We have been researching for some time- interviewed several PB's ( I was amused at the crassness of some and pleased at the professionalism of others). Anyway came down to two we took head to head and are building :

Freeform In-ground gunite 101' Perimeter
517 Sq Ft Surface Area
32x25 Max L/W 6' deep
730 Travertine Pavers
A Tanning ledge with bubblers
2 benches
He is using a 2hp Hayward Tristar Filter Pump
2hp Hayward Tristar Waterfall pump
425ft Hayward Cartridge filter with some kind of inline chlorinator
400 BTU Heater (Gas)
17' )L) flagstone spillway 18" high with two stone columns at end plumbed for planters.
2 ton Moss rock boulders with 3 falls individually valved
Color LED lights Pool and Spa
7" round Spa with 6 jets, Blower Spa raised 12" above pool finished in flagstone
2 main drains, 2 skimmers, 6 returns with adjustable fittings
separate suction runs on individual valves
5 LED lights in travertine Pavers located around pool
Ozone System ( I didn't want this but wife insisted)
Color Pebble interior
Wireless Hayward control system
Polaris ATV vac

Whole yard will have pcv under landscaped areas and deck to add light or sprinkler lines later.

Price - $60k

He said the Hayward has a ipad type of interface and we would be able to use the iphone or ipad as is seen in the Pentair line... I cannot find this but he gave me a brochure that describes it- just I cant find it anywhere else.

Anyway- He had the best design that appealed to us. We were down to 2 PB's and one just kept hammering away at his original design, which we didn't care for- Very straight boxy. This guy also was confusing as one day he said flagstone was highest cost deck, the next day he said travertine was. Then he kept going back to his original square design which I repeatedly said we had little love for. Then he said freeform was most expensive design, then said the straight rectangular was.... Anyway he was $10k higher so I took the PB my wife liked the best.

I checked him out at the BBB, and D&B all looked good- ( Some $$ wasted I think in buying the D&B report) He gave us 4 very recent pools and I went to see 2 and called all 4. All were happy, said he was prompt, attentive, picky and always listened and fixed anything they didn't like. He was the only PB to note that we need to do some creative drainage modification (we have a gutter draining right across the deck area- and he will either go underground or re-route and we will install a rainwater collection system. He also was only guy to figure out a design around a tree we really wanted to keep which shades the patio. Everyone else wanted it to go. So we will be 7' off with he shallow (tanning ledge) being nearest the tree) Tree ( Red Oak) will be over about 20% of the pool in morning- afternoon sun is from opposite direction- thus the pool will be in full sun. We are removing 11 crape myrtles ( full size) 1 huge huge arizona ash and a monster row of ligustrums.

My only concern is the Hayward pumps. This PB had the Texas Hayward manager call me and he was informative but of course biased. He said the size of pool and design that we had the 2hp (with the returns and drains setup) was "robust" and would work well. Maybe I read too much Pentair propoganda but I was all set on Pentair. He(PB) will switch if I really want to but he said these are fine. So this forum has been and will continue to be a great help. My past pool experience is with a pool my dad had done with a fly by night and it was under pumped with 3 ash trees nearby and it shifted after 5 yrs and cracked. We are in rock so it should be tied in securely, not loam like my Dad's was.

I told my wife I will vacuum and she does the chemicals- We will see how long that works.......

This puppy will encompass most of our usable yard so goodbye lawn mower. I will xeriscape the front ( I have not announced that yet) Even though our yard is fenced, we will fence off the pool from about 1/3 of the back for the dogs to have access. So the damm dogs are costing me more money again !

Good morning,

It certainly sounds like you have been very thorough in you pre-build planning. I am sure that will be one nice pool.

One thing JUMPED off the page for me. If your wife is going to manage the pool water chemistry with tri-chlor pucks and an ozonator, I doubt she will be on this forum very long.

The inline chlorinator can be somewhat useful and isn't expensive anyway but the use of UV in an outdoor residential pool will not get kudos from TFP. Search UV here on the forum and you will get VERY little positive feedback, if any.

Did you consider an SWG?

If the builder is an authorized dealer for Hayward and not Pentair then I would go with Hayward equipment. You will get better support for equipment they are familiar with if there is a problem. Both are good brands and stand behind their products.

By UV are you referring to the ozone system ? I was not sold on that item... PB and wife say it will eliminate chlorine byproducts. I may need to study pool chem. My job so far has been to pay for everything and she is the smart one of the bunch so maybe I need to review this....

Yes, sorry.
What byproducts are they referring to? Free Chlorine's only byproduct is some salt and ozone has no affect on it.
Yeah, search the forum and you will find that ozone (or UV, for that matter) is simply not an effective way to spend your money.

The UV from the sun will take care of any DBPs (i.e. combined chlorine). The ozone generator is just a high margin add on for the builder. They also require periodic service. Take your wife to dinner once a week for the 6 months instead.

The people that sell them are incorrectly taught that they reduce the amount of chlorine you need in the water. This is a lie but the sales guys don't really understand or care to know why. Your free chlorine levels are dictated by the amount of stabilizer in the water, whether during normal operations or during shocking periods. Nothing else.

Ozone is useful with large pools with heavy bather loads. Yours is not large. Large is 100,000 gallons or more. Large pools such as these are typically commercial pools where stabilizer use is highly restricted and water volume turnover rates are much higher.

The "some kind of in-line chlorinator" worries me. If its a Hayward CL-200, understand that it has a 3/4" restriction. If you tried to push a 2 HP pump's output through that, you would be seriously wasting a lot of it's ability to push water. It would be much better if you had a Pentair Rainbow 320 in line feeder. The has a much better flow capability and better reliability record.

Scott

Ok I ditched the ozone unit. Put the funds into something else.....

Can you post a picture of the design? I'm sure we'd all love to see it.

Deck will be travertine pavers and coping is flagstone. So first step is to get all the required permits and approvals.

Looks great, I can't wait to follow the progress.

All the permits are done and we are waiting for the locator folks. Some one commented that they would have been reluctant with a PB from another town- Fact is he has quite a few pools here in San Antonio and is doing a very large commercial job so we felt he was situated here pretty well. We went to several of his pools and I liked his designs, attention to detail and how well he listened to our questions and concerns. All of the trees in the way have been removed to the stumps and I think things are ready. Neighbors who's drive we will use to access has given their ok so all looks good !

It's under way ! So far so good. Hit rock as we expected and I was surprised at the noise they make chopping it out. Or pounding whatever. A few pictures.

https://picasaweb.google.com/marksatex/ ... directlink

Wow with all that rock I guess you dont have to worry about settling.

and I wouldnt worry about a builder from another town... some of my subs came all the way from houston! (a 5 hour drive)