New Austin, TX Owner Build

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A

And5555

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Sep 19, 2015
144
Austin, TX
Just submitted the permit for my owner build, pretty basic pool in Austin, TX, and anxiously anticipating this journey!

Building a play pool for my children as they are little fish, and it's so warm in Austin. Ages: 9, 6, 5, 3

Simple 16k gallon, SWG, 33x19, 490 sq ft freeform pool with 18" raised wall (with sheer) and sun deck (with bubbler).

Designs attached.

Setup:
PebbleSheen
Oklahoma or Quartzite coping
400 sq ft patio with koolcote

Equipment:
Pentair Intelliflo VS 3 HP pump
Hayward 27" sand filter
Aquarite 40k SWG (AQR15)
1 Pentair Intellibright 5G Color LED pool light
Polaris 360

Debating about:
-Filter choice (thinking sand because I'm lazy)
-Whether to pay $3k for a heat pump to extend swim season
-Automation (really only desire here is for color led light to turn on cool colors every night between certain hours - thinking about having electrician hook it up to a standard outlet where I can attach a simple holiday timer)
-Oklahoma vs Quartzite coping (will come down to cost difference)

Thanks for all of the advice and knowledge that you've contributed to this forum as it's helped me a lot so far.

IMG_5442.jpgIMG_5441.jpgIMG_4888.jpg
 
If you are going to have a salt pool in a climate like Austin TX, limit the amount of stone you use. At the very least select the hardest and least porous types, and seal it regularly. There is a reason you can't find many pool builders in Austin that will build a salt pool.
 
Welcome to TFP! Is that mount Bonnell?. Just kidding. Great job drawing up the pool! We have three kids 12, 6, and 4.

I went with a very oversized cartridge filter so I wouldn't need to clean much too. My father in law loves sand filters. He thinks I will switch to one because I will hate the cartridge filter. My neighbour has a DE filter and loves it so who knows.

Do you already have a lot of deck? You'll find 400 isn't much. I ended up picking a builder who had 900 in the plan and I am glad I did. 900 even seems small to me now. The other bids I got were around 450 and I probably would have been disappointed. Your pool seems about the same size as mine and I think it is a decent size.

I will be interested to follow your build. I haven't seen an owner build in Austin.
 
I suspect that besides the basic filter capacity parameters, it will boil-down to personal preference. Just in case, here's our comparison page if you haven't seen it already: Pool School - Pool Filter Comparison. As for the LED lights, I'm sure your builder can wire your lights on their own circuit to something simple like and Intermatic 104 timer or something. Or at least so that you have the option to install one later if you're not sure how you want to do it right now. As for a heater ... again... personal preference I suppose. I personally like a short break from the constant pool maintenance since we typically have a long season anyways. Just going out there in Nov - Mar to sit and relax by the pool is nice enough for me. :cheers: Supposed to get chilly tomorrow. Bundle-up, and welcome to TFP! :wave:
 
ummgood said:
Welcome to TFP! Is that mount Bonnell?. Just kidding. Great job drawing up the pool! We have three kids 12, 6, and 4.

I went with a very oversized cartridge filter so I wouldn't need to clean much too. My father in law loves sand filters. He thinks I will switch to one because I will hate the cartridge filter. My neighbour has a DE filter and loves it so who knows.

Do you already have a lot of deck? You'll find 400 isn't much. I ended up picking a builder who had 900 in the plan and I am glad I did. 900 even seems small to me now. The other bids I got were around 450 and I probably would have been disappointed. Your pool seems about the same size as mine and I think it is a decent size.

I will be interested to follow your build. I haven't seen an owner build in Austin.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice. I upped it a little bit to 532 sq ft. Here's the pic with furniture. Unfortunately, I can't put patio on the right side of the pool due to septic field setback requirements. I have a huge yard (.6 acres), but the septic field limits what we can do.
Pic: deck.jpg - Google Drive
Layout: moreDeck.pdf - Google Drive

On the filter, it seems like there's no clear winner as they all get the job done. I think all things being close, I'd want the option with the least maintenance. I'm not sure whether that's sand filter or a large cartridge.

- - - Updated - - -

Texas Splash said:
I suspect that besides the basic filter capacity parameters, it will boil-down to personal preference. Just in case, here's our comparison page if you haven't seen it already: Pool School - Pool Filter Comparison. As for the LED lights, I'm sure your builder can wire your lights on their own circuit to something simple like and Intermatic 104 timer or something. Or at least so that you have the option to install one later if you're not sure how you want to do it right now. As for a heater ... again... personal preference I suppose. I personally like a short break from the constant pool maintenance since we typically have a long season anyways. Just going out there in Nov - Mar to sit and relax by the pool is nice enough for me. :cheers: Supposed to get chilly tomorrow. Bundle-up, and welcome to TFP! :wave:
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice. The intermatic timer looks like would do the trick. (Clarification: I think I need to ask my electrician to hook that up for me - I'm doing the GC).
 
I am in to watch this one!

I have to say I agree with ummmmmm about the rocks. They WILL get into the pool. Much better to had a hard surface there.

For me the sand filter is the easy one. I had a cartridge filter and find the sand one much easier. The filter does all of the work for you. All you have to do is turn the handle!

Kim
 
ummgood said:
That deck looks good and like you will have space for chairs and a table. I see rocks there in that photo. I am anti rock with little kids. I know my son would be throwing them into the pool.
Click to expand...

I didn't even think about that. The intent with the rock was to sort of transition from the natural landscaping and stacked stone wall to the pool. I think we could train my kids not to do that, but little stinkers that come over would totally do that.

I tried a design with patio there instead. It's only 2-3 feet width, but it might work. Let me know what you think compared with the rock (or if you have any other ideas what to do in the small space between the wall and the pool):
With rocks: untitled_031.jpg - Google Drive
With patio: untitled_027.jpg - Google Drive
Concrete side

Thanks for helping me think of things I hadn't.
 

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kimkats said:
What is the purpose and size of the wall?

I like the patio look better AND add in Marla's idea and will work.

Kim
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice, Kim and Marla.

As to the purpose of the wall, it's an existing retention wall. There's a big sloping hill there (6 feet tall). You can see it in my original post on this thread (the last pic). The wall is about 3-4 feet tall (gets shorter as it goes out).
 
Okay so it is not the huge flat wall as pictured in the sketch. That is much better!

So go with a combo of idea. Ummm's idea of putting the river rock in cement with Marla's idea of plants BUT in planter so they can be moved.

Where will the pool be? I see the trampoline as point of reference.

Kim
 
kimkats said:
Okay so it is not the huge flat wall as pictured in the sketch. That is much better!

So go with a combo of idea. Ummm's idea of putting the river rock in cement with Marla's idea of plants BUT in planter so they can be moved.

Where will the pool be? I see the trampoline as point of reference.

Kim
Click to expand...

The pool will go right where the trampoline is. The wall to the left of the pool is the wall that the pool will be "hugging" with the patio in front of the stairs and the porch.

I wish I would have posted on the forum to help with some of the questions until this point. :)
 
I am not sure I would do the grass due to the kids. You KNOW they will run around the pool and just jump in-CANNON BALL!

I do like the stone patio as it will slow the kids down some!

That wall can be a wonderful planting area to enhance the pool and area. Let the kids have one row just for them to pick what they want to plant and take care of there!

Now something I hope you have already thought about............you have that wall for a reason.......water/rain run off. How does the water move into that area? That is something you will really need to look at and think about. Your patio willl need to be sloped away from the pool and might need deck drains of some sort.

Your pool has not been built yet.........what other things have you been thinking about? We LOVE to help and spend your money! LOL

Kim
 
Stone would be great. However, I'm not sure how well it will hold up with the salt (in particular, the stone on that wall is limestone, which is really soft).

Yeah. You're right about the drainage. We'd have to slope the patio there and probably put in a channel drain.

One thing that I'm debating right now is whether I can justify the Aquarite Pro with Sense and Dispense. I've heard that the ORM is awful, but that you can disable it. It sounds too good to be true that my chlorine, pH, and polaris are all taking care of the pool just fine (and that I'm just left with skimming, baskets, and checking every now and then). Am I just dreaming here? (Btw, it looks like it's about a $900 swing to upgrade to the pH sense and dispense system). I'm a software engineer so the idea of automation excites me (and it means I'm lazy).

The other thing that were debating is coping, but I've posted about that some in another thread. So far, we like tan leuder, oklahoma flagstone, quartzite, and some rectangle pavers (like Toscana Blend color).

Also, for the financially nerdy (like me), here's my anticipated cost breakdown: Pool - Google Sheets
 
Financially nerdy is good! It's also helpful to see the breakdown for other potential owner builders. Thanks!

Who is doing your layout? I thought the excavators did that, but I guess I need to look into it more.
 

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