Pools make a backyard statement

Her backyard was a dirty construction zone, but for Sallee Justis, it was a temporary inconvenience given what's coming — a 42-foot in-ground swimming pool.

Justis, of Chesterfield County, said putting in a swimming pool fit their lifestyle. She said a pool is perfect for her family because her daughter is a competitive swimmer and Justis herself participates in TRIgirls, a program that trains women for triathlons.

"We're not big vacation people," Justis said. "It makes sense."

Plus, a swimming pool is just plain fun for the whole family, a great way to keep teens and their friends around the house and more convenient than using their neighborhood pool.

Residential swimming pools haven't lost their appeal, though business has slowed because of the recession, said Kirstin Pires, director of communications for the Association of Pool & Spa Professionals.

The pool industry tends to follow housing-market trends, which means pool companies have seen a drop in business since the recession started. Many companies that traditionally only installed pools are now providing maintenance and repair services as well, she said, to boost business.

However, outdoor spaces are still popular, and pools are a natural part of the vision that many homeowners have of a backyard oasis, Pires said.

Nationwide, 184,000 residential pools were bought and installed last year, with 54,000 of those being the in-ground variety, according to the association's most recent data. That's a 58 percent decline from 2008 for in-ground, and a 28 percent decrease for above-ground pools.

Of the 5 million in-ground pools that existed across the country last year, Virginia had the 10th-highest number of them, with more than 96,000.

Though pool purchases and construction may have slowed, those who are buying want more bells and whistles than ever before.

"The average person just can't do with mundane anymore," said Doug Salvia, board chairman and chief executive officer of Richmond-based Douglas Aquatics Inc.

Pool features include wet decks — flat pads with streams of water that shoot up from the ground — and jets or water sprayers. Slides are making a comeback, he said, though not the short ones that travel straight down into the pool. Today's slides twist and turn like something you'd find at a water park.

People want LED (light-emitting diode) lights that synchronize with the music that's coming out of underwater speakers, he said, and automatic pool cleaners, some of which have systems that make their own chlorine.

Pool designs also have changed to include more sophisticated features. They can be built with Baju jets that produce a current for those who want to swim against a tide for exercise. They can have a beach entry with a gradual slope into the deeper end, or a baha shelf — a shallow shelf that's suitable for sitting in a lounge chair just above the water or playing with small children. Unlike the beach entry that has a gradual slope, the baha shelf drops off into the pool's deeper water. Others want waterfalls.

Even high-end pools, while still a small segment of the market, are showing up more often in backyards.

Salvia said he's built at least one vanishing-edge pool each year for the past five years. Vanishing-edge pools are built to blend into the landscape. The effect is that the water looks like it's spilling over the edge, but it's really being collected in a basin below and recirculated into the pool. These pools can easily top $100,000 — and that's not including the landscaping, he said.

"But what you have is a statement."

Holly Prestidge is a writer at the Richmond Times-Dispatch.