Resort-Style Pool Pavilion
Glulam beams, a beadboard ceiling, a granite kitchen and a full bathroom, on ground we had to rebuild first.
Most pool structures are built like a big porch. This one is built like a timber frame. Oversized glulam beams carry the roof, which let us space the rafters 24 inches apart under a beadboard tongue-and-groove ceiling. That is where the grand feeling comes from.
The hard part happened before any of that. The pool had just been built, and the contractor had backfilled around it with the same dirt that came out of the hole, which was full of organics. Soil like that keeps settling for years, and a pavilion and deck on top of it would settle with it. So we dug it all back out, ten feet down in the end, and rebuilt the ground with clean fill, compacted every couple of inches. Nobody sees that work. It is the reason everything on top of it stays level.
The pavilion sits on a travertine pool deck, which stays cool under bare feet on a July afternoon, with a retaining wall holding the grade behind it. Down one side runs an outdoor kitchen finished in nickel gap to match the walls, so it reads as part of the building rather than an appliance parked under it. The granite counter carries a grill, a fridge and a sink, everything a long pool day needs without a trip inside.
At the back is a full bathroom. A bathroom gets decided early, because the plumbing and the layout are fixed before anything is framed.
“I cannot say enough about Doug, Zack and Giovanni of Cramer Landscaping. They built and completed a beautiful pool cabana for us which included a great and much needed bathroom and storage area. All three men were very professional, courteous and the Cramers were very easy to communicate with. Their work is top quality and their work ethic just as wonderful. I would highly recommend them and their work. You won’t be disappointed! Please see for yourselves – the photos speak for themselves and are worth 1,000 words. Thank you guys for helping to make our outdoor living so beautiful and fun!”
C.M., Google review
What we built
- Timber-frame pool pavilion with glulam beams
- Beadboard tongue-and-groove ceiling
- Excavation of organic backfill to 10 ft and compacted clean fill
- Outdoor kitchen: granite counter, grill, fridge and sink
- Full bathroom and storage
- Travertine pool deck
- Retaining wall
Designed and built by Doug and Zach Cramer, with our own crew.
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