("canopy"-like) element at that end of the pool. Then, you design in some simple built-in (or for that matter, movable) bench seating to cover that elec. box, that has a twin on the other side of the gate.

Most insurance companies will either not write you a policy if you have a diving board or make your policy so expensive you can't afford it. With that being said I agree with marking a spot of kids to jump in or dive for safety reasons. We bought a house 2 years ago that has a bar with in- water barstools at the side of the deep end. We had to mark these areas carefully for the grandkids as accidently jumping onto a concrete barstool would of been horrible.

I am a pool contractor and we usually put a water proof junction box level with the deck so only the cover is exposed. The cover can then be coated or treated the same as the deck. It takes cutting the concrete out enough to place the box and then repouring around it. Usually you can make it disappear except for the screw holes. Option 2 would be to jet 2 new conduits from outside the brick fence to the existing conduits to extend the junction past the fence. You would need to cut a sizeable hole in the deck to make the connections. This may require replacement of the light as the cord would no longer be long enough. Remember this is a wet niche light installation so the conduit from the pool to the junction box will have water in it at the level of the pool water.

As to the comments regarding to have a diving board or not; the swimming pool industry is pretty strong in the opinion that diving boards do present a sizable risk and many insurance companies require their removal. If all pools were built with the proper diving envelope then diving board would be safer but many older pools don't meet these safety requirements.

I would cut out a planting area, with one or two more on the other side of the pool, to soften that terrace. keep the planting simple, massings of one plant like Mexican feather grass or irises.

I had the same problem and purchased a large heavy garden statue. Cut the center in the bottom and placed over the box. Looks great.

Install a sliding board! Just achor it's legs so it stands over what you want to cover!

Rather than some type of seating which keeps the look horizontal, I would go vertical. The electrical box is already centered to the pool so it would be a great opportunity to be creative with an art or plant sculpture, anything to draw the eye up. Take a chance and include color that you wouldn't ordinarily try!

A slide !

My pool designs often include a "jumpstone" made of cast fiber-reinforced concrete. The strong, lightweight faux rocks (they really do look like rock) are mortared to the deck and give a little height without the spring of a board. We also make planters and many combinations from this versatile material. Look at www.ricorock.com for ideas!

A fountain in the shape of a dolphin for example spitting the water into the pool - would look quite nice.

I had the same problem except thati had2 metal supports, so I put a teak lounger on it and boxed it in. Looks great!

I'd go with a slide, if you have kids using the pool a lot. They'll love it! Alternatively, the bench idea sounds good to me too. Not as much fun for the kids, though!

Many insurance companies frown on slides also. The act of sliding down a slide and landing in the water is not dangerous but the insurance companies don't like the ladder. Be sure you check with your insurance company before you spend the money on a slide. If a slide is the direction you are leaning, check on Craigs list for used ones. When people have to remove them for insurance reasons they show up very reasonable on Craigs list.

Check back with me this weekend... I'll post more photos. The building in the background is a detached garage...

I have a diving pool dug in the 80's and the diving board broke. It also had a water slide at some point. We looked at replacing the diving board and its $$$$! They also don't make them like they use to and are no where's as bouncy. If we wanted to replace it we would have to break up the concrete and re pour the slab with the new bolts (the bolt holes are in a different position now). Just something to consider. I like the idea of a diving rock as well as a bench or planter. It looks like you have room to do any of the above. What would you use and enjoy more? : )

Please be sure to post a pic of what you end up doing!

Here are some more photos... Maybe you will have more suggestions for us. In the original photo you are actually seeing a detached garage.

If you do not want to put something over it for now. I think @Jeff Kirsch idea is best- push it down in the concrete with a water tight j-box. You can always put something over it a later date if you desire or finsh it to match concrete.

Now that I see all the pictures, I like the fountain idea of Bonnie Ross. Maybe not a dolphin but something that recycles the water back into the pool keeping with the feel of your house. That would add interest to the yard. Then you can tell people to dive or jump where the fountain is.

I agree strongly with the Jeff Kirsch idea of just getting it out of the way in the cleanest, simplest way possible - a recessed box. That way you retain total flexibility to put chairs, planters, jumpstones, arbors etc. wherever you want and wherever is most practical and attractive, NOT just in one particular spot to cover up a small eyesore.

A Fountain?

Kim,

I'm a bit late to the party (after sending a first comment back in July) but just checked back in to this thread, and now that I see you posted pics of the broader area [way back 6+ months ago!], I see a big issue worth commenting on.......the whole area needs more 'fluffy stuff' (my highly-technical term for plantings)! Way too much hard surfaces, without any fluffy stuff. The landscape architect in me wants it to be more balanced; I often see this sort of yard, where the contractor (who may indeed be rightly proud of his/her well-crafted brickmasonry, or pool, or whatever) doesn't consider the other aspects that make it a real overall environment. Sometimes it's a matter of simply not thinking broadly; sometimes it's a matter of reluctancy to compromise some of the homeowners' budget over to trades that aren't their own.

More homeowners are inclined to begin a big outdoor project by going directly to a contractor to design it than a landscape architect (or at least a good landscape designer) but the potential shortfall there is, you might say, "When the only tool you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail". Naturally enough, a contractor wants to steer a project toward whatever skills they have & whatever materials they're used to using. Hence why I see so many brick homes with hardscaping of fieldstone, or concrete-block mortarless segmental retaining walls, and that sort of thing.

Back to your specific pictures: I'd look into saw-cutting out sections (of thoughtfully-designed geometry --- in other words, some rectilinear shape that varies in & out rather than just straight across) out of the generously-sized pooldeck......do so only after consulting a pool guy, but oughta be structurally fine if several feet back from pool (e.g., certainly flanking both sides of steps down from terrace; maybe a bit too close to do so on opposite side of pool, although you only need 12-18" to support growing a vine onto wall, or espaliered plants.) In those areas, besides low- & medium-ht. plants you could also have a hint of a "canopy effect" w/ small-maturing fruit- or flowering trees (species that wouldn't be a hassle w/ too much litter into pool....or midsize evergreens like tree-form Burford Hollies). Landscape lighting playing off this fluffy stuff would look beautiful reflecting off pool surface. Is there room for tall (i.e. pyramidal) evergreens on outside of wall to screen neighbor's white house (if not also neighbor on other side not seen in photos)?