Planning My New DIY (for the most part) In Ground Pool-North Georgia

[treadstone2]

FYI*********This is copied and pasted from "Introduce Yourself"**************thought I'd get more responses here!


Hey everyone,

Brand new to pools, but not construction. I personally have many skill sets and am quite handy. (Not bragging, that's what my wife says). Have worked around concrete and concrete blocks for several years when I was younger. Worked as Residential and Commercial Electrician for several years under a GC. Did Excavation work from digging utilities to shooting elevations and pouring footings and running underground utilities including installing septic systems. Estimated Cost for GC in retail strip centers and schools.

Have been a Certified Residnetial Real Estate Appriaser and Real Estate Agent for 13 years so I know a little about everything.

Anyway, this is not a job posting! :razz: so.............

We bought a farm last year with 7 acres. One of my wife's immediate "needs" was a pool so we bought an Intex to get us through our interior renovation. We recently finished the interior renovation and started talking about getting our in ground pool installed later this year or early next year (2017). I had several pool builder's come out and give me estimates on Vinyl lined pools. I about fell over. On an appraisal you don't get NEAR what you put into the pool and being a serious DIY'er (like never hiring out anything except HVAC work) I started looking at what it "really" took to build a pool.

After getting up off the ground looking at estimates of $28-34K for a 16X32/18X36 pool with what we wanted, I decided to look at pool "kits" since they have all of the parts and plans to get the project done over time. They ARE pretty inexpensive.......But when I started thinking about what I could do and how the pool actually is constructed and how it works, I started to look around and found this site. I have reviewed every thread on concrete block pools and thought that may be the way to go. I read and re-read Duraleigh's pool build (forgive the spelling if it's incorrect) and thought it was GREAT! After looking around at other site's too I wondered about the overall cost savings of doing the stacked block, rebar, filled and bond-beam versus just having the shot-crete/gunite subbed out as well as the plaster work and doing the remainder myself. Basically everything except the interior of the pool.

I'm positive I can excavate, install/bend/wire the #3 rebar, ground/bond the metal, plumb the system and install the required electrical (I think 50 amp circuit will suffice, but will check pump requirements). I will need to shot-crete guys to do the interior and plaster and I will place the flatwork for the deck.

Is there a REALLY good link on here for such a project? It's not as easy to find this type of DIY thread as it was for the "Concrete Block" threads.

Any ideas, creative criticism and information is much appreciated. I'd like to hear if I'm crazy, right at the get-go!:joker:

Thanks and I look forward to continuing to learn about this process.

 

[cowboycasey]

Welcome to TFP

You are in the right place for DIY and seeing different types of pools.. after a month on here you will see so many kewl builds your DIY pool may start to cost a bundle

 

[kimkats]

HI! Yeah this is the place for you...........Now I have to ask you some questions......how much time will you have to work on the pool? The reason I ask is I worry about the time after the dig until you can have the gunite shot.

With you living in GA your weather is not too far from mine here in N. FL.-the rain! The rain could set you back work wise with wall collapses and such problems.

I don't know about bar laying and bending and such but that seems like long, hard work from what I have seen on here.

I am sure you CAN do it BUT can you do it in a timely manner and not wear yourself out or not have your wife missing you LOL

Saying that I SO want to see you do this and to help spend your money!

 

[treadstone2]

Thanks for the welcome party! I'm going to sit down and try to calculate the cost estimate for what we would like. I have no real idea what the pool is going to cost.....yet. I do know that what I was given for Vinyl Lined pools, I can do a much better pool myself than paying for the vinyl. I WILL do my best, with the constant insistence of my wife to maintain the low costs/low budget throughout the process. I messaged with Allinspector (?) about his pool and he said he'd be happy to give me his insight on cost savings. He's doing the stacked block/plaster pool. Awesome thing is he's REALLY close to where we live.

 

[azdesertpool]

You probably know that costs (and thus potential cost-savings) vary quite a bit by region. For what it is worth, here in southern AZ I paid for 40 yards of shotcrete at $150/yd and $2,520 for white plaster as part of my OB 16x32 pool+spa. Your best bet may be to call shotcrete and plaster companies in your area to get rough pricing info that you can then compare to the stacked block costs.

 

[treadstone2]

azdesertpool, I will contact the shot-crete/gunite companies in my area to see how much they charge per yard. I spoke with one pool guy this morning and he told me $300.00 per yard, which seems a little bit high. We shall see.

 

[treadstone2]

Hello,

I finally spoke with a gunite/shot-crete contractor. He's been in Atlanta and doing shot-crete for 37 years (and is still in the field working on his jobs......) I told him my story and what I was after with regard to pricing the block walls/poured concrete cores and rebar versus shot-crete and he said he definitely wasn't trying to sway me into hiring him (which by the end of our conversation, I believed. He was just a great businessman trying to offer YEARS of insight....) He actually told me that he couldn't even look at taking any new jobs for several months because they are backed up. The heat is taking its toll on guys working outside and they are just swamped.
Anyway, we talked about the pricing differences versus quality differences and since I'm going for a higher end look and not the vinyl lined pool the block would work fine; he says people do it all over the world that way, but more out of necessity than it being a great finished product. He said that most companies in/around Atlanta don't quote by the YARD because the dig varies and the type of pool, contour, depths benches etc. vary so much that a Per Yard cost isn't really the best way to estimate. Most folks (he says) use the Perimeter measurements, making assumptions on the depth being 3'4" to 6'6", then add for benches, spa's etc. so that makes sense to me now too. Based on our conversation and the idea that I'm not looking for extravagant/luxurious, but more simplistic and clean I should be looking between $57-60 Per Lineal Foot of the perimeter (using the aforementioned assumptions which are close to what I'm thinking of doing). Going with a more standard rectangular pool or oasis style, I estimate that I'll have 108 Lineal Feet which works out to be $6,480.00 for the shot crete and installation. He also mentioned that $225-$250 Per Cubic Yard of regular concrete mix (installed) would be a good number to work with if not using shot Crete. This goes back to my conversation with the other pool guy that quoted me $350.00 Per Cubic Yard and I thought that was pretty high. Again, he states that most of his pools use 20-25 yards of shotcrete. So that gives me a good reference point while I'm estimating my project.

Stay Tuned!