Swimming Pool Construction in Ras Tanura – Coastal Pools, Relief Valves & Reflecting Basins

From the terrace of a coastal house in Ras Tanura the owner sees the sea. The contractor has to see what lies under the yard: salty groundwater that may sit not far below the surface and pushes up on the pool floor whenever the water inside drops. That is why swimming pool construction in Ras Tanura at Aemar Al-Maryam General Contracting starts at the floor, not the tiles: lowering the groundwater while we dig, a reinforced-concrete shell in salt-resisting cement, external tanking before backfill, a hydrostatic relief valve in the middle of the floor, and twin main drains set apart at the deep end for swimmer safety. We also build reflecting basins alongside entrance paths, waterfalls and fountains, and renovate older pools. On the coast our first rung is SAR 12,900 for the most compact cast basin on our list; the 6 m by 3 m household size begins at SAR 19,400, and the large ten-and-a-half by five-and-a-half size that suits a broad seaside yard begins at SAR 38,800. Each is a first figure that we confirm on site, together with the crew’s trip from Dammam. Ring or message 0547879578.

Ras Tanura grew up around one of the Gulf’s big oil export terminals and tank farms, and the houses near the water live with humidity and salty spray for most of the year. In practical terms that means three things for your pool: the concrete and steel need protection from salts on both faces, the floor must be designed for pressure from below, and metal fittings have to be chosen to resist corrosion. This guide starts with the floor because that is what sets Ras Tanura pools apart, then moves through types, systems, construction steps, waterproofing and tiling, then reflecting basins and waterfalls, prices with a worked example, and finally renovation and care.

Swimming pool construction in Ras Tanura: three things the shoreline changes

Building a pool in Ras Tanura differs from building one in an inland city on three points that must be settled before digging, because correcting them after the pool is full is expensive:

The pool floor in Ras Tanura: hydrostatic relief valve and twin main drains

The pool floor in Ras Tanura is where the coastal risks meet. Groundwater pushes up from below, and suction outlets in the floor can endanger swimmers if they are not designed properly. So the floor takes us longer than any other part before the pour.

The hydrostatic relief valve

A hydrostatic relief valve is a fitting set into the pool floor before the pour. If groundwater pressure from below becomes higher than the weight of water inside, it lets that water into the pool, so the pressure on the floor is relieved instead of lifting the whole shell. Technical sources note that an empty pool can be lifted by an outside water head of as little as about 45 cm. But the valve is a safeguard, not a complete answer: it can be slower than the rise in pressure, or fail. That is why the most important rule remains never to empty the pool completely without checking the water level around it.

Twin main drains set apart at the deep end

The main drain in the floor pulls water to the pump. If there is a single drain that a child’s body or hair could cover, the suction becomes a real hazard. So we fit two main drains per pump, at least about 0.9 m apart and connected to one line, so that if one is blocked the pump draws from the other. Both have certified anti-entrapment covers, and any cracked cover is replaced straight away.

Steel on chairs and cover that keeps salt out

On the blinding we lift the two rebar mats on metal or concrete chairs that hold the gap between bar and outer concrete surface. On faces cast against soil the concrete cover is not less than 75 mm, and it is that cover that slows salt on its way to the steel for many years.

Pool construction company in Ras Tanura: what we build

A pool construction company in Ras Tanura should take on the part that cannot be changed once the pool is full: excavation and dewatering, reinforced concrete, internal and external waterproofing, tiles and coping, pipes cast into the shell or laid in trenches, each line pressure-checked, the balance tank on overflow pools, the plant room, and the electrical supply and earthing. Anything that can be unbolted, from circulation pumps and filter vessels to salt cells, heat pumps, chillers, submersible lamps and control panels, comes from a specialist pool-equipment trader; after you pick the grade, our crew mounts it and brings it to life with the dealer’s technician. Weekly cleaning rounds and service contracts are outside what we do.

Pool types and systems in Ras Tanura

Concrete, block or fibreglass?

We build only in steel-reinforced concrete, since of the usual choices it alone is engineered to hold back water, soil and a high water table at once. Block shells crack along their joints under that kind of load, so we turn them down. A fibreglass pool is a factory shell; we can handle the excavation, base, backfill and surrounding tiles if you choose one, but a light shell in ground with a high water table needs specific precautions against flotation, set by the manufacturer and the designer. An indoor pool needs ventilation and humidity control designed by a mechanical engineer, and is priced at inspection.

Skimmer or overflow pool in Ras Tanura?

Skimmers keep the water a hand’s width below the stone edge and pull floating debris in through mouths set in the wall; it is the simpler, cheaper arrangement. Overflow lets the water brim over into a gutter round the pool, then fall to a concrete balance tank, so the surface appears to reach the very edge. That suits houses that want the pool’s colour to merge with the sea beyond the wall. But a balance tank is another buried structure that needs waterproofing and testing just like the pool.

How many skimmers does a pool in Ras Tanura need?

Codes for pools that rely on skimmers alone want at least one per 800 sq ft of surface, which is about 74 m². In Ras Tanura we place the skimmer on the side where the prevailing wind pushes debris, and add a second one on long pools.

Home pool sizes and depths in Ras Tanura

The sizes most requested for homes are 3×6 m with a graded depth of about 0.75 to 1.4 m, about 4×9 m at 0.9 to 1.8 m, and about 5.5×10.5 m at 1 to 2 m for houses with large yards. The deeper the pool, the more the groundwater has to be allowed for in the excavation and the floor.

A small pool in a Ras Tanura yard

Yes, a compact basin near 2.5 by 4.5 metres and around a metre deep can be built in a limited yard, provided it stays well away from the wall foundation and from both the drinking-water and sewage tanks, and can be reached for digging by machine or by hand. It starts from SAR 12,900.

Building a concrete pool in Ras Tanura, step by step

1. 1
   Inspection
   We measure the yard, place the pool, ask about buried services, and dig a trial pit if needed to find the water level.
2. 2
   Drawing and permit
   A licensed designer sizes the shell, places the valve and drains, and confirms with Balady whether a permit is due.
3. 3
   Excavation with pumping
   Pumps or well points keep the excavation dry until the concrete has set.
4. 4
   Blinding, steel and valve
   Blinding concrete, steel on chairs, then the relief valve, the two drains and the pipe sleeves fixed in place.
5. 5
   Floor, then walls
   In sulfate-resisting cement as the designer specifies, with waterstops at construction joints then a minimum of a week kept damp.
6. 6
   External tanking and backfill
   Bituminous tanking on the outer wall faces, then backfill in compacted layers.
7. 7
   Water-tightness test
   The bare basin is flooded and its level logged.
8. 8
   Pipework and pressure test
   Running pipes to the plant room and testing them before backfill.
9. 9
   Internal waterproofing and tiling
   Then coping and deck.
10. 10
    Commissioning and handover
    Equipment installed with the supplier and a gradual fill.

Plan on four to eight weeks for an ordinary household basin here, more if the pumps have to keep the excavation dry for days on end. Hot-weather pouring and curing are covered in Concrete Pouring in Ras Tanura.

Water-tightness testing a pool in Ras Tanura

When curing is done we flood the bare basin, give the concrete three days to drink, and then record the level for three more. The American Concrete Institute’s test for liquid-holding structures passes a shell that loses no more than one part in two thousand of its volume per day, after taking off what evaporated from an open pan set on the edge. Nothing goes on the inside face until the basin has passed.

Pool waterproofing in Ras Tanura

External waterproofing before backfill

This is what marks out a coastal pool: a bituminous layer on the outer face of walls in contact with soil, keeping salty groundwater out of the concrete. It is applied once, before backfill, and can never be reached again, so we photograph it and hand you the photos.

Internal waterproofing

On the inside we apply a supple cementitious membrane built to live under water, two coats laid crosswise, with mesh bedded into each floor-to-wall angle and round every pipe sleeve; a PVC liner or epoxy finish takes its place where the shell calls for it. For the house’s roof and tanks, see Roof Waterproofing and Insulation in Ras Tanura.

Pool tiling in Ras Tanura: white walls or mosaic

Pool tiling in Ras Tanura follows the look you want: smooth pale walls that make the water read as clear blue, or glass mosaic in a deeper shade. Either way:

• ✓Low-absorption tiles: ideally under 0.5 per cent, set in a solid, void-free bed of adhesive graded for constant immersion.
• ✓Enough waiting: about six weeks for the concrete to mature before tiling, and about three weeks for render.
• ✓Grout after three days: with epoxy grout where chemicals or water movement are heavier.
• ✓Salt-resistant coping: a slip-resistant coping stone with a slight fall outwards.
• ✓A deck with falls: pale tiles that stay cooler, draining water away from the pool.

After the last grout we wait about three weeks before filling, no quicker than 75 cm of rise in 24 hours. General tiling for the house is covered in Tile Installer in Ras Tanura.

Reflecting basins, waterfalls and fountains in Ras Tanura

A reflecting basin is a long, shallow water feature built beside an entrance path or in front of a façade. Its still water mirrors the sky and the palms. It is a request we see at coastal houses, because it brings water into the design without the footprint of a pool.

How we build a reflecting basin

• ✓A concrete or block structure on a base: depending on length and depth, with continuous internal waterproofing and no open joints.
• ✓A dark floor: a dark base gives a clearer reflection than a pale one.
• ✓A perfectly level edge: we set its level precisely, because any tilt shows along the waterline.
• ✓Gentle circulation: a small pump and submerged nozzles keep the water moving without breaking the surface, with a drain and an overflow.
• ✓Safety: shallow water is still a risk to toddlers, so we consider the depth and the basin’s position relative to the front door.

We price each reflecting basin after seeing where it will go and what stone you want on its edge.

Waterfalls and fountains in Ras Tanura

A wall waterfall needs the wall behind the cladding waterproofed before any stone goes on; a ground waterfall is built around a waterproofed basin hidden by rocks; and a fountain sprays or bubbles water up from a basin. Each recirculates the same water with a compact pump.

In coastal air we recommend cleaning scale from the nozzles and keeping the basin level high enough that the pump never runs dry.

Pool lighting and electrical safety in Ras Tanura

Submerged lamps take their power from a step-down transformer giving 12 volts, mounted well back from the water; ladders and rails share a common bonding conductor, a breaker that trips at 30 milliamps of leakage protects the circuit, and outside cables are sleeved in conduit. In humid, salty air we use junction boxes with a high ingress-protection rating. More detail is in Electrician in Ras Tanura.

Home pool safety in Ras Tanura

• ✓A fence round the water: 1.2 metres or taller, with no opening a 10 cm ball could pass.
• ✓A gate that swings shut and latches unaided: opening away from the pool, never into it.
• ✓Where a house wall closes the fourth side: an audible alarm on every door leading out to the water, or a pull-over safety cover.
• ✓The twin main drains: as described above, with certified covers.
• ✓Depth markings and supervision: no cover or barrier replaces an adult watching.

Does a pool need a permit in Ras Tanura?

A pool is new structure on the plot, so before any digging we ask a licensed engineering office to decide whether a permit is required and, if so, to file on Balady as an addition to an already permitted building; the platform requires that existing permit and quotes up to ten days. If the house is inside a residential compound belonging to an employer, the compound’s rules and approval come before any excavation.

Pool construction prices in Ras Tanura

We do not charge more in Ras Tanura than our published Dammam opening prices; only the crew’s trip is added, costed after the visit. The basin figure covers what is dug, cast and lined: the hole and hauling its soil, the steel and concrete, the inner coating, pool-grade tiles, embedded pipework already pressure-proven, and the equipment room. Hours of groundwater pumping and any extra outer tanking are judged on site from how high the water stands.

These are first figures, not final quotes. For lines reading “at inspection”, some photos and rough sizes on 0547879578 let us give you a ballpark. Our other trades are listed on the price page.

Worked example: a 5.5×10.5 m pool at a coastal house in Ras Tanura

Picture a skimmer basin in the ten-and-a-half by five-and-a-half class, sloping from one metre to two (roughly 1.5 m on average), with a tiled deck 1.5 m wide on every side and two ladders:

This pool holds about 5.5×10.5×1.5 = 86.6 m³ of water, so the allowable loss in the water-tightness test, 0.05 per cent, is about 43 litres a day: less than 1 mm of water level over a surface of about 58 m². Any larger drop, once evaporation is deducted, means the shell is checked before finishing.

What raises the cost in Ras Tanura?

• ✓Groundwater close to the surface: more pumping hours and wider external tanking.
• ✓Overflow: a balance tank and an overflow channel.
• ✓Equipment level: salt chlorination, a chiller and extra lighting.
• ✓Travel: its share per job falls when you combine the pool with a reflecting basin, a waterfall or other works in one schedule.

Pool renovation in Ras Tanura

Pool renovation in Ras Tanura starts with one question: is the problem in the surface or in the structure? Loose mosaic, eroded grout and coping crumbled by salt are surface problems, fixed by stripping the tiles and re-waterproofing and re-tiling. A crack that goes right through, rusty steel showing in a wall, or a settled section of floor needs deeper checking and may need an engineer’s report.

• ✓Warning signs: water loss beyond evaporation, bulging tiles, rust stains, or salt on the plant room walls.
• ✓The bucket test before breaking anything: fill a bucket to pool level, stand it on the top step and compare both a day later; a pool that falls clearly further than the bucket is leaking.
• ✓Partial lowering only: we never drain the pool fully without checking the groundwater around it.
• ✓Inspection from SAR 140: a visit to check an existing pool.

If the renovation is part of updating the house, read Renovation Contractor in Ras Tanura, while wall and slab cracks are dealt with in Crack Repair in Ras Tanura.

Mistakes we find in seaside pools in Ras Tanura

When we are called to look at an older pool near the water, the same faults keep turning up, and most were made on the day it was built:

• ✓Concrete placed into standing water: a floor poured over puddles or wet mud comes out weaker and more porous exactly where the uplift is greatest.
• ✓Backfilled without outer tanking: a wall left bare on its soil side soaks up salty water for years, and its steel rusts from the face nobody ever sees.
• ✓One floor outlet only: a single suction point with no partner, one of the most dangerous things a family pool can have.
• ✓Too little cover: bars pressed against the formwork or the soil, so brown rust spots bleed through the tiles within a few seasons.
• ✓Emptied for a re-tile: the owner drains the pool to change tiles, and the floor heaves or cracks under the pressure from below.
• ✓Ordinary steel fittings: ladders and grab rails that cannot stand salt spray and pit within a couple of summers.

What we hand over when a Ras Tanura pool is finished

A coastal pool hides its most important work under soil and tiles, so at handover you receive the evidence:

1. 1
   Photos of the outer tanking
   Every wall face, taken before backfill.
2. 2
   Where the valve and drains sit
   A simple floor sketch measured from the edges.
3. 3
   The water-test record
   Levels at the start and end of the three days, and the evaporation pan readings.
4. 4
   The pipe pressure record
   The pressure reached and how long it held, with photos of the trench routes.
5. 5
   Running notes
   When you may lower the water, when to call us first, and how to clean the drain grilles.

These papers help you, help any technician who works on the pool years from now, and help a buyer if you ever sell the house.

Pool care in Ras Tanura’s coastal climate

• ✓A cover: cuts evaporation and keeps spray and dust out.
• ✓Chemistry: pH held between seven and seven point eight and free chlorine never under one part per million (two when stabilised), checked often through the swimming months.
• ✓Metals: rinse ladders and handrails with fresh water now and then.
• ✓Valve and drains: never cover the drain grilles with anything, and tell us if you notice a cracked one.
• ✓The plant room: constant ventilation, with chemicals sealed and kept away from electrics.

How to order a pool or reflecting basin in Ras Tanura

1. 1
   Yard photos
   From the terrace and at ground level, with the proposed position of the pool or basin.
2. 2
   Measurements
   The available length and width, and distances to the boundary wall and water tank.
3. 3
   What you know about groundwater
   Whether water appeared during earlier digging at the house or next door.
4. 4
   The type of work
   Skimmer or overflow pool, a reflecting basin, a waterfall, or renovating an existing pool.
5. 5
   Timing
   When suits you, so the crew can plan the drive up.

Send these on WhatsApp 0547879578.

Reasons coastal owners pick Aemar Al-Maryam in Ras Tanura

Because we design the floor around groundwater and salt, set the relief valve and the spaced drains into it, refuse to cover a shell that has not held water or a pipe that has not held pressure, publish our first prices, and tell you plainly which parts we build and which come from the equipment dealer. Finished jobs are on our projects, and a summary of the service on Pools and Waterfalls.

Where we work around Ras Tanura

Our crews reach the waterfront homes of Ras Tanura and the town of Rahimah on dates agreed in advance, driving up from Dammam. City page: our services in Ras Tanura. Companion guides cover Jubail and Abqaiq, and the complete reference is Swimming Pool Construction in Dammam.