Cen Cali Pool Plans - Feedback & Input

[m3rocket]

Firstly, I just have to thank everyone that participate here. It is incredible to be able to research options and opinions. We're planning to build a pool since my fiance is a fish. We're down to two PB's (out of 6), and am planning to sign a contract before July 4. We're in the hot (103 today!) and semi-arid dessert of central (interior) California.

We had two submissions drawn with Pool Studio based on my initial hand drawing/conceptualization. The others were using Visio or hand-drawn. After watching a PB play with Pool Studio, I decided I needed to "purchase" the program for myself so that we could "construct" precisely what we had in mind. So I downloaded Pool Studio last Sunday and paid for a month's subscription. "Built" the pool from my hand drawings, and took some "photos":

More "photos" or renderings can be seen here: http://www.ilukphotography.com/pool

Here are the some specs for the pool:
Semi-geometric: 40' length x 19' to 22' width, 108' Perimeter
Depth: 4' to 8', 758 SqFt.
Interior: WetEdge Primera Stone; Blue Pacific Coast
Standard 6" x 6" tile (not decided yet)
2 Skimmers, 4 Return Lines, Autofill
2 Pentair IntelliBrite
2 Benches (1 swimout, 2 umbrella sleeves)
2 Bubblers, 1 umbrella sleeve on sun-shelf
Compass mosaic and diamonds on steps (Glass or Granite TBD)

Pentair VS-3050
Pentair CCP-320 Cartridge Filter
Pentair IntelliTouch i5 w/remote control
Pentair Legend pool cleaner

1060 SqFt Concrete Deck and Square/Near Flush Coping, colored stamped epoxy overlay and ribbon per design
300 SqFt Brushed Block Concrete on west side-yard, 142 SqFt on Brushed Concrete east side-yard

21' wide x 30" tall staggered stack waterfall over Three Rivers ledger stone (waterfall planter/wall is 38 linear feet)
42 linear feet x 18' tall sitting wall Three Rivers ledger stack with flagstone cap
2 Nexxuss SaviNOTE to uplight the waterfall from the bench
3 downlights to light the sitting wall

6' Diving Board (or InterFab T7?)

One of our concerns was the size of the deck and how hot it would get. Evidently the Vinyl overlays (like Sundek) is supposed to help reduce the deck temperatures by up to 10 degrees compared with concrete. Originally I spec'ed a salted concrete deck with brushed coping and ribbons. But was told that it would require two pours--hence additional costs which may as well go towards a cooler deck finish. Are there any other ways to keep the deck cooler (other than shade)? The planters are not going to be big enough for large trees.

Also, do you think we should oversize the pool filter to ease maintenance? I initially thought I wanted a D.E. filter, by don't really want to deal with the mess when cleaning those filters.

Didn't spec a salt system because of the natural rock waterfall. Also, in consulting with two friends that have salt pools, one of them took out the system after five years. And the other had to keep replacing the plates almost every year, plus the controller a year ago. Both recommended against salt. One PB suggested Ozone as a supplementary system, but we're not sold on that.

The sun deck is going to be the first step (12" down, 8"-9" of water). I'm not enamored with the small first step to reach an 18" sun shelf. Plus I think the bubblers will work better in the slightly shallower water. What are your experiences with the sun shelf heights?

 

[dykes26]

Wow! Love the look and admire your do it yourself design.

1. Check with your insurance co before you install a diving board. Many insurance Co's in CA will not insure a home with a board and the few that do charge a ton to have one. Our agents explained it this way- nearly all injuries that result from diving boards are catastrophic, thus they will not cover our home if we installed one. Also, I think 8 feet is a little shallow for a diving board ( Could be wrong but I thought the pool had to go to 10 ft for a diving board)

~ ever consider a diving ledge? We have 2 spots that were designed to jump of on our pool. One is three feet and a half feet off the water and the other is a foot of the spa. Not a board so no insurance issues.

2. I think oversize the filter- Should last longer. We have a Pentair FNS DE 60 and have not seen a rise in our pressure since install and I have been told that should allow us to have a very long lasting filter

3. I agree- no SWG, but also no ozone (somebody will come along and explain the no ozone better than I could) - We love our SWG but those with natural stone coping have had some issues and based on your look the waterfall would be running a great deal. We have 3 spill overs over natural rock but they get run when we have company and on special occasions only.

4. No advice on the hot deck- live in So Cal and our concrete deck gets hot in the summer. We have some synthetic turf and that gets hot too.

5.Check building code- I think you have to have a step to get to the sun shelf. We have a small step and for us its better than a big one- more sun shelf space.

6. You will LOVE the pentair remote for the intellitouch it is so easy to use.

 

[m3rocket]

Thanx for the compliments dykes26!

1. Yeah--was warned about the insurance issue. I did check, and our home insurer (State Farm) has no problems covering the pool with a diving board. Planning on building a type 1 pool, so 8' is within spec. And will also be covered by another $1 million umbrella coverage provided by the PB.

2. I'll have to ask about the costs for upsizing the filter. CCP-420 probably.

3. Planning on running the waterfall often. It is there to partially mask the traffic noise from the street on the other side of the wall. Also as the main visual feature from all the windows in the main living area into the backyard.

4. I'm inland in the Central Valley. It gets stinking hot here in the summers.

5. Will have to check on that--neither one of the final two PB's mentioned any problems with the first step/shelf being 12" down.