I discovered this site about a week ago and really appreciate all of the info that people have contributed. As a once in a lifetime project, there is no time for a learning curve and reading about others (positives and negatives) has already helped me out some.

I signed my contract on Monday and we are waiting for permits at this point.

My project is:

In ground (using a pool contractor) pool and spa
Pool will be approx 28' long x 14' wide on average, but the shape is a little weird to maximize space in our backyard (and trying to save 3 existing trees)
shotcrete
48 sq ft Jandy DE filter with backwash valve
Jandy Variable speed pump
2 HP Jandy Stealth pump for spa jets (8 jets)
400,000 Sta-Rite heater
Sheer descent on a small, angled wall
Baja step - maybe
Jandy salt system
PDA remote
Pebble Sheen (thinking Blue Granite color)

Would love thoughts on the following:

1. Do any of you have your pool equipment in your garage rather than in your yard? We have a small yard and we are looking to maximize space. We have a 3 car garage and actually have the space to put it there. My worry is about leaks and also about equipment noise if in our garage.

2. My kids are 7, 10 and 12 but they do have younger cousins. In a small pool, is it worth it to include a Baja Step or does that "eat up" too much of what would otherwise be swimming/play area? Can a Baja step work well if its just an 8'x3' rectangle or is that eating up swim space without being a large enough step?

3. We have tentative approval for 3 foot setbacks and can go to 3 feet from our house. Any opinions on whether 3 feet is too tight? Is 3 1/2 feet or even 4 a lot better in terms of being able to get around the pool? I am trying to maximize our water space in a fairly small yard so I'd like to push it as far as possible toward the west, east and north walls. This will also leave more patio space to the south side of our pool.

Thanks in advance for any opinions about our equipment and/or my questions. I am going to attach a VERY rough sketch (not to scale) just to illustrate the general shape of the pool.

Personally I would skip the Baja step. We very rarely use ours and it would be much better if our pool had the extra space. We have small pool 10X30 and 1/3 of it is the baja step.

Welcome and good luck on your build. I found this site two years ago and the knowledge I found here was priceless.

One more question I forgot to ask. If we put our pool equipment in the yard, we are dealing with very limited space for a built in BBQ. Has anyone built in their BBQ to the patio side of the wall that has the pool equipment behind it? It may seem weird, but perhaps it will make that wall have a dual purpose and maybe even be less of an eyesore. At the same time, when at the BBQ, do you hear the equipment noise? Thanks.

I've seen them done that way with a block wall built around it to absorb the sound.

Ordinarily a walkway needs to be 4' wide to make people feel comfortable enough to not look down while they walk.

Try this: walk next to your house as close as you feel comfortable. Measure the distance to the inside of your outside foot, then double it. I don't think you can get any closer than that without feeling the need to put your hand on the house for support when you walk by (because you'll feel like you're falling in the pool).

I'm kind of in the same dilemma. I have a lot of back yard space, but we want to minimize existing foliage damage (ie taking out trees). The walkway next to the house will span almost the entire 38' of the pool. I expect kids to run back and forth, so I want enough room for them to pass each other on the run. The current plan is for 4' decking + coping (so 5') plus a 1' buffer right next to the house (no one will ever walk that close to the house unless they're walking sideways, so I don't want to spend a zillion dollars/sqft to deck it).

You gotta work with the space you have, but pool pumps and heaters are not exactly quiet. You're going to hear the noise. I had Pentair Whisperflow pumps for my last pool and I could hear them running behind a 5ft slumpstone wall 50 feet away.

We start demo tomorrow. Here are some "before" pics. Why is it that my grass has never looked better than today, the day before we tear it out!

Demo is done and the yard has been marked out for our dig which starts today. When the PB initially marked out the pool, we felt like it was too big for the yard and we decided to trade a little less pool space for a little more deck space. We won't have much deck space as it is, so we felt like we needed to do so even though it means a little less swim area. It mostly impacts our spa which was oversized and a little odd shaped anyhow.

Go with a bigger filter if you can - usually they're just taller versions of the same model line. Bigger = less frequent cleaning. Looks like you're making the most of the space!

It never rains in So Cal in early October...ever...except the one time I am building a pool! That's OK, they are still making good progress and only missed 2 days due to the rain.

Hi calb, what is your set back for the side facing your neighbors house? In Saint Petersburg FL our set back is 5' to the water line. Looks like yours is quite small!

Does your neighbor have a pool too? I see a leaf net in one of the pics.

Setbacks in our area are 3 feet b/c most of us have smaller yards. So we will be 3 feet to water along the back (west) wall and right side (north) wall. Am I nervous about being that close on 2 sides? Yes. But, as we designed the layout my biggest fear was building a pool that would be too small. Plus, by doing this, it does allow for a bit more patio on the left (south) side. It also allows my narrowest point in the shallow end to be about 10 feet and it allows my spa to sit as far to the rear of the yard as possible and therefore to create a bit more patio space on the house side (east) of the spa.

Now that we are just about fully dug, the pool really looks huge and out of scale with the yard. I think part of the reason is that the hole is bigger than the pool will actually be. The steel, shotcrete and coping will bring things in I think about 12" in every direction...does that sound about right? Plus, there is something about a huge hole that just seems very large. I would imagine that once there is water in it, it won't feel quite as big. But these are the types of issues that keep us awake at night while building a pool!

On the 2 sides that are 3 feet from the wall I want to make sure to have some planter space to grow things up the walls (like creeping fig) as well as some foliage to soften things there. Do you think I should go straight from coping to planter area or should I go with something like 1 foot of planter, 1 foot of stamped concrete (a continuation of the patio) and then the coping?

My neighbor does not have a pool, but they do have a little water feature/pond and an above ground spa. After all the noise we are making each morning at 7:00 am, they will have a lifetime membership to our pool!

You might want to pull those roses and pot them for the duration or they will get mangled.

Our dig is complete. Forms are in. A few little things will be done today and then steel begins tomorrow (Tuesday).

We made some fairly good progress this week. Steel and plumbing are complete and we are ready for inspection on Monday. Our hope is to shotcrete on Wednesday and I am looking forward to that. While demo and excavation are exciting times, steel and plumbing don't have the same wow factor.

Here are the updated pics:

A couple more pics:

I keep hearing different things about Solar Heating. I have bids for $4,000-$5,000 from reputable companies. I hear people say that a decent cover works just as well, or that you have to run your pump a lot more for solar which eats into any gas savings. Just not sure whether to add solar or not. Would really love your opinions. Thanks.

If you look at my last photo above, does it look like the 2 jets on the left side of the photo are too close together?