Aquascape Consulting, Swimming Pool Design & Construction

Providing design and consulting services to property builders, developers, resorts, architects, landscape architects, general contractors and swimming pool builders. 

As a leader and international expert in the field of aquatic construction and design, we offer cutting edge and state of the art construction and design technologies. 

From the initial site visit and design review, we consider many items overlooked by "contractors turned designer/consultant." 

Our extensive international travels, visits to vendors and quarries, training and education, and knowledge of architecture and construction practices is unmatched amongst watershape designers and consultants. 

 This broad knowledge base offers clients economical and innovative solutions to design and construction issues.  Our collaboration with architects and other design professionals results in a flawless set of project plans and construction criteria, that virtually eliminates cost over-runs and change orders. 

Our unwavering dedication to the client and their continued operational and maintenance expenses are paramount. Through functional designs that incorporate the lowest construction and operating expenses, you can be guaranteed that you will have the most trouble free aquatic facility possible.

Paolo Benedetti 
http://www.AquaticTechnology.com 
Aquatic Technology Pool and Spa 
International Aquascape Consultant, Watershape Engineering, Expert Witness, Hydraulic Designer, Landscape Design 
Office: 408-776-8220 
Email: info@aquatictechnology.com 

Major Markets Serviced:
San Francisco, Palo Alto, Atherton, Hollywood Hills, Beverly Hills, Malibu, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Clemente, Pacific Palisades, Escondido, Scottsdale, Seattle, Phoenix, Tempe, Portland, Aspen, Vail, Park City, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Austin, New Orleans, Madison, Detroit, East Hamptons, South Hamptons, Cape May, Ft. Lauderdale, Orlando, Raleigh, Chapel Hill, Cherry Hill, Toms River, Salt lake City, Boise, Denver, Santa Barbaara, Carmel, Carmel Valley, Monterey, Pebble Beach, Oceanside, Big Sur, Napa, Sonoma, Sausalito, Danville, Belvedere, Palm Springs, Midland, Manhattan, Greenwich Village, Osaka, Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, London, Seoul, Sydney, New York, Tokyo, Cairo, Istanbul, Athens, Rome, Lisbon, Bonn.

Swimming Pool Plastic Rebar Chairs - NOT ALL BRANDS ARE SUITABLE

Expert Witness, Paolo Benedetti discusses new products that must be investigated and evaluated for their suitability and compliance with building codes and laws, prior to utilizing them in a project.

Plastic Rebar Chairs

There are many plastic rebar spacers (chairs) available on the market.  However, not every manufacturer's design is compatible with the reinforcing steel in a swimming pool.

It's about the continuity

The National Electric Code (section 680) requires that every piece of steel within proximity of a swimming pool or spa be tied to the equipotential bonding grid.

Some plastic rebar chairs isolate the bars that cross each other, isolating them from one another.  

Plastic Chair that is Non-Compliant for swimming pool rebar

By utilizing such devices, a pool builder may expose themselves to extreme liability.  It may be so extreme that the swimming pool may have to be removed and replaced.

All over some pieces of plastic !

Paolo Benedetti, SWD, Principal
Aquatic Technology Pool and Spa 
© http://www.AquaticTechnology.com 
International Aquatic Consultant, Watershape Engineering, Expert Witness, Hydraulic Designer, Landscape Design, Owner's Rep
Office: 408-776-8220 
Email: info@aquatictechnology.com 
Major Markets Serviced: 
San Francisco, Palo Alto, Atherton, Hollywood Hills, Beverly Hills, Malibu, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Clemente, Pacific Palisades, Escondido, Scottsdale, Seattle, Phoenix, Tempe, Portland, Aspen, Vail, Park City, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Austin, New Orleans, Madison, Detroit, East Hamptons, South Hamptons, Cape May, Ft. Lauderdale, Orlando, Raleigh, Chapel Hill, Cherry Hill, Toms River, Salt lake City, Boise, Denver, Santa Barbaara, Carmel, Carmel Valley, Monterey, Pebble Beach, Oceanside, Big Sur, Napa, Sonoma, Sausalito, Danville, Belvedere, Montecito, Palm Springs, Midland, Manhattan, Greenwich Village, Osaka, Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, London, Seoul, Sydney, New York, Tokyo, Cairo, Istanbul, Athens, Rome, Lisbon, Bonn.

Pool plumbing pipes wall sleeves and seals

The concrete building contractor needs to carefully plan all of the necessary penetrations through his walls for pool plumbing, electrical conduits, fire sprinklers and irrigation lines.

Sleeves - Proper Size and Planning

The swimming pool designer or contractor will specify the size of the pipes and conduits that they will have passing through the wall and their approximate location.

It is the responsibility of the contractor who is constructing the concrete walls to provide the appropriate size sleeves for the pipes and conduits to pass.  

Cast in place plastic sleeve with waterstop flange

This DOES NOT mean that the sleeves are merely one size larger than the pipe or conduit.  To properly seal a pipe passing through a sleeve, the proper spacing must be created between the pipe and the sleeve.
 

Mechanical chain link seal inside sleeve cast in concrete wall

This will allow the proper insertion and expansion of  mechanical chain link style seals.

The mechanical seal should be inserted as the pipe is passed through the sleeve during plumbing/electrical installation.  This will ensure that the pipe remains centered in the sleeve during back fill and attachment procedures.

Lack of Planning can be costly

Lazy contractors or those that fail to plan ahead will find themselves in a position of trying to locate flexible waterproof sealers or caulks, that can resist the movement of the pipes and building and the hydrostatic pressure from the soils.

Bootlegging the seal with the use of swelling cementitious sealers (that swell in the presence of water), may exert such force, that it crushes or cracks the pipe or conduit.  This will result in tremendous costs and excavating to repair.  Swelling foam sealers will not resist movement or constant immersion in water.
 
Paolo Benedetti http://www.AquaticTechnology.com 
Aquatic Technology Pool and Spa 
International Aquatic Consultant, Watershape Engineering, Expert Witness, Hydraulic Designer, Landscape Design 
Office: 408-776-8220 
Email: info@aquatictechnology.com 

Major Markets Serviced: 
San Francisco, Palo Alto, Atherton, Hollywood Hills, Beverly Hills, Malibu, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Clemente, Pacific Palisades, Escondido, Scottsdale, Seattle, Phoenix, Tempe, Portland, Aspen, Vail, Park City, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Austin, New Orleans, Madison, Detroit, East Hamptons, South Hamptons, Cape May, Ft. Lauderdale, Orlando, Raleigh, Chapel Hill, Cherry Hill, Toms River, Salt lake City, Boise, Denver, Santa Barbaara, Carmel, Carmel Valley, Monterey, Pebble Beach, Oceanside, Big Sur, Napa, Sonoma, Sausalito, Danville, Belvedere, Palm Springs, Midland, Manhattan, Greenwich Village, Osaka, Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, London, Seoul, Sydney, New York, Tokyo, Cairo, Istanbul, Athens, Rome, Lisbon, Bonn.

Designing International Swimming Pools Aquatic Consulting

Glass Tile Mosaic Infinity Edge Swimming Pool and Spa - Click on image to Enlarge

Perimeter Overflow Glass Tile Mosaic Swimming Pool Designer - Click on image to Enlarge

Glass Tile Vanishing Edge Swimming Pool and Spa, Los Angeles, CA - Click on image to Enlarge

About the Aquatic Designer and Watershape Artist

Paolo Benedetti is the designer and builder of the most luxurious works of aquatic art in the world. A specialist in hillside pools, vanishing edge pools, infinity edge pools, negative edge pools, knife edge pools, perimeter overflow pools, slot overflow pools, flooded deck pools, rooftop pools, basement pools, indoor pools, Lautner edge pools and complex structural engineering swimming pools and spas. His projects are executed with the utmost attention to the smallest details.

Benedetti has been described as the Michealangelo of the swimming pool industry. Benedetti collaborates with architects, landscape architects, other pool companies, design professionals, developers and property owners.

Benedetti has over 25 years of experience in the swimming pool industry.  He has been a two term President of the largest chapter of the Independent Pool & Spa Service Association (IPSSA).  Benedetti championed and instituted a water chemistry proficiency test for the chapter, before it became an association wide standard.  Benedetti has been designated by the California State Contractor's Licensing Board (CLSB) as a "Subject Matter Expert."  Numerous times he has sat on the committee that wrote and edited the California contractor's licensing exam.

Benedetti is only one of 35 people in the entire world to have completed the course of study required to become certified by the Society of Watershape Designers.  Since then, Benedetti has become the lead instructor of the Genesis 3 Basic Watershapes Construction School and Advanced Watershapes Construction School. 

As an educator, Benedetti has taken numerous new contractors under his wing and mentored them in the fine art of swimming pool design and construction.  Benedetti consults with other pool contractors to assist them in executing complex projects that are beyond their capabilities.

Benedetti has taught classes at the Decorative Concrete Show (Nashville, TN), Southwest Pool & Spa Show (San Antonio, TX), International Pool & Spa Expo (Dallas, TX, Phoenix, AZ, New Orleans, LA & Las Vegas, NV), International Pool, Spa & Patio Expo (New Orleans, LA, Las Vegas, NV, Orlando, FL).  

Editorial Coverage & Author

Benedetti has authored or been featured in over 100 on-line, magazine and newspaper articles and television programs.  Benedetti or his projects have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, CNN, HGTV, Ambiance Piscines (France), LUX (Spain), Luxury Pools, Aqua Magazine, Homes by Design, The Street, Watershapes Magazine, Concrete Homes, Dream Homes, Pool and Spa Marketing (Canada), The Wave, Residential Design and Build, Options, Pool Lifestyles (2003 International Pool Design of the Year), Crystal Fountains, Pool and Spa News, Pool and Spa Age.

Additionally, Benedetti has authored a number of technical "white papers" on tessellated cracking of glass tile mosaics, glass tile manufacturing, glass tile installations and the use of recycled materials in glass tile manufacturing.
 
Expert Witness

Benedetti has traveled the world to act as the owner's representative on complex international aquatic projects.  Benedetti has inspected projects to ensure that they were built to the design standards and structural engineered plans.  Additionally, he observed construction practices to guarantee the project's quality assurance.

As an expert witness, Benedetti has inspected hundred's of swimming pools for property owners, pool builders and insurance companies.  To date, the thoroughness of Benedetti's inspections, investigative reports and support documentation has resulted in only one case going to trail.  The remaining cases settled during arbitration, mediation or pre-trial conferences.

Benedetti's Creations Include:

• Residential watershapes
• Swimming pools
• Spas
• Fountains
• Water features
• Commercial and Resort Pools, Spas, Fountains
• Glass Tile Mosaic Pools & Spas
• Animal Exhibits, Enclosures and water features
• Complete outdoor environments: Kitchens, pizza ovens, BBQ's, fire features, automated fountains, patios, stonework, retaining walls, planters and seating areas.
• Anything involving water

Services provided by Paolo Benedetti:

• Pool, spa, fountain, watershape construction
• Conceptual design services & construction documents
• Structural Engineering and Hydraulic Design
• Consult on water sanitization options
• Controls, automation, and systems integration
• Construction management
• Outside contractor supervision
• Existing pool facility conversions and remodels
• Construction specifications and standards
• Code, Standard and Workmanship Compliance
• Material Sourcing, Samples & Mock-ups
• Owner's Representation 
• Quality Assurance Inspections 
• Construction Observations

Expert Witness Services

• Construction Defect cases
• Construction Litigation
• Forensic Evaluations & Testing
• Workmanship, installation, code and standards compliance

The firm is licensed in California (#721117) as a General Building Contractor (class B) and Swimming Pool Contractor (class C-53).

Construction Services

Complex hillside, beach front, rooftop, basement & indoor pools, spas and water features. We are also experts in infinity edge, vanishing edge, disappearing edge, knife edge, slot overflow, perimeter overflow and flooded deck pools and spas.

We also specialize in the area of glass tile mosaic pools & spas.

We also provide expert witness services for construction litigation & defect cases, concerning swimming pools, spas and fountains.

Brands

We work with the client to specify the best equipment for their project, based upon their intended stay in the property, reoccurring maintenance expenses, energy savings, and repair costs. This attention to the return on the investment (ROI analysis) approach insures that initial capital expenditures are offset by future operational savings.

We select the best quality equipment and materials to fit with the scope of the project, clients goals and budget.

Design Commissions 

Paolo accepts design commissions from around the world - you are never too far away to deserve the best life has to offer!  Fees are based upon our level of involvement, project complexity and location.

Paolo Benedetti http://www.AquaticTechnology.com 

Aquatic Technology Pool and Spa 

International Aquatic Consultant, Watershape Engineering, Expert Witness, Hydraulic Designer, Landscape Design 

Office: 408-776-8220 

Email: info@aquatictechnology.com 

Major Markets Serviced: 

San Francisco, Palo Alto, Atherton, Hollywood Hills, Beverly Hills, Malibu, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Clemente, Pacific Palisades, Escondido, Scottsdale, Seattle, Phoenix, Tempe, Portland, Aspen, Vail, Park City, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Austin, New Orleans, Madison, Detroit, East Hamptons, South Hamptons, Cape May, Ft. Lauderdale, Orlando, Raleigh, Chapel Hill, Cherry Hill, Toms River, Salt lake City, Boise, Denver, Santa Barbaara, Carmel, Carmel Valley, Monterey, Pebble Beach, Oceanside, Big Sur, Napa, Sonoma, Sausalito, Danville, Belvedere, Palm Springs, Midland, Manhattan, Greenwich Village, Osaka, Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, London, Seoul, Sydney, New York, Tokyo, Cairo, Istanbul, Athens, Rome, Lisbon, Bonn.

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