An Auto Floor is a movable pool floor: a platform that changes position within the pool shell, allowing one swimming space to serve different uses. Depending on the system and design, it can offer different water depths or rise toward deck level to create more usable space. That flexibility starts with what you want from the backyard, whether you swim each morning, host friends in the evening, or want more room around the house. The range of positions and uses must be established for the particular system and the completed pool. The floor, pool shell, drive, and controls are designed to work together. Space around moving parts, finishes, and service access need care before work starts, along with the needs of each planned use. Our in-house engineering brings these elements into the pool design, connecting the movement of the floor with the structure around it and the character of your Peninsula home.
A More Versatile Backyard
Space to Share
A floor raised to deck level can give the backyard another way to be enjoyed.
Depths for Different Uses
The floor brings a choice of water depths into the design of your pool.
Room for Swimming
The swimming position is designed around the pool's dimensions and how you use it.
Engineering the Floor and Pool
A movable floor creates a close relationship between the pool and the equipment within it. The platform, supports, drive system, and controls must work together within the shell. Their requirements affect the pool's dimensions, build details, and service access. Early engineering is particularly useful where the pool also has an overflow edge or sits within a larger scheme for the backyard. Drummond brings four decades of pool-building to these decisions, connecting the floor design with the pool, the surrounding terrace, and the practical demands of work on your particular Peninsula site.
The Platform
The platform brings the pool's changing uses into a single surface. Its dimensions and support form part of the engineering, while the finish, edge gaps, and adjoining materials are considered together so the moving floor feels at home within the pool and terrace.
The Mechanism
The drive and controls bring movement into the design. Their placement, connection to the platform, and access for servicing need to work with the surrounding pool, allowing the mechanical details to be resolved before the finishes and landscaping take their place.
The Shell
The pool shell provides the setting for the floor's movement, with its shape, clearances, supports, and installation details developed together. Those decisions belong in the structural design from the outset, alongside waterproofing, water flow, and access, so the pool is planned as a whole.
Designed Around Life
The appeal of a movable floor is the chance to use one part of the backyard in more than one way. For a homeowner planning a pool beside a terrace, outdoor kitchen, or garden, that choice deserves care. We start with the rhythm of your home: how often you swim, how you entertain, and where a change in the space would be useful. The aim is a backyard that makes room for those different moments, with the pool and its surroundings working together as naturally as the rooms inside the house.
A Choice for Your Home
Considering the floor early gives the design room to develop as a whole. While the pool’s shape and position are still taking form, the terrace, equipment, access, and moving platform can inform one another. That matters in a carefully planned garden, where practical details should feel settled within the larger setting. Our design and engineering bring those relationships together, helping the floor take its place within a pool that belongs to the home and the way its owners want to live. The question is how that flexibility would serve the way you live. A property with limited space may have different priorities from a larger garden in Atherton or Hillsborough. We consider the available area, the pool design, how you expect to use it, and the extra work involved in the floor system. Understanding those factors gives the design a sound starting point, with the feature's benefits and practical demands considered together.
How You Use It
How a movable floor is used matters as much as its appearance. Available positions, load limits, controls, and service needs depend on the chosen system and how it is installed. Pool barriers and other applicable safety requirements belong in the overall design; a raised floor does not remove the need for supervision around water. Discussing these points early helps you understand what the system is intended to do, how it is used, and what its limits mean for life at home. Those details should guide the plans from the start.
Planned for
Your Property
A movable floor belongs in the wider plan for your backyard. The pool, terrace, planting, shade structures, and outdoor kitchen all affect how you use the space. A site visit lets us discuss those links alongside the proposed floor, with thought given to access for the work, equipment, and your plans for swimming and entertaining. Those talks give the design a basis for deciding where flexibility will be most useful and how the water, moving surface, and garden can form part of the overall plan. These choices give the design its shape.
Common Questions
A movable floor raises questions beyond the usual choices of shape and finish. Understanding how it works, what care it needs, and how it affects the project helps you decide whether it belongs in your plans.
How It Operates
The controls manage movement between the floor’s planned positions. The drive, platform, and pool are designed together, with the operating sequence considered alongside the way you will use the space.
Ongoing Care
Care depends on the floor system and its parts. The design should allow the access needed for service, while the manufacturer's guidance on checks, upkeep, and use helps owners understand the work involved in its ongoing care.
Project Feasibility
The pool's shape, structure, and available space all affect feasibility. Early engineering explores those relationships, particularly where the floor is planned alongside a vanishing edge, hillside structure, or other features within the wider backyard design.
What It Adds
The floor adds equipment, design, and building work to the pool project. Its size, finishes, support, and service access affect the scope, so a useful budget starts with your site, the planned uses, and the work needed to bring them together.
Beginning the Conversation
If you are considering a movable floor for a new pool, a site visit is a useful first step. We can discuss how you like to swim, the outdoor space available, and the ways you would like the backyard to adapt. For Peninsula homeowners, our design and engineering connect those aims with the demands of the site. The conversation helps define what needs further study and how the pool, floor, garden, and surrounding outdoor spaces might develop together as parts of one project. The Drummond family brings experience to that conversation.
