Pool builders/owners, opinions wanted.

[bearkat2004]

fine!

I'll play nice!

[Todd-ty729]

DE FIlter
Pool cover for the winter
Salt (I am not a chlorine fan)
No diving boards or slides
tanning ledge
no pool heater (they are a waste of money and always fail when you want to use them)
Some type of cool deck material. Pebbletek is good. Concrete decks get to hot and you will find yourself always walking on the coping around the edge of the pool.
Extra steel/rebar in the gunite phase will keep the pool from cracking later down the road. Get a price for #4 rebar and more of it! #3 is standard. If the pool salesman tries to talk you out of it, show him the door immediately. He does not have your best interest in mind.


Another option is to have a pool designer draw up a pool and have the various builders price from your drawings. A pool designer will build what you want and help guide you through the decision making process as there are a ton of options in the various stages of the pool build. You will probably spend about $750 to get the build designed by a pro but you will be glad you did.

Builders are going to push you in the direction of their products and you can bet at least one of the choices they will make for you will cost you big time in a few years after the warranty runs out.

Another thing is you will end up with a large amount of soil to do something with. Figure out now where you want to spread it unless you just want it hauled away. Then ask around to see if any family or friends in the area need any fill material.

[Texastaxi]

Ty,

Are the DE filters usually standard, or an upgrade?

If it's an odd shaped pool, will you need a custom cover or will a "square" one work with the extra material bunched up or something?

You're one of the only people I've heard that prefer salt. Any particular reason why?

We've already thrown out slides and diving boards, anticipating insurance problems. If we have a 6' lockable privacy fence around our whole yard, will this be enough to satisfy any insurance requirements? Are there any any extra insurance requirements?

A tanning ledge is on our list of must haves.

We also didn't see us using a heater so we threw that out, as well.

Cool deck was on the list too. Most contractors are offering pea gravel, but we both hate the way it looks and feels. Concrete is definately out of the question.

I'll add the extra rebar to my list.

We do plan to use some of the extra soil for a raised flower bed behind the pool. I guess I'll make sure they'll haul off the excess as part of the bid, or include it as a line item.

[ken]

I would go with a DE filter if possible. You will get clearer water. A DE filter needs to be near a sewer line so you can backwash the filter.

Salt systems are nice but expensive since the salt cell only lasts a few years and is over a grand to replace.

Hayward and Pentair make good equipment. Sometimes the manufacturers offer rebates and free extended warranties if you use all their equipment.

It is hard to get an apples-to-apples bid since each builder often draws up their own design. Talk to several. Once you find a design you like you can write up a spec and have all the builders bid off that spec.

Make sure the builder incorporates the grading of the yard into their design. I look at a lot of houses where the pool builder builds the pool too high to save money and creates drainage problems for the yard or the house.

[okietaxi]

Salt pools have a salt cell. It produces chlorine gas by running electricity through the salt. You can use a rectangular cover on an odd shape pool, just set anchors in Thad right places.

[sailor]

For your cover, contact FT.Worth Tent and Awning.
My pool is salt. Yes the chlorine generators are expensive.
But if you consider,a bucket of chlorine is around $50.bucks.In the long run,salt is cheaper.
The cost of the pool is determined by the distance around,not how deep it is.
Mine was built,by Owen Custom Pools. Hayward equipt.is as good as it gets.
IMHO.

[Bilbo]

I don't have any suggestions...Just make sure I'm on the list for the party. I'll bring the Santa Clause Ale.

[bps3040]

This is salt damage to natural stone. Salt sucks. I will comment more when I get back to office.

[sailor]

bps3040--I have no damage to my pool,like your showing.
Might I suggest,your salt content is too high? Just a thought.

[bughunter]

hi-jackin ur thread

[ATTACH]352928[/ATTACH][ATTACH]352929[/ATTACH]

This is salt damage to natural stone. Salt sucks. I will comment more when I get back to office.

pm sent to bps3040

[Joe H]

My parents have salt for 4 plus years now with no problems. I clean the salt cell myself every 6 months or so. Very cheap to run. They do not have natural stone. On the soil you save make sure it is the topsoil and not the deeper stuff.

[bps3040]

bps3040--I have no damage to my pool,like your showing.
Might I suggest,your salt content is too high? Just a thought.

Nope. Not my pool. Customer who has taken care of pool by himself. We see it show up between 3-6 years, if you do not seal your stone....and in a lot of cases, even if you do, this will occur. Depends on what stone you pick, if you picked Quartzite, very little damage, if you picked most other flagstone, this occurs. Sometime it takes longer, but most of the natural stone used on pools is a mud stone/ sand stone. Not very dense, so the salt permeates it easily.

A little back ground on me. I have been building pools since 1981. I am a partner in a pool business since 1992. We maintain/clean 250 pools a week also...as well as remodel pools and houses etc.

I would not have salt on my pool, they gave it to me free and I gave it back. I have seen the damage that it does and would not wish it on my worst enemy. Most people pick salt for 2 reasons 1) less work/maintenance (actually twice the amount of work) and 2) the way it makes the water feel soft.

Well, to maintain a salt pool, you have to typically add 1/2 gallon to a gallon of acid a week to maintain the PH. PH continuously climbs and you have to control it....most people don't. It then affects heater, plaster, tile and stains. My maintenance guys HATE salt pools, lol, they try to give them away to the new guy. I could go on and on.

Back to the thread. DE is our normal filter and not an upgrade. It is much better than the other 2(cartridge and sand) Cartridge is pretty good....sand is really mainly used on big commercial projects, though there are a couple of diehards who still install it.

We use Hayward equipment. We are the warranty reps for all the equipment (Jandy, Pentair, Hayward) We typically have less warranty calls on the Hayward. Jandy has a great computer system, but I do not favor there equipment. Pentair is good.

You may want to pay extra for a Variable speed pump. It will pay for itself in the long run, unlike salt. We recommend the Hayward Ecostar, it is the most user friendly. we install them on most of our pools now. I included an energy calculation below, so you can see the typical savings.

If you like the feel of salt, you can get the same feel by adding a chemical that is actually good for the pool. The brand I use is Supreme Plus by Pro team. We maintain a level of 70 ppm. It gives the water a soft silky feel. Chlorine usage is cut by 30%. Little chance of algae growth, if you get algae, it normally means your level is a little low. Clarity of water is unbelievable.Helps control calcium build up on tile. Helps stabilize the PH and Alkalinity.Reduces eye and skin irritation. Easy to use. I use it on my pool.(Plus a hundred others) Love it

If you have any questions, fill free to PM me or ask on this thread

Mark

[Fishndude]

Pebble-Tec (google it)
NO Salt
Your equipment WILL break not "might" break.
Learn to work on your equipment. It will save you big bucks.

[holdem]

I owned a 35 foot Blue Haven and you're a glutton for punishment.

[bps3040]

I owned a 35 foot Blue Haven and you're a glutton for punishment.

Actually you were glutton for it.... When you decided to go with them, lol. Oh, the horror stories.