Hello and thank you all for enlightenment in pool world
I'm in the middle of excavation process with Shasta pools here in the valley and guess what? They hit 3 spots of abnormal soil during the excavation and they'll send the other subcontractor with heavier equipment someday this week. No one knows how much it will cost additionally as of now so, I keep asking myself "why me?" None of my adjacent neighbors had problem with soil. I think I just got out of luck on that. Anyways..I just want to say thank you all for the helpful resources you posted here and you're welcome to share your frustrating story if you were in my situation before.

What was abnormal that made it unsuitable?

I've hear good and bad about Shasta.

Scott

Welcome to the forum We all love pool builds and hope you enjoy some good luck as things progress....perhpas that'll be the only snag.

Sweet! A fellow Arizonan!

We too just began our dig this morning with Shasta. Fortunately, no problems with the dirt. Where in the Valley are you located? We were shown a map of the expansive soil in the Phoenix Metro when we first were shopping for a PB. Shasta was the only one to show it to us actually. It's pretty bad in Gilbert, parts of Mesa, Scottsdale and Central/West Phoenix.

We are in East Mesa just outside of the high probability area. Here is a link to a PDF map that should at least give you a visual. http://www.azgs.state.az.us/HomeOwners-OCR/HG4_problemsoils.pdf

I hope your experience turns more pleasant after this. I will say to this point, I have no complaints with Shasta, even after reading some others dissatisfied reviews. In some ways, I think the poor economy helps here as they need to work that much better and to use the best contractors available to keep everyone involved happy.

Thank you guys. It seems they found rocks hard enough to send a bobcat away. I live in North Phoenix right below rocky dry mountains and Arizona canal. Thanks gfxguru for the map and I wish you have a pleasant pool building moment with Shasta all the way thru. Now Shasta came up with 3 bidders and I went with the least expensive one that cost me additional ~$1100. I will post updates with some pics later as we go on.

Lots of us AZ guys around these boards You guys are in good hands Shasta builds a nice pool. I also got the big talk out of them about the dirt in AZ. What I didnt like was when I asked about the home 5 doors down that they just fiished up on and the salesman had no clue that Shasta just did the pool and had no idea about the dirt in my area. That and the fact that they didnt use Paromuont products turned me off to them, I also would have liked that umbrella they give out. Good luck with the builds

That was a nice bonus for us they used to get our business. Once they threw that in, we were all over it. Looking forward to that umbrella!

Excavation crew came back this morning and started digging and hammering rocks again, yay!! Hope it goes well today.
This is my first pool and I designed pretty much everything including masonry wall with water feature. My designer helped me with 3D and CAD in scale. After living with backyard nothing but weeds and dust for 3 years, I think I deserve a little bit of hydration in this desert.

Finally some progress after 1+ week delay in excavation. Now enjoy the pics that follow...

Sorry for the delay. Had some issues with file size.

7/11 Signed Contract
8/1 Permit approved
8/11 Excavation started
8/19 Excavation completed
8/24 Plumbing started
8/25 Rebar completed
8/26 Plumbing & Electric completed
Still contemplating auto water leveler before it’s too late..


--Excavation 2nd Trial and job well done!!

Rebar after plumbing Day 1. Showing in-ground cleaning heads in line.

Showing 2 skimmers.



3 pipes and single rebars on the right for 3 1/2' masonry wall water feature (4' cascade, 2 scuppers). Still undecided on color/type of travertine tile above the water line tile.

The hard pipe sticks out toward the pool near me, is that for main water return? Please excuse my ignorance.
View from the upper deck
Commanding station with EasyTouch

Showing cartridge filter, main pump, booster pump (for water feature)

Plumbing Day 2 -finishing spa therapy heads and LED lights installed

Spa plumbing didn't pass the inspection saying not properly leveled and installed a couple of inch lower than it should be. So plumbing crew will be back for the fix and while I guess I will go ahead and let them install an auto-filler/ water leveler before shotcrete. hope it worth the money

The auto fill is well worth the money in my opinion. One less thing I have to worry about on a weekly basis.

Now water leveler is in (I paid well under the price that PB would charge) and I'm waiting for city inspection. Waiting game starts again.

Yeah, I agree. I was thinking about buying pool centry water leveler or wireless thing but I doubt it would hold up well under AZ sun here.

Looking good! Hopefully your pool construction is now moving along as quickly as my experience has been with Shasta. It seems to finally be taking shape!