Pre Construction Question regarding drains vs sump pumps

[lscbydesign]

Hello all. Thanks in advance for any and all help.

We are currently speaking with three pool builders about installing a fiberglass pool in our yard. We live in south-eastern Virginia on the water and hence have clay for soil and a fairly high water table level (one pool builder drilled a core sample and hit water at 5' 6" and we've been fairly dry this summer).

My question is that while trying to make and apples to apples comparison of bids I notice that one company includes a sump pump but no drains in their proposal and another includes drains but makes no mention of a sump pump. Help!? Are they just approaching the same issue differently or are they talking about two different animals?

Thanks for any and all advice. As y'all know this is a significant chunk of change and we want to make the right decision.

 

[DaninFLA]

are you talking about for dewatering during construction? sorry, not clear on the question.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Is River Pools and Spas on your bid list? They have wonderfully informative videos on their website that show many Virginia pools installed near waters edge. So they do seem to understand how to do it?

Next to my fiberglass pool my pool installer did put in a large PVC pipe down to the rock area below the pool for the ability (if ever needed) to access for checking for ground water and to be able to drop a small sump pump down if ever needed. Thankfully it never has. It is covered by a skimmer cover plate and would easily be mistaken for a skimmer basket. He did not provide me with the pump since its so easy to just drop one down in the hole if needed but I have one for the hot tub already.

 

[DaninFLA]

I have a drain under my pool with a PVC pipe that comes up next to the pool. they use the pipes to dewater during construction and leave the drains in place. Sounds like one contractor is including a small sump pump for you to keep afterwards and the other is not. not a big cost either way honestly, prob $100 or so. wouldn't make any decisions based on that.

that said, we would love to see a full big list and offer comments

we tend to help people save a lot of money on a lot of contractor added options that are not needed and/or wanted. things like ozone, UV, inline chlorinators, etc. stuff you don't want that costs a lot of money. we can also offer our suggestions on low cost items like piping, etc that will make maintenance easier for you.

 

[ScottCh]

If I'm reading your post correctly it sounds like one builder is offering drains and the other is offering a sump pump as a method to drain the pool. I would want the drains if I were building a pool. A sump pump will work to empty the pool, but the main drain gives you that ability and offers another return point for circulation.