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Call Now Custom LeisureScapes: London & Stratford Ontario’s pool, hot tub, and swim spa experts.
A LITTLE SUN. A BETTER PLAN.
Your best pool position depends on where the sun reaches your yard—and when you want to use it. Build an overhead layout, watch the shadows move and explore places to swim, lounge and dine.
Start with the hours you actually swim. An open spot that gets afternoon sun may suit after-school swimming, while a separate shaded space can make meals and breaks more comfortable. A south-facing backyard can still be shaded by a house or a tall neighbouring tree. Compare the pool, seating and dining areas across the day before choosing a position.
This planner estimates direct sunlight from the location, date and objects you enter. It is a scaled sketch on flat ground, with simplified buildings and tree crowns. It does not predict water temperature, cloud cover or construction approval.
YOUR YARD, HOUR BY HOUR
Editable London example
The planner needs JavaScript. The planning guide below explains what to measure and how to compare sun and shade.
TURN YOUR PRIORITIES INTO A PLAN
Choose when you want sun or shade for each activity below. Select which areas the planner may reposition. Existing houses and trees stay where you have drawn them unless you explicitly allow suggestions to move them.
Compares positions, rotations and complete arrangements using the entered obstructions, sizes, location, direction, date and your activity hours. Results are the best found in this search, not a construction design or a guaranteed global optimum.
Estimated direct-sun equivalent hours
Each half-hour period samples up to 25 points inside the chosen activity footprint. Half the area in sun for one hour counts as 0.5 direct-sun equivalent hours. Shade is reported separately; night does not count as shade.
Save your annotated drawing, morning/noon/evening views and feature list, including which sizes are approximate.
The editable plan is a file on your device. The planner does not send your location or drawing to Custom LeisureScapes. Choose what to share for your consultation.
MAKE THE ESTIMATE USEFUL
Use a survey or a map with north identified. Measure the yard’s width and depth, or start with an approximate yard size, then set which direction the top of your drawing faces. A fence is not proof of a property boundary. For an irregular lot, use a rectangle inside the usable space and note the excluded corners for your consultation.
Add your house, garages, sheds, fences and established trees. Enter footprints, heights and positions, or choose approximate sizes with visual descriptions. Add separate building pieces for different roof heights. Include nearby buildings and trees beyond your property line: a neighbour’s tall roof can shade a pool without being inside your yard.
A crown’s width, depth and height affect its shadow. The tool treats the leafy crown as an opaque ellipsoid and the trunk as a narrow column. A leafless tree is shown as a simplified trunk; branch shadows and dappled light are not resolved. Choose the leaf setting for the day you are exploring, including evergreen trees.
Give the pool its swimming hours, the loungers their relaxing hours and the table its dining hours. Choose more sun, more shade or a mix for each. Pool water and raised decks can sit above ground level; set the activity’s surface height when that matters.
Watch the animated day, then compare all four seasons or any of the twelve months. A low sun makes longer shadows; the shape and timing change through the season. The animation uses local clock time, including the selected time zone’s daylight-saving rules.
Look at real shadows on a clear day at a few matching times. Adjust an uncertain height or direction if the sketch disagrees. Bring your saved layout, photos and measurements to Custom LeisureScapes so the sun study can be considered alongside access, drainage, equipment, enclosures and the rest of the project.
Favour the hours your household swims. Direct sun can contribute heat to a pool, but sun hours alone cannot predict water temperature: wind, evaporation, covers, air temperature and heating equipment also matter.
A lounger that feels right at noon can be shaded by late afternoon. Test the time you expect to relax. A movable umbrella offers a way to change comfort without relocating the pool.
Test the table separately from the water. If you prefer a shaded meal, compare the table’s evening window and the position of an umbrella or tree. This overhead study does not calculate eye-level glare or thermal comfort.
No. The direction is a starting point. The heights and positions of your house, neighbouring buildings and trees determine what can block the sun at a particular time. Rotate the plan to your real orientation and add those obstructions before comparing positions.
Yes. Choose the neighbour area on the left, right or beyond the back fence, then add houses, apartment buildings and trees. Drag them to match their real positions. Use approximate size choices if you do not know their measurements, or enter exact dimensions. Leave “Allow layout suggestions to move this” off for existing obstructions.
It evaluates positions near yard edges and obstructions as well as a regular grid, then compares combinations for all activity areas selected for repositioning together. Activity areas are scored against their own chosen hours and sun/shade preference, with the pool weighted three times as much as each other activity area. The search rejects activity positions outside your planning boundary or inside modelled obstacles and keeps your chosen pool clear space. It can suggest a better arrangement, or report that it did not find one.
No. Your planning edge allowance and pool clearance are sketch inputs, not municipal requirements. The rectangular sketch does not assess zoning, enclosure and gate requirements, surveys, easements, buried services, grading, soil, roots, installation access or overhead wires. Those checks can rule out a sunny position.
No. Solar direction is calculated from the entered coordinates, date and local time. Objects are simplified and the ground is flat. Buildings use the height you supply, fences are solid screens, and trees use a simplified crown. Missing obstructions, inaccurate dimensions, hills, roof shapes and leaf density can change the real result, especially with a very low sun.
The colours show modelled blockage of direct sunlight. They do not measure temperature or UV exposure. Light can scatter and reflect into shaded areas, so this tool does not provide a UV protection rating.
Yes. “Save annotated layout” creates an SVG image with your chosen time, measurements and sun summaries. “Print / save planning guide” includes multiple times of day and a feature list. “Save editable plan” creates a file you can reopen in this planner.
LET’S PLAN THE WHOLE BACKYARD
A useful pool layout balances sun with circulation, access and the spaces around the water. Save your idea and explore the pool options with Custom LeisureScapes.
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