First Pool Build - Jax, FL

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Aug 16, 2016
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Jax, FL
Hello form Jacksonville, FL

So we have decided that after selling our wonderful boat after 10 years of ownership, instead of a new boat, we will be installing a pool. We are in our 30's and have a very energetic 6 year old who loves to swim. Over the last 2 weeks we have met with 6 local pool builders and have just started to receive some bids and designs.

PB's we are considering:
Pools By John Garner
Pools by John Clarkson
Superior Design Pools and Spas
Renaissance Pools
Stanley Pools
Surfside Pools

We are looking to do an IG 20x40 rectangle with a roughly 10x10 sunshelf, SWCG, VS pump and paver deck. We will cover existing concrete porch and continue out into the pool deck with pavers. ~1200 sq. ft

Have noticed just from initial meetings that there is clearly a different vibe between each PB. Who's listening to what we want, who is pushing what they want to do... etc.

Just some initial differences I have seen on the basic construction side is a couple of the builders use #3 rebar installed 10" on center vs. 12" centers. They also use 5000 psi concrete as well. Some use gunnite and some use shotcrete. Any benefit to one vs the other?

All PB's use Pentair or Hayward.

I'll post a picture of the blank canvas later on today and a rendering or 2.

Scott
 
Welcome to TFP?

Among the most important things to consider are these non-sexy items:

How many lights and where (ok, kind of sexy because you should be getting 2 full-size color changing LED's and 2 lighted bubblers
How many returns, where and how plumbed (looped, home run, etc.)
Andy other water feature to think about for plumbing needs?
Electrical needs around the pool.
Heater? (Gas or heat pump, brand - may not be Pentair or Hayward for that one item)
Oversize the filter.
Oversize the SWCG (get the biggest of that brand - easy one).

I wouldn't lose a minute of sleep regarding spacing of rebar or gunite vs shotcrete. Mind you closer space rebar is stronger, but can't imagine they would go below code and both will be fine.

I presume an autocover isn't in your thoughts, but with a rectangle pool they work best. But they are a $12-15K add-on. Cleaner pool, safety, peace of mind. But few get them and understandably so.

Looking forward to some before pics to set the mood.
 
Funny you say that about over sized SWCG and filter.... Just had one PB tell me that filter size, pump size and SWCG size are determined by county inspector. Sounded very odd to me and don't believe her for one second. Yes, I agree pump size needs to be adequate to provide enough flow rate for the pool size and all accouterments etc. But but I seriously doubt the city gives a rats patoot about if my filter is bigger than the minimum needed.... Not too concerned because nobody else even batted and I when I mentioned I wanted bigger filter and the larger SWCG.

All bid's included 2 color LED's, 2 skimmers and 1 raised beam at far end of pool, 2 6" risers for a total height of 12". 48" sheer waterfall. All bids include some brand or another of pebble finishes.

I did get the sense that 1 or 2 really didn't want anything to do with any other finish color other than the 2 or 3 standard whites with blue pebble. Very light colors. The wife and I have been scouring different color finishes for each brand and have a 2 or 3 we like for PebbleTec, CLI, PMM, StoneScapes etc... We we want to do something in the light /medium blue family.

One builder includes the AA in floor in his "standard" pool, others a robot.
Putting an umbrella sleeve in sun shelf.

We were going to do 2 or 4 laminar deck jets, but decided the beam and waterfall was a better choice for us. Undecided on the LED bubbler.

Forgot to mention that we are trying to decide shallow end depth. 3.5' or 4'. I am leaning heavily on the 4'. Deep end will be 6'. Sun shelf depth is up for debate as well to. I'm thinking 10"?
 
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I recently decided to go with a 4' shallow to 7' deep end after heavy consideration. My wife and I are above average in height, and our son (11) might end up on the tall side if he grows in to his feet.

No diving, but I feel good about the extra depth for cannonballs and the like. We didn't go with LED bubblers but will have bubblers on the shelf along with 3 sheer descents.

The shallow/depth discussion has me flipping and flopping for some reason.
 
We're at the same stage right now with our build in JAX. My PB told me that the pump size is dictated by FL code but didn't say anything about the filter or SWG. I found this doc that lays out the code for FL. It does have some filter regs but it looks like it's only for going too small, not too large. I can't find anything in this doc about the SWG. Thought it might be helpful if you're into reading building codes :kim:

http://www.floridapoolpro.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Energy-Law-Code-QA.pdf
 
So right now our backyard is a blank canvas of nice green St. Augustine grass. Regardless of the builder, my wife and I agreed that we like a simple rectangle with raised beam as shown. We like the long pool heading out from the house as our floor plan is very open and you stand in the front of the house and have a large clear view out the back of the house. You would have a framed picture of the pool from inside.





Our existing patio is just the concrete slab under the covered section.
 
I like the way you are thinking. That will be very dramatic for sure!

Now take and share a pic of the yard as it looks now. That will stand for a good before and after.

Share you equipment list so we can help out there as well.

Do you have an idea of the gals of your pool?

:kim:
 

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Will update the signature with our proposed pool... Just got another bid this AM. One major difference with this builder was use of Zodiac pump, filtration and chlorinator. Are Zodiac and Jandy one in the same?

As someone mentioned in another thread, doing a true apples to apples comparison between PB's and bid is actually a bit of a challenge. For us, there won't be too much difference in the design element as it is a straight forward build and we are pretty set on what we want built. We were telling ourselves not to get to focused on going with the lowest bidder, but rather who we think we would be most comfortable with through the entire process.

So far we have 4 of 6 bids. 3 are all withing 2-4k of each other. One of the bids is for 12-15k higher than the others even with 400 sq ft less decking in their quote! I can't explain that one. I may give them a call and see whats driving the price up that much. I can't see a $15k premium all other things material / labor wise being equal. We meet with 2 PB's tomorrow to get our last 2 quotes after picking out materials we would want to use. It's been an adventure just going through the preliminary steps. The build process must be a hoot once you sign on the dotted line...lol.
 
The VERY high one does not want to build your pool for some reason. I would not waste my time calling them. You don't want them even thinking about doing a job they don't want to do.

LOL yeah fun times for sure with each step!

:kim:
 
Hi scott, we were in the same situation 7 years ago. We were in boating all our lives sold our boat to downsize and after 8 months of looking at boats all over Florida and Georgia the wife and I decided to put in a pool. Take a look at out pool build links in the signature for ideas. As I recall our PB used 5000psi shotcrete for the shell and 6000psi for the footers for the screen cage. We call our pool a Spool aka social pool and it is just the right size for us as it is very easy to maintain. You will find it to be very stressful at times but the end product will be very rewarding. Post lots of pics:cheers:
 
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