Smart Ideas to Conceal Pool Equipment

After installing a pool, the equipment involved can often be an eyesore. Pool pumps, filters, heaters, and exposed plumbing detract from your backyard oasis and dominate the landscape. Strategically hiding these unsightly features can dramatically improve your pool area's ambiance and functionality.

Concealing pool accessories creates a lush, tranquil environment to enjoy your aquatic retreat fully. Unappealing machinery and hardware can disrupt the calm atmosphere pools aim to achieve. Masking these fixtures boosts your backyard's aesthetic for entertaining or relaxation beside the water.

Benefits of Hiding Pool Equipment

Covering up pool pumps, filters, heaters, and pipes provides various advantages beyond just improving appearance.

Improves Backyard Aesthetics

Exposed pool equipment clashes with most landscaping designs and styles. The machinery's industrial look feels out of place among trees, plants, patios, and other tranquil backyard elements.

Strategic planting or structural enclosures seamlessly incorporate these features into the environment. Concealed equipment no longer distracts from the landscape but instead complements it.

Increases Property Value

Curb appeal directly impacts a home's resale value, with higher appeal yielding higher prices. Pool areas lacking visual intrusions are more welcoming and attractive to potential buyers.

According to realtors, buyers desire a low-maintenance backyard oasis for entertaining and relaxation. Strategically hiding pool equipment checks this box and makes properties more valuable.

Creates a Peaceful Oasis

The sight and sound of humming pool machinery disrupts the serene atmosphere pools aim to achieve. Screening pumps, filters, and heaters dampens ambient noise to restore the calm.

Softening hard lines, enclosing electronics, and utilizing living screens transports occupants into a private sanctuary. Thoughtful placement allows machinery operation to continue unimpeded while masking any audible or visible disruption.

Landscaping Strategies to Conceal Pool Accessories

Several creative landscaping techniques integrate pool equipment into the environment seamlessly. The most popular strategies utilize structural screens, strategic planting, or a combination of both.

Use Screens and Enclosures

Installing screens or enclosures around pool machinery conceals equipment while allowing access for maintenance and operation. This strategy also helps muffle noise from pumps and filters.

Freestanding Screens

Freestanding screens fasten directly to the ground without attaching to existing structures. These movable partitions create privacy and damping while retaining accessibility.

• Lattice screens
• Wooden fence screens

Lattice Screens

Intricate crisscross lattice designs let air and light through while obscuring machinery. These structures withstand weathering but require reinforcement in high-wind areas.

Wooden Fence Screens

Sections of fencing strategically placed around equipment provide an affordable option. Fence slat orientation, width, and height customize screening and ventilation needs.

Build Around Equipment

Permanent built-in enclosures protect equipment from weathering while fully integrating features into the landscape. Materials like stucco, brick, or stone mimic structures to seamlessly blend installations.

• Brick walls
• Stucco walls
• Stone walls

Brick Walls

Layering brick around pool equipment generates privacy while complementing hardscaping. Brick and mortar's thickness also helps muffle noise pollution for a peaceful atmosphere.

Stucco Walls

Stucco-covered cinderblock builds durable, weather-resistant enclosures matching southwestern architectural styles. Strategic ventilation openings prevent moisture buildup and overheating.

Stone Walls

Natural stacked stone blends organically into gardens and wooded areas. Random shapes create gaps permitting airflow while concealing contents. Mortar fill-in boosts sound dampening.

Strategically Place Plants

Flowers, bushes, trees, grasses, and vines artfully disguise equipment using nature's living screens. Proper planning balances screening height, density, and growth rates for the desired coverage.

Shrubs and Bushes

Bushes frame equipment behind vibrant greenery. Varieties sporting flowers, contrasting foliage, or evergreen leaves add backyard appeal year-round.

• Evergreen shrubs
• Flowering shrubs

Evergreens retain leaves in winter, enabling year-round concealment. Compact varieties like holly reach mature heights under ten feet, fitting smaller spaces.

Flowering shrubs add seasonal bloom colors. Opt for non-invasive types requiring less trimming to control growth around equipment.

Vines

Rapidly spreading vines cover walls and fences in one growing season. Adhesive tendrils cling directly to infrastructure without requiring support trellises. Consider hardy, fast-growing self-clinging options like Virginia creeper or climbing hydrangea.

Trees

Medium trees strategically placed around equipment break up sight lines with coverage from above. Multi-trunk varieties are suited for tight spots and provide shade.

• Provide shade
• Soften hard lines

Trees with dense canopies filter harsh light while diffusing straight infrastructure edges. Weeping or flowering types enhance ambiance through movement and seasonal color.

Hide Pool Pumps

Pool pumps circulate water through filtration equipment, requiring placement near pools. Visually obscuring these maintenance hubs improves area aesthetics and peacefulness.

Place Behind Structures

Situate pumps behind existing buildings, fences, or walls to block line-of-sight. Nearby drainage and electrical connections must remain conveniently accessible for operation and maintenance.

Use Enclosure Boxes

Self-contained enclosure boxes conceal pumps with vented panels allowing airflow. Soundproof foam lining reduces vibration and lowers noise pollution. Flip-up lids permit quick access for pump basket cleaning.

Disguise With Plants and Rocks

Arranging boulders and planting strategically placed vegetation breaks up pump outlines. Nearby trees also help visually isolate the mechanicals by obstructing sight lines from entertainment areas.

Mask Pool Heaters & Filters

Essential pool machinery keeping water clean, heated, and circulating may be large. Masking these potential eyesores helps create a unified aesthetic for enjoyment.

Construct Enclosures

Soundproof sheds built around pool machinery reduce ambient noise in entertainment spaces. Ventilation prevents moisture accumulation while retaining accessibility through louvred doors. Match enclosure style and color to pool surroundings for cohesion.

Use Screens and Fencing

Lattices mounted on frameworks or fence partitions isolate machinery visually and audibly. Screens permit airflow circulation to prevent overheating while filtering noise pollution from social areas.

Plant Tall Grasses and Flowers

Place heat pumps and filtration units along home structures or sightline barriers. Tall grasses, fragrant flowers, and broadleaf plants fill open yards, further obscuring remaining outer edges.

Conceal Unsightly Pool Pipes

Exposed plumbing detracts from backyard aesthetics while creating trip hazards. Several techniques hide pipes to develop unified, safer decor.

Below-grade installation conceals pool plumbing entirely while protecting pipes from weathering, punctures, and damage. Consider functionality when positioning; allow room for future repairs or replacements.