New Pool Build - Southern California

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C

ccp

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Nov 7, 2010
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First of all I want to thank this forum for providing so much valuable information and for all of you who give your time to help inform us newbies. I truly appreciate it. You guys and gals have helped me through this process of designing my pools. Now it has come time to build the pool. We are suppose to begin excavation in the early part of January.

I will take all of the suggestions and comments you have, as everyone on here has more experience than I do. I am going to be the owner builder of this project. I have a pool builder, whom I do business with through the business that I own, who will be working with me on various phases of the construction and will be helping give me advice throughout the process.

I have three young children and both my wife and I grew up with pools and bought a house with a large lot (at least for Southern California standards), so that we could put a pool in and enjoy the benefits of owning a pool with our family. I am excited and at times a bit overwhelmed with this project, but I can't wait to enjoy swimming and great times using it in the near future.

So after about 12 months of saving up and putting money aside for our pool. Here we go!!
 

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The equipment we are thinking about using is a Pentair VS3050 main pump with 2 - 2hp Wisperflows. One for the waterfall and one for the spa booster pump with a 400K BTU natural gas Pentair MasterTemp and the 60sq ft DE filter. We are going to either go with the Intellitouch i-9 or EasyTouch 8 automation and use the Pentair SWG. Any thoughts on the equipment? Is a Raypak heater better than Pentair or more cost effective as far as gas consumption? Also we just want the standard white lights. No colors? Is LED the way to go?

Thanks.
 
I just wanted to say nice design CCP :goodjob: I'm not well versed when it comes to IGPs and the related equipment...but that looks like it going to be one sweet oasis :lol:

Only 12 months of saving :shock: If you are ever in need of a decent CPA or have any tips on how I can save up for one of those in a year, hit me with a PM :mrgreen:
 
I would go with a bigger filter, as big as you can get. That is a large pool, and I always like more filtration than less.

Either heater is fine (they are both good heaters). If you buy 3 or more Pentair products, they extend the warranty from 1 year to three years, so that might influence your decision!

Where in Southern California are you?
 
Of the two in question, I'd recommend the Raypak over the Pentair heater. Raypak's track record is better than the other. Your choice of heater shouldn't affect the warranty on the Pentair pumps & filters. If price is not the objection, colored lighting is far better for improving the "mood" in the pool area. LEDs are definitely the way to go. The SAM & SAL lights proved troublesome & LEDs use far less energy & give you far more color choices for your dollar.
 
Thank you for your input. simicrintz: We are in Corona.
I think we are going to go with the LED lights and probably the Pentair Mastertemp 400K.
Thanks for you input, I am excited to begin our dig in early January. Just got done unloading about 5,000 pounds of ledgestone that I bought. That was fun. My hamstrings are killing me.

We are looking for the pool to have a fairly natural look. Boulders, ledge stone, flagstone and so on. The guy who helped me design the pool suggested that we use cobblestone around the water line instead of tile, to give it a more natural look. He said I would have to be willing to seal it every year.
Do any of you have any thoughts about using cobblestone around the pools waterline? Any other ideas on how to give it the most natural look possible?

Thanks.
 
Cobblestone will be extremely difficult to keep clean, and will give lots of areas for moss/algae/dirt/etc. to lodge. I would look at a natural quartz stone (they make them in 6X6 and 2X2 pieces/sheets), or some of the tile out now is very close in appearance to natural stone. Remember that you are going to have oils, sunscreen, etc. on the tile, so you want to be able to scrub it and keep it clean.
 

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I got all of the permits finished and we sprayed out the pool today. It looks great. It is pretty big. Not sure if it is too big. It is 43ft x 20-26 ft wide with an 8 ft deep end. The spa is 8x9 ft. Any thoughts on the size? Drawbacks or benefits? We have the space to make it that large, but just want to hear if anyone has any drawbacks to going that large. I will post some picture hopefully tomorrow. Also, we are wanting the waterfall natural rocks to go into the pool about 3-4 inches under the water to give it a very natural look. I know we have to seal the heck out of the shotcrete. Any feedback on the pros and cons to doing that?
 
If you have the room, build it big! I've yet to have heard someone say they wish they had a smaller pool!

The spa is another story though. While you want it to look size appropriate with the pool, it will take quite a while (even with a 400K heater) to heat that large of spa. I would allow for about one degree of temperature rise in one and a half minutes, average. 60 degree water getting to 100 degrees will take about an hour to heat.

There are lots of products for sealing the gunite where rocks will go. In the past, we have used Laticrete, Thoroseal or Mulasticoat, and always three coats (do the first coat at "bag color", tint the second coat so you can see that you've covered the first coat completely, and the do the third coat bag color again to see full coverage). We have been using Penecrete lately as well with good results. Whichever route you go, be diligent about the coverage. A little extra time now makes for less worry later!
 
Well we made a lot of progress this past week. We excavated the pool and spa, did rebar, plumbing, gas and rough electrical. The biggest challenge we faced was hitting a huge bolder. We only had to remove a 3ft x ft x 3 ft area of the boulder. It took me about 8 hours with a hand saw and a sledge hammer.
We are suppose to shoot the shotcrete on Wednesday if everything passes inspection on Monday.
Does any one have any thoughts about the equipment, plumbing or anything else.
As an owner builder I appreciate all the advice.
 

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Does anyone in the Corona/Riverside area know of a good pool cleaning company? I also need help finishing installing some equipment and the lights.
Let me know. It would be appreciated. We are almost ready to plaster and get this pool filled up.
 
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