hen Blake Barnes first 
started building pools in 1987, sun shelves were a rarity. “Now we do them on nearly every pool,” says the president of B2 Pools & Spas Inc. in The Woodlands, Texas.
Barnes isn’t the only builder noticing the upswing in the sun shelf’s popularity. Builders say part of that popularity has to do with an evolution in design.
What used to be a convenient place to sit in the pool now can seem more like a mini-resort — complete with chaise lounges and even waterfeatures.
“I built one pool that was almost all sun shelf,” says Lynn Forrest, president of Aqua Classic Pools & Spas Inc. in Clute, Texas. “The pool itself was roughly 30-by-18 feet, and the sun shelf covered over half of it.”
Today’s sun shelves go by many different names. But whether you call it a tanning ledge, tanning shelf, Shamu shelf or thermal ledge, this shallow area appeals to the whole family. It gives kids a place to play safely; parents an area to supervise without getting submerged; and singles a haven to get a bronze-god tan.
Sometimes these shelves look like a first or second step on steroids; at other times, they can bear a striking resemblance to beach entries. That’s exactly the appeal: A sun shelf can bridge the gap between a simple step and a lengthy beach entry, offering the best benefits of all three. Plus, the shelves come in configurations that can best suit the pool design and available space.
For builders, the shelves also are much easier to design and incorporate into smaller backyards that can’t accommodate a beach entry.
But more than that, sun shelves are yet another way builders can bring a resort-like atmosphere into customers’ backyards.
Because shelves are popular at resorts, people are already primed to want them. “They see them when they’re on vacation in more exotic areas,” says Steve Chandler, president of Custom Pools & Patio in Boise, Idaho. “I think any time something is new and unusual, people tend to say, ‘That would make my pool different from somebody else’s, and it would be a nice feature to have.’”
To further spur the demand, builders such as Barnes actively promote shelves in their presentations.
Top shelf environment
But creating that resort-like atmosphere takes more than blowing up the shelf’s square footage. Builders also have begun adding special features and amenities that can appeal to all members of the family.
For example, you can transform a basic shelf into a multiuse space. Builders might add spa jets to the wall surrounding the shelf, particularly if the customer doesn’t want a hot tub. This “faux hot tub” provides the bubbles without the hot water.
A sun shelf can work as an adult meeting spot as well. Parker Ewing, president of Ewing Aquatech Pools in Baton Rouge, La., adds concrete tables to his company’s sun shelves so users can drink or dine while staying cool. Placing the shelf near a spa or swim-up bar can create a grown-up magnet. You can make the experience even more comfortable by adding umbrellas or misting systems.
Sun shelves can engage children, too. One kid-friendly idea used by builders is to add a bubbler fountain to the shelf, which mimics an interactive waterpark feature. This makes most sense on extremely shallow shelves. “The water’s only about 3 inches deep, and you could have the fittings flush with the bottom so it doesn’t stick up,” says Ron Coker Jr., vice president of Master Pools by Artistic Pools Inc. in Atlanta. “Then the bubbler would emit from the sun shelf.”
To get more mileage from a sun shelf, consider turning it into a focal point. Forrest, for instance, might add a cluster of boulders with a small bubbler fountain so the water gurgles out of the stone. This adds ambiance to the area and creates a soothing sound.
When the shelf is at the back of the pool, Barnes might raise the wall behind and add sheet falls that pour onto the shelf.
Special surface treatments can jazz up a shelf. For more of a beach-entry look, Forrest occasionally finishes his sun shelves in flagstone or tile that matches the deck and complements the pool’s interior finish.
Chandler likes using sun shelves to showcase beautiful mosaics. “They’re pretty visible on a sun shelf because they’re so close to the surface,” he says.
These treatments also increase safety by clearly demarcating the depth differences between the shelf and the pool’s main body. “Sometimes if you have a large area, the reflection off the water will [misrepresent] the depth,” Forrest says. “So you need to have something in there that will highlight the depth of the pool. You need to have something in there showing that this is a shallow area.”
If you don’t want to use a completely different finish on the shelf, tile accents can be added to the edges, similar to those used on steps. Choose the tile carefully, though, to avoid that public-pool feel.
Filling bigger shoes
The sun shelf can offer these benefits without some of the drawbacks that go along with its larger cousin, the beach entry.
Because it starts at 0 elevation and slopes down so gradually, a beach entry will automatically take up several feet before reaching a significant depth. Coker often suggests sun shelves to clients who ask for a beach entry, but really don’t have the room.
As he points out, if you’re maintaining a 1-in-12 slope, dropping 1 foot for every 12 feet of length, “you might have a beach entry that encroaches 8 to 10 feet into the pool before it begins to step down. But you can do a sun shelf that’s only 5 or 6 feet wide, with a little more length to it, giving you plenty of room to accomplish some of the things that you were hoping with the beach entry.”
Other builders use the sun shelves as a way to utilize the “dead” space in radiuses on freeform pools. “You’re using areas that are bumping out away from the main body of the pool anyway,” Coker says. “So it doesn’t encroach so far into the pool.”
