Desiging Phase DIY Help Needed

[ml504]

I just joined yesterday and already the wealth of information on here is priceless. Just a quick background, my wife and I are looking at a DIY in-ground liner pool from either of the below:

http://www.poolwarehouse.com -or- http://www.nationalpoolwholsalers.com

First and foremost, does anyone have any comments (good or bad) about either of these two companies? I am open to suggestions and other places of interest as well if someone knows a better place to purchase from.

Secondly, as we will be doing this ourselves (the digging will be contracted out) is a lagoon pool a lot more difficult than a roman style? I am still considering hiring out the pool crete for the floor but we may try to attempt that part.

Last summer I installed a 40x60 steel building so I love DIY projects but I know where my weaknesses are which is why the digging is not even an option for me. I have received a quote of $1000 to dig a 18x36 roman style and $1500 for custom styles (similar size).

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Matt

 

[ml504]

Any advice?

 

[bop]

Where to start?

2 years ago I did just what you are wanting to do. I hired out the hole digging but did everything else but the concrete deck.

To answer one of your questions......DEFINATELY HIRE OUT THE POOL BOTTOM WORK....LET ME SAY THAT AGAIN.....HIRE OUT THE POOL BOTTOM WORK. My wife, two buddies, and I took this on ourselves. We worked for 12 hours and did not finish. This is, in my opinion, miserable work and not something that is easy to pick up on. I was less then impressed with the outcome after finishing. It turned out good enough but could have been a lot better.

I am a school teacher so I had the ability to work as many hours as I needed to get it done. After the hole was dug it took exactly 30 days until the kids were swimming. I had never built anything like this before but I was not afraid to try. My wife asked me before I began if I could do it and I told her "I guess were gonna find out!"

I averaged about 12 hours a day and worked every day on it with the exception of a 3 day weekend in Vegas in the middle of the build. I, like yourself, enjoy doing the work and in reality we would not have been able to afford the pool if I hadn't.

I bought my kit from national pool wholesalers and was satisfied with my decision. They are just a wholesaler/reseller so your pool does not come from them directly but rather from another company. There vendor was a little slow in shipping so there were a few phone calls back in forth to light a fire under them. I was probably a little impatient but when you pay that kind of money over the internet I felt that the service could have been a litttle better. They did provide me with a phone number of a pool builder that I called a few times with questions and was very happy with that service.

I built a roman style pool with steel walls. The instructions are not that great but once you get going it is really a pretty simple job, just labor intensive. If you had a small work crew of buddies you could get it done quicker. I didn't go that route because my buddies all have families and projects of their own to do so I didn't want to impose of them.

Having done it once there would be a few things I would do differently if I did it again.
1. I would find a couple of highschool/college kids that I could pay $10 and hour to help.
2. I would hire out the pool bottom work.
3. I would have gone more elaborate.....ie. waterfall/boulder/beach entry.......

I like your idea of the free form pool, I wanted to go that route also but with small kids I wanted a pool that would accomodate a safety cover so I stuck with a rectangular type pool.


Good luck and let us know what you decide!