Natural Limestone Patio And Pool Long Island NY

Choosing The Right Stone For A Pool Deck

Natural-Limestone-Patio-And-Pool-Long-Island-NYWhen choosing the right stone such as a natural limestone patio and pool Long Island NY it’s important to embrace some practical and aesthetic considerations.  Whether it’s an elegant light-colored limestone perfect for a hot summer day, a natural fieldstone emulating the feel of a deep woods swimming hole, or reclaimed granite with its timeless weathered beauty, the following points will help in selecting the best stone for a pool deck or patio area.

The Four S’s to Consider

  • Style – The overall appearance of a pool deck and patio may vary depending on style. It could be sophisticated versus a more rustic look and feel.  The sophisticated style generally has clean lines while a rustic style offers an earthy feel and look with more natural, rougher lines.
  • Surface –  The texture of the stone has a big impact on the look as well as the feel of your patio surface.
    • A split face surface, like a reclaimed plank paver, gives a rustic look to the area.
    • A natural cleft surface comes from stones that are split by man along a natural seam in the stone.  This gives the surface an organic feel with a flatter surface compared to a rough split surface.
  • Shapes and Patterns – Stone shapes, whether irregularly shaped or straight edge squares and rectangles, may completely change the design of a pool deck as different design patterns will also,
  • Scale – It is important to think about the size of the stones. Deciding on small, medium, or large stones determine the look and feel of a pool deck area.

PRO TIP: If the deck space is large, consider using larger-sized pieces to give it a grand feeling. Smaller pieces may be used for more intricate patterns and offer a more sophisticated look.

  • Color – Natural stone comes in a variety of colors in addition to color combinations. Deciding on the stone consider if the pool is in direct sunlight for large amounts of time, then a lighter-colored stone would be good to keep the temperature down. Choose a color or color theme that relates to your home, or office building, as well as other stones in the nearby area.

The Right Stone For The Right Condition

A complement to the surrounding landscape, natural stone pool coping is as practical as it is attractive. Natural stone is durable and resists freeze-thaw cycles.

  • Heat Underfoot – Comfortable underfoot is important when choosing a stone for a pool deck and patio. Which type of stone will help to keep the surface cooler? The answer is a stone with less heat absorption. In general, lighter-colored stones have less heat absorption.
  • Freeze-Thaw – If the pool will be located in a freeze-thaw weather zone, be sure to pick a stone with lower water absorption for the pool deck. Granites, basalts, and porphyry top the charts in this category and will hold up to all weather conditions. We have also hand-picked some freeze-thaw-resistant limestones and sandstones that will work well.
  • Slip Resistance – The last thing you want is a slippery stone for a pool deck and patio. Luckily, adjustments to surface texture and joints can make a huge difference when it comes to creating a slip-resistant deck.

In addition to considering the appearance of the texture, consider the effect it has on the perceived slipperiness of a stone. Man-made surfaces provide excellent grip and some split surfaces tend to be less slippery. In general, stone surfaces with indentations and irregularities provide a better grip.

Natural-Limestone-Patio-And-Pool-Long-Island-NY3WIDE JOINTS VS MANY JOINTS

Wide joints between pavers or joints that have grass or other vegetation growing between them make the overall pool deck surface less slippery.

When there are many joints, your feet are always touching multiple joints which helps you naturally grip the surface and it is, therefore, more slip-resistant.

Pool Deck Materials We LOVE at Gappsi

Limestone – The luxurious feel and look of limestone make it a great choice for a pool deck.

Sandstone – A sedimentary rock composed of sand-size grains of mineral, rock, or organic material. Many sandstone materials are great for pool decks as their split surfaces are naturally slip-resistant. Colors range from beige to brown to gray-blue.

Granite – A coarse-grained igneous rock, granite has a high content of quartz and feldspar giving it a speckled appearance. One of the most durable quarried stones from around the world, granite is nearly always massive, hard, and tough.

Bluestone – Bluestone is actually a sandstone with a deep blue color but also appears with other hues such as shades of gray and brown. Bluestone is known for its advantageous price point. Natural cleft bluestone is quite slip-resistant.

Travertine – A form of limestone deposited by mineral springs, especially hot springs. Travertine often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, cream-colored, and even rusty varieties.

Marble – Marble can have beautiful pattern movement within the stone and comes in a wide variety of colors from white to salmon to gray, blue, green, and black.

Natural-Limestone-Patio-And-Pool-Long-Island-NY2Limestone Patio And Pool Long Island NY

Kidney-shaped gunite swimming pools remodeled in Center Island NY. We installed new stairs across the shallow area and porcelain tiles in the water line. The pool was totally remodeled with new plumbing and a new finish. We used super blue diamond bright and tile markers on the edge of the steps. The patio consists of G44 limestone in a french pattern and two inches of G044 Marble Limestone all selected from the Gappsi natural stone collection. Very beautiful property, a very beautiful setting. The latest gunite remodels by Gappsi.

SCHEDULE A MEETING TODAY WITH GAPPSI
VIEW OUR VIDEO OF A NATURAL LIMESTONE PATIO AND POOL LONG ISLAND NY

 

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Flamed Granite Pavers For Driveways

Flamed Granite Pavers For Driveways

Flamed Granite pavers driveway

Why should you use Granite Pavers when paving your driveway?

Granite is a very common type of rock, flamed granite is another hard-wearing granite paver you can use. The flamed finish provides that extra grip surface. The flames granite is very dense because it has been torched with a flame to cause an exfoliated finish, commonly known as a “Flamed” finish.  The flamed finish provides the stone with a high grip surface, hence its popularity for domestic and commercial jobs.

Gappsi’s Flamed Granite Pavers are widely used in the home, on patios, decks, and around commercial properties. Granite has been used in construction for tens of thousands of years now. It is a popular stone also due to its very tough and durable nature along with an abundant stone.  Most granite deposits are massive making the cost lower compared to some of the other types of stone used in construction. Granite is quite beautiful and is often preferred in areas where style is the primary concern as opposed to the functionality of the area the stone is used in.

What is the texture & color of granite?

Granite has a coarse to medium texture and can come in a wide range of colors including shades of pink and grey. The color depends entirely on the chemistry and different minerals making up the stone. Generally, different areas will have stones of a slightly different shade and a common feature is the different colors within any slab of stone. The overall hue will usually range from gray to pink, but within are shades of both pink and gray are tan, black, and white as well as a clear or shiny crystal.

Granite Pavers Used In Construction

Most projects are completed and installed over a recycled concrete base (RCA) then the flamed granite pavers are installed over one inch of sand with Surebond polymeric sand to fill the joints between the pavers. Additionally, gray granite Belgian blocks are used to retain the earth next to driveway borders.

We created a compass star aligned with the door, to highlight the entrance to the house. It’s a circular driveway with a separate driveway for the garage doors. The color of the pavers matches the roof tiles of the house, a combination of beige maroon rust and the blue limestone for the aprons of all the entrances of the driveway. The installation of the driveway started with the excavation of the soil and the installation of the RCA base.

Flamed Granite Pavers Driveway

The driveway in the pictures above was constructed using a 10-inch RCA base, and granite:

  • The pavers were installed on one inch of fine sand
  • Paving stone sizes were 6”x 9” with a flamed and tumbled texture finish.
  • The flamed granite pavers are 1-1/4” thick
  • Flamed granite pavers are a great choice because they can be used for pedestrian and vehicular trafficked areas.
  • The joints in between the pavers were filled with polymeric sand, then compacted with a mechanical vibratory plate and sealed.

To learn more about Gappsi products, please contact us at 631-543-1177 or visit our showroom.

That is not to say there are not a number of advantages though:
1. Granite is durable, it is a very hard stone and will last for years with little or no wear. In fact, many who carve monuments have begun switching from marble to granite due to increased acid rain, which over years will degrade the marble more so than granite.
2. Granite is beautiful because it comes in a wide range of shades, plus polished granite can be a truly stylish addition to nearly any home or building.
3. Granite compared to other stones is more affordable due to its abundance.

Feel free to take a look at our Granite Pavers Gallery.

SCHEDULE A MEETING TODAY WITH GAPPSI

Gappsi Group offers the following residential and commercial services to the public:

Home RemodelingSwimming PoolsPaver Cleaning and SealingSports Game CourtsEpoxy FlooringLandscape, and Masonry Design, and Construction.

Our latest division is the manufacturing of clay brick ovens, made from the best materials on earth. We distribute all these ovens throughout North America, we also display them at the showroom and have weekly demonstrations on how to use the ovens.

VIEW OUR VIDEO OF FLAMED GRANITE PAVERS

Our showroom display also includes the most beautiful and unique imported natural stones for patios, walkways, and driveways.

We provide these services in the following areas of Nassau and Suffolk County. (Glen Cove, Hempstead, North Hempstead, Oyster Bay, Babylon, Huntington, Islip, Smithtown, Commack, Lake Grove, Centereach, Brookhaven, Southampton, Riverhead, East Hampton, Southold, Old Brookville, Old Westbury, Mill Neck, Nissequogue, Lloyd Harbor, Muttontown, Coldspring Harbor, and East Norwich).

Gappsi’s knowledgeable and experienced personnel can help you create the yard of your dreams!

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Automated Pool Safety Auto-Covers 

Watch the following YouTube videos on Safety Auto-Covers!

Automated Pool Safety Auto-Covers Pros And Cons 

  • Minimizes the use of electric, oil, or gas consumption
  • Extends your swimming pool usage season
  • Can be used as a winter cover in place of the mesh cover
  • Prevents rainwater from entering the pool water and unbalancing the chemicals.
  • Prevents unattended kids or pets from falling in open water
  • Extends the life of the equipment 
  • Saves on chemicals and extends the life of the liner
  • Highest resale value for your house
  • Highest savings on backyard construction
  • Freedom of design for your backyard layout.
  • Saves on maintenance and cost of opening and closing the pool for the seasons 

The only con to an Automated Pool Safety Auto-Covers is that it can only be installed on a rectangular pool. If you are thinking of installing a freeform pool, trying to adopt an auto safety cover might not be possible or worth it due to the very high cost of the installation. But many times, new pool owners that are in the market for a new swimming pool and plan on installing a freeform pool, only do that because they like the look of a freeform pool. They don’t realize that a freeform swimming pool will cost more than a rectangular one and offers no benefit over a rectangular pool. Starting with the cost of a mesh winter cover, it’s always 50% more then if the mesh cover was installed on a rectangular pool. The pool stone coping is also 50% more than if the pool is rectangular and the patio is also more due to the access labor and waist of material to cut the stones around the swimming pool. A freeform pool will also take up much more space in a backyard to be able to offer the floor space as a rectangular one. 

The benefits of owning a swimming pool equipped with an Automated Pool Safety Auto-Covers are many. Homeowners in the market looking to purchase a swimming pool sometimes are not educated by their pool contractor and most often focus on items that are less important for the large investment. A safety auto-cover is one item but the benefits that it offers by far surpass the cost of buying one, you just need to educate yourself on them. Most of the time consumers don’t, mainly because they don’t find the right contractor that takes the time to educate the consumer on the benefits a safe electric auto-cover offers.

At Gappsi, as experienced pool builders and residential outdoor living designers and builders, we have incorporated and built many backyards with swimming pools equipped with safety auto-covers. We have calculated that operating and owning a swimming pool without an auto-cover could cost more than paying principal and financing charges if you have to get financing to install a safety auto-cover on your new swimming pool.

Many Homeowners ask how problematic Automated Pool Safety Auto-Covers are and what their maintenance is.

Installed properly, a pool auto-cover will have very few issues. With the experience of having installed many covers for our clients on Long Island NY for the past 20 years, we still promote auto-covers to our new clients because we know from our previous customers that they have always thanked us for educating and talking them into installing a safety auto-cover on their new pool. A safety auto-cover is a very simple mechanism, an electric motor, a solar rubberized fiber mesh reinforced cover, stain steel pulleys and nylon ropes. The auto-cover might need services from time to time if you see that the leading aluminum bar in front of the cover doesn’t close tight or doesn’t stay parallel with the pool stone coping that it closes against. But by experience with our cover installations, we have had situations where the cover was 12 years old and was never serviced and still going as smother as a Swiss watch. There are 3 principles we tell our customers to follow: 

  1. Never open the auto cover with rain water on it! The auto cover comes equipped with a pump attached to a garden hose, all you have to do place the pump on the auto cover next to the pool coping and the weight of the pump creates a low spot. All the rainwater will go towards it and the pump will activate by itself when it senses water and shuts off when it doesn’t.
  2. Always make sure that you don’t produce excess chlorine in the swimming pool. Most, if not all swimming pools today are equipped with a saltwater chlorine generator. It is very important that you set the generator to produce just enough chlorine and not more than what’s necessary. For example, on a 20×40 pool, the salt chlorine generator will work on approx. at 70% capacity. In the same 20×40 pool equipped with a safety auto cover, the salt chlorine generator must be set between 7 to 12% capacity of chlorine making. This is because if you make too much chlorine, it will be trapped under the cover and eventually make the cover rubber tarp become brittle and dry, and that will cause the tarp to eventually rip. But this is also a benefit by minimizing the amount of chlorine making when you own a safety auto-cover. Your salt chlorine generator cell will last you a long time before you need to replace it. It will work fewer hours and also you will swim in much healthier water that contains the least amount of chlorine and other chemicals. 
  3. The third rule is that you have to remember that any one in the household that uses the pool has to know and follow these 2 very simple principles, and you will love the auto-cover and enjoy the pool more than you have to work maintaining it. 

Below are the benefits of owning a swimming pool equipped with an auto-cover 

  • An Automated Pool Safety Auto-Covers is the best option you can add to your swimming pool, it’s a solar cover that minimizes the cost of fuel electric, oil, or gas that you will need to heat your swimming pool. It keeps the temperature of the water 10 to 15 degrees hotter. If you have a heater in the pool the auto-cover will limit the amount of time the heater would run to heat up the swimming pool water. This could save you up to 75% of the cost of the fuel bill.  
  • A safety auto-cover will extend your season. You will be able to open the pool as soon as the freezing season is over, and run the pool just to keep water sanitized and as soon the weathers allows you will be ready to use it, or if you have some warm days and you have a gas or oil heater, you can spot heat the swimming pool just for that day. You will also be a better customer to the company that opens and closes your pool because they can do it off season not in the peak of the season when everyone wants their pool opened
  • Automated Pool Safety Auto-Covers can be used as a winter cover in place of the mesh. This will eliminate installing anchors in your patio to tie the mesh cover straps, not only the cover and straps don’t look clean during the time that the pool is closed, but during snow falls the snow accumulating on the mesh cover would apply wait and thus pulling on the straps and put lifting leverage on the patio pavers resulting in unevenness of the patio and also discoloration of the pavers that are covered under the cover the overlaps the pool patio.
  • The auto-cover prevents rain water from entering the pool and overflowing the pool and changing the chemistry of the pool water and unbalancing the chemicals. Every time it rains and especially in the summertime during hot days, not only the rainwater goes into the pool, but also all the dust that is in the dry air. Every time that it rains you would have to clean the pool or have a robot cleaner in the pool at all times, and you will also have to balance chemicals and pump excess water from the pool. 
  • Auto-cover prevents unattended kids or pets from falling in open water. When you buy an auto-cover you are buying a safety feature that will protect your loved ones from danger. Auto covers are not made to play and jump on but sometimes kids do under the supervision of adults. Safety auto covers eliminate the cost of installing safety fences around swimming pools and also the use of the alarm system mostly requested by town inspectors to obtain final CEO’s.
  • Safety pool auto-cover extends the life of equipment, when you have a safety auto-cover the benefits are more than you could ever imagine. Your equipment starting with the pump will work to minimum just enough to circulate the water in the pool to make chemicals like the chlorine from the salt water, also the filter doesn’t need to be backwashed as often and in many situations you don’t have to backwash it at all, because at the end of the season the filter gets taken apart and and that is the time that you will clean the filter and put it back in the following season. The Salt cell also will last longer than usual because it only works a few hours during a season when your pool has an auto-cover. 
  • An Automated Pool Safety Auto-Covers saves on chemicals and extends the life of the liner by protecting the pool water from the sun rays. Very little chlorine is needed to maintain the pool water free of bacteria and also prevents chlorine from evaporating in the air. A safety auto cover will protect your liners from fading. When you winterize a vinyl pool with a mesh cover, you will have to lower the water in the pool to allow the new water that rains from September to May of the following season. If you don’t do that, the pool will overfill and all leaves that fall on mesh cover will get stuck and deteriorate. When you lower the water in a vinyl, pool the part of the liner that becomes exposed out of the water will start to dry and will shrink in a matter of weeks. This over time will cause the liner from pulling off the track resulting in eyesore but also eventually damage and shorten the life of the liner.
  • A safety swimming pool auto-cover has the highest resale value of all the home improvements that you will do at your house over the years. One day you might sell your house for many good reasons, that day the new home buyer will be the most important person in your life, because you will try to get the most dollars for the house. Having an auto-cover on the swimming pool will be very easy to sell to the next homeowner. You will have a broader audience of potential buyers that will appreciate the auto cover benefits and safety. Also having a rectangular pool will help because many people are more accepting of a rectangular pool then they are of a free formed one.
  • Installing a safety auto-cover will help you get the highest savings on backyard construction, starting with the fact that you would not need a mash winter cover. That is a savings of 20% of the total cost of the auto-cover. You will not need to install a fence to protect your loved ones from the open swimming pool, in most cases when installing a swimming pool in your yard, if you don’t plan to install a safety auto-cover, you will put the pool further away from the house for the following reasons:
  1. Just in case you might want to enclose the pool area or you might want to install the fence in the future
  2. You are going to use the pool for only 3 months if you don’t have an auto-cover, so you might not like to have to close to the house because the mesh cover straps might be in your way when you walk next to the pool. Or just because they are not appealing to the eye
  3. When you install a safety fence around your swimming pool there is a great chance your patio cost will increase because it’s separate from your house patio and you are creating a separate living area and for sure will spend more money on the patio area just for the simple reason that there are separate living areas in your backyard. When you have a safety auto-cover installed on your pool your house patio and pool patio are together and the overall sq ft will be less, and less cost to you to accomplish the same thing
  • When you install an Automated Pool Safety Auto-Covers on your swimming pool, you have freedom of design for your back yard layout. You can pretty much put the pool any way you like, you will have no obstruction of a fence, you don’t have to worry about if your or your neighbors trees canopy over the pool. You don’t have to consider the sunny area in your backyard. You can pretty much build the pool area anywhere in the yard without jeopardizing the rest of the yard grass or play area.
  • Savings on maintenance and cost of opening and closing the pool for the seasons, the difference of winterizing a pool with an auto cover or without could range between $500 to $1000 dollars more for opening and closing the pool. In the spring time when your pool service company opens the pool that has a mesh cover, they most likely will have to make a few trips back to get the water free of bacteria that has created during the time that the pool was closed, caused by the sunrays that go through the mesh cover and by the rainwater that has entered to pool through the mesh cover. This results in your pool water turning green and that will translate in cost of man-hours coming back to shock, vacuum, and balance water chemistry a few times in the pool opening season. Also, several men are required to take off the mesh cover from the pool at the opening and also at closing. With a solid safety auto-cover your pool water in springtime if it’s not crystal clear it’s going to be very close to it, requiring fewer chemicals, less shock, and less chlorine from the beginning to the end of the all pool season and closed season.

Gappsi is an Automated Pool Safety Auto-Covers Retailer, designer, and installer serving Nassau and Suffolk County Long Island NY. Please call 631-543-1177.

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Complete backyard and pool remodeled in Kings park NY

Complete-backyard-and-pool-remodeled-in-Kings-park-NYThis gunite pool was remodeled. We installed one inch by one inch tiles and on mash sheets. The pool finish is a dark gray marble dust which reflects the color of the sky very well. we installed new coping of silver travertine and also the all patio was repaved with silver travertine french pattern. We installed a wood burning fire pit area in the grass  and we built a 16×16 pavilion with the exposed beams on the inside stained in a mahogany color with 8×8  inch columns  and gutters. Gappsi is a complete  backyard designer from landscaping, masonry and gunite and vinyl swimming pools, home remodeling and construction, synthetic turf, sports courts, putting greens, basketball courts, bocce courts and dog run playgrounds.. Gappsi knowledgeable and experienced personnel can help you create the yard of your dream.   We also provide  These services in the following areas of Eastern Long-Island – Western long-Island  – North-Shore long-Island – South-Shore long-Island, Suffolk County,  Nassau County,  Glen Cove, Hempstead, North Hempstead, Oyster Bay, Babylon , Huntington,  Islip, Smithtown,  Brookhaven, Southampton,  Riverhead,  East Hampton, Southold, Old Brookville, Old Westbury, Mill Neck, Nissequogue, Lloyd Harbor,  Muttontown, Coldspring Harbor,  East Norwich and both Nassau and Suffolk County

 

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Regulation Bocce Court Mount Sinai Long Island NY

Regulation Bocce Court Mount Sinai Long Island NYWe built a 13×90 regulation bocce court. The construction was done with pressure treated lumber as a framer around the entire court. A recycled concrete base and bluestone to level the surface. Gappsi bocce grass was used as the surface and filled with silica sand. This synthetic turf  was custom made specifically for Gappsi. It has a rubberized mat underneath it gives the court more of a billiard feeling when throwing the ball. This is Gappsi Latest sports courts job in Mount Sinai Suffolk County Long Island NY.

Gappsi is a complete  backyard designer from landscaping, masonry and gunite and vinyl swimming pools, home remodeling and construction, synthetic turf, sports courts, putting greens, basketball courts, bocce courts and dog run playgrounds.. Gappsi knowledgeable and experienced personnel can help you create the yard of your dream.   We also provide  These services in the following areas of Eastern Long-Island – Western long-Island  – North-Shore long-Island – South-Shore long-Island, Suffolk County,  Nassau County,  Glen Cove, Hempstead, North Hempstead, Oyster Bay, Babylon , Huntington,  Islip, Smithtown,  Brookhaven, Southampton,  Riverhead,  East Hampton, Southold, Old Brookville, Old Westbury, Mill Neck, Nissequogue, Lloyd Harbor,  Muttontown, Coldspring Harbor,  East ,Norwich and both Nassau and Suffolk County

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