Garage Pool Installation

Full Title: Garage Pool Installation

Author: Amanda Liguori-Makis

Date of Publication: December 22, 2023

PDF: https://petmassage.com/wp-content/uploads/Garage-Pool-Installation.pdf

Research Paper Text:

Garage Pool Installation
Amanda Liguori-Makis
12/22/2023
I am in the process of opening a pet supplies and home décor store in my hometown of Newton Falls Ohio. The name of the store will affectionately be named Hometown Hound.

The location of the store is a 123-year-old commercial building that was once a bakery and then a flower shop. This building has sat vacant in the middle of our quaint little town for some years now. The front of the building is a pet supplies and home décor store. We will be selling items like treats, food, toys, the essentials for happy pets as well as some things for dog parents to treat themselves with such as candles, holidays decorations, etc. The store will be open in 2023 with the intention to have the pool installed and ready to take clients by Spring to early Summer of 2024. The building has a two-car attached garage in the back of the building, this is where I intend to put the soft wall pool for hydrotherapy.

There are no facilities within an hour of my hometown that offer this type of experience for dogs. I am looking forward to providing a safe space for people in my area to bring their dogs to experience the unique benefits of hydrotherapy. I have seen it work for my senior beagle and really enjoyed being able to help other dogs in training. I’m excited to make this a part of my career and put the techniques I learned in training at Pet Massage to good use. That being said let’s get into the details of how I am going to make this work with the space I have.

The garage space of our building was an addition and is much newer than the rest of the building, so structurally it’s going to be much easier to prepare it for the pool. The roof was recently replaced this year of 2023, there is also access to the basement from the garage. We will be building walls and a door around this space for safety reasons as it is a storm shelter style access.

The pool company I have been looking at is Splash Super Pools, they offer seven standard sizes as well as custom pools if needed. The liner is incredibly durable and treated with a dirt and mildew repelling coating. The structure of these pools are zinc-coated steel to ensure the framing is sound. The pool also comes with the standard pump and filtration system. The water heater system will be purchased separately by a local pool company. There are additional filtration you can look into as a secondary water purifier, such as a UV light filter. The size we will be able to use will have to be custom built to a 9ft by 12ft pool. Below is a screenshot of the smallest standard pool they offer just so you can see the configuration with the pool and framing.

There are many options for pools on the internet, it all comes down to personal preference and what you are able to purchase at the time. Amazon offers more standard sizes but the durability may not vary. Short term to get your business up and moving one of these might be a good option for a while.

The preparation before the pool is installed will consist of mostly waterproofing and an installation of an exhaust fan that will run at all times as the pool will be heated and creating humidity. The ceiling is wood framing so we will have to insulate and cover with moisture blocking drywall. After that, we will apply two coats of waterproof paint for extra protection for the structure of the roof. The walls are cinder block so we will just be coating it in a white waterproof paint. The floor is concrete so there will be a protective rubber matting placed under the pool to protect the concrete from pool chemicals, but also to protect the pool from any type of punctures or tears. The rubber matting will also make it easier on your feet rather than standing on the hard concrete. The exhaust fan will be installed on the back wall of the garage and lead into the alley way behind the building. The fan is a 12 by 12-inch fan. In order to install this, we will have to cut into the cinder block wall, run electric to it, and secure the space around it with silicone to ensure there are no gaps for weather, insects, or critters to come into the garage area. The fan will be running at all times to help keep the moisture to a minimum, this will make the air in the space less humid and dense. This will also help keep the structure of the roof and room safe from excess moisture exposure.

In addition to the pool, we would like to create a comfortable space for the owners to sit or observe while their dog is in the pool. This design has not been worked up yet but we know this is important for our clients and will work on this after the pool is installed. We are also considering the idea of putting a camera above the pool with a live feed to a television in the store so that people can see the sessions or empty pool in hopes to spark more interest in the hydrotherapy services.

In order to have a special use pool in Trumbull County, Ohio a license is required by the county health department. The health department is to inspect the facility twice a year to make sure everything is well kept and no violations are present. The space will have to be approved by the county building inspector as well before being allowed to operate in the area. Any recommendations made by these two departments will have to be accommodated in order to run the hydrotherapy services. Every county and city are different, research will need to be done in order to find out what your area requires. I could not find whether the pump and heating system needed to be in a different room but I plan to make a separate temperature regulated space on the outside of the building to house this system, that way the noise from the pump, filtration, and heater will not consume the open space in the garage. This is a personal preference; I liked the way it was setup at Pet Massage and felt that it was the cleanest way to handle this ascetically.

I hope this helps anyone who may be looking to start their hydrotherapy business in a similar setting. You can reach out to your city and county building departments with questions, sometimes reading the chapter rules provided on the web are very detailed with contract language which can be confusing.

Good Luck!!!