How Your Roof Affects Pool Design and Landscaping
How Your Roof Impacts Pool Design: Sun, Shade, and Drainage Considerations
Imagine building a pool, spending thirty thousand dollars on it, and then the first day you use it, you realise the sun vanishes by 2 pm every single afternoon! Why? Because of your roof. A two-metre eave hanging off the second-storey extension, perfectly positioned to throw shade across the entire pool!
Sadly, that’s reality for many homeowners who don’t take pool landscaping seriously.
Most people plan their pool without considering the rest of their home, specifically their roof. Roof pitch, overhangs, gutter fall, and even the type of tiles all play a role in how well your pool landscaping works.
Shade, drainage, glare, and heat reflection are all issues that can completely spoil your enjoyment of your brand-new pool.
So, before you start dreaming about sunny days spent relaxing by the water, step back and look up! In this blog post, we’re going to explain how your roof impacts your pool landscaping and what you can do about it.
Roofline Geometry vs Sun Angles
We get so much sunlight in Sydney, and your roofline is the deciding factor on how much of that sunlight you get to enjoy when you’re relaxing by the pool! As outlined in the Australian Government’s guide to passive solar orientation, understanding how your roof’s pitch and overhangs affect sun angles is crucial for maximising the use of your outdoor space, particularly around pools.
Let’s talk about pitch first.
A steep 35-degree roof facing north is ideal for capturing the winter sun, but in summer, it’ll throw shadows across your garden!
If you add wide eaves, then your pool will be in total shade by 3 pm.
In leafy suburbs like Wahroonga or Turramurra, where older homes have dramatic gables and deep verandahs, this happens a lot! People build a pool, only to discover that their roof blocks the sun for half of the day.
Contrast that with beach suburbs like Coogee or Maroubra. Homes in these areas often feature flat skillion or butterfly roofs, with minimal overhangs. Why? Because those owners want the sun! The roof is designed to allow as much sunlight into the garden as possible.
Orientation matters too.
North-facing pools receive the best light, but not if the roof's shadow falls across them. If your home faces east or west, then you’re at the mercy of morning sun or the arvo glare, as it’s often called!
So, what do we learn from all this? Well, when planning your pool design, factor in your roof’s shadow early. Use sun studies to shift the pool’s position, trim back overhangs, or add pergolas with adjustable louvres.
Thoughtful pool landscaping can redirect light where you need it most.
Overhangs, Guttering & Splash Zones
People often obsess over pool drainage, but they forget that the gutters above can dump water every time it rains. If your roof runoff points toward your pool zone, you’ll end up with big problems.
Guttering systems, especially on older homes in places like Baulkham Hills or Cherrybrook, where steep slopes are common, often funnel water straight toward the backyard.
If there is a bit of block tilt and poor downpipe placement, you’ll end up with surface water pooling right beside the pool edge. That means muddy paving, algae blooms, unstable coping, and even a nasty smell when the sun hits it! So what can you do about it?
Before carrying out pool landscaping, ensure that your downpipes are directed away from the pool area.
Install charged stormwater systems or French drains where runoff collects. You can also use grated channel drains around pool coping to direct water where you want it to go!
Roofing Materials and Heat Reflection
The final area to consider before starting pool landscaping is the material your roof is made of and how it reflects heat. Your roofing material can either exacerbate the heat or keep things tolerable. And it affects your pool zone way more than you’d think!
Take Colourbond, for example. It’s commonly used across Sydney in newer builds from Parramatta to Oran Park. But in darker colours, it turns into a giant solar panel! That radiant heat can make your poolside paving feel like walking on hot coals. Concrete tiles aren’t much better, especially the older, unsealed ones that hold and radiate heat well into the night.
Terracotta is a bit better. Its curved shape allows airflow underneath, reducing thermal transfer. Lighter roof colours help reflect rather than absorb heat, but very few people plan their roof material with the pool in mind.
Excess heat can also cause other problems, such as scorching nearby plants, warping decking materials, and raising the water temperature to the point where it encourages the growth of algae.
Here’s what you can do about it, though!
Choose lighter colours and reflective or heat-dispersing roof materials. Discover our article on heat-reflective paint for even more details.
Use pergolas with insulated panels near the pool to block direct radiation. Shade-loving plant choices can also protect your pool landscaping from radiating heat. And make sure to plan seating or entertaining zones based on where the rooftop heat is going, not just where it looks good.
Integrating Roofing Design Into Landscape Plans
Roofing design and pool landscaping aren’t two separate projects. Whether you're renovating your home or building from scratch, your existing or planned roof needs to be part of the landscape conversation from the beginning.
For existing homes, the roof sets the boundaries. Its height, shape, pitch, and orientation decide where the sun hits, where water drains, and how your space feels. Where your pool is positioned will affect how often and when you can enjoy your pool, so make sure it works for you.
Building a home from scratch? Even better! This is your chance to do it right. Your roofer, architect, and pool landscaper should all be communicating to ensure that the roof pitches are aligned with your pool's orientation.
Expert Pool Landscaping
If you’re working with an existing home, you don’t want a landscaper who drops a pool in wherever there’s space! You want someone who studies the roofline, checks the shade patterns, notes the drainage flow, and then builds around those realities. That’s precisely what Custom Creations Landscape does!
Their expert pool landscaping team designs spaces that work. They’ll help you decide the best location on your existing property to build your pool! And if you’re building from scratch, Custom Creations works closely with your architect and roofer to ensure the pool doesn’t become an afterthought. They’ll help shape the roof layout, suggest overhang tweaks, even pre-plan downpipe placement so it works perfectly with your landscaping.
They offer their pool landscaping services in the Inner West, including Annandale, Ashfield, Balmain (including Balmain East), Birchgrove, Dobroyd Point, Dulwich Hill, Enmore, Haberfield, Leichhardt, Lewisham, Lilyfield, Marrickville, Petersham, Rozelle, Stanmore, St Peters, Summer Hill, Sydenham, Tempe and parts of Ashbury, Camperdown, Croydon, Croydon Park, Hurlstone Park and Newtown.
They specialise in tailored pool landscaping designed for your unique space. Check out their website or call them for a consultation!
It’s not about forcing a pool into a backyard. It’s about designing a backyard where the pool belongs! So, if you’re planning a new pool, don’t forget to consider how your roof will impact it. Call in the professionals and ensure you get it right the first time. That way, you’ll be able to enjoy the sun and your pool all year round!
Custom Creations Landscapes
Address: 6 Coleridge St, Leichhardt NSW 2040, Australia
Phone: 02 8065 4344
Website:https://www.cclandscapes.com.au/