Pool Build - Danbury, Texas

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garden:nut

garden:nut

0
Jan 30, 2011
22
Danbury, Texas
Hi all,

Please let me know what you think about the following pool we are wanting to build. We have talked to 4 different pool builders around the Houston area and this one seems the best. We have checked their references on recent and older builds in my area, so I feel pretty good about that. I just want to make sure the equipment and set up is right prior to us signing the papers on Friday. Also what size spa is a good size. I would like to seat about 5-6 people and we also are thinking of making it a little more oval. Is that a good idea? Is this one big enough?
Let me know if I have left anything off and I will find it out for you.
Thank you!

Pool
In-line Chlorinator
Nature2 Pro-G sanitizer
Wireless remote - Jandy PDA PS4 - pool and spa
Min: 3ft
Max: 7ft
Sq.Ft: 434
Gal: 16,275
Perimeter: 86
Zone: A
Cartridge Filter 420 sq ft w/spa
Pump: 2.0 HP with spa
Skimmer: 1
Returns: 3
Hayward Led lights: 1
Raypack 399K BTU Heater
Overflow line and wall grate: 1 (dont know the size)

SPA
Spa 32 sqft (includes 4 jets, led light, level, 25 ft plumbing)
total of spa jets: 5
Air blower 1.5 hp
12" spa dam wall length: 5 ft with a tiered spa in flagstone
Pool coping in flagstone
water line tile from their stock (we will probably up grade)
Plaster
A&S White mini pebble finish (same finish as pebble tec?)
Deck - brushed concrete, but we will hire someone to get spray deck after pool build
 

Attachments

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Does the "best" translate into the lowest price?

I am so used to being up against A&S. Now that they are gone from Atlanta this may be the last time I get to critque their proposal. The spa is too small unless you are very friendly with whoever the 5 other people are in there with you. Get yourself a screwdriver a paint can, and a tape measure. Go out into the yard and stick the screwdriver in the ground. Hook the tape on the top of the driver and find 3 feet. Walk in a circle while painting the ground. That's your spa. Now imagine fitting 6 people in there. Alot of touching going on in that spa. I would go to at least a 40 sq.ft. spa. That is a 3'6" radius. The reason they have one 2hp pump is so they can keep the upfront price down. The only time you need 2hp is for when you are using the spa. That setup wastes alot of electric while in pool mode. The money you will save over a couple of years with haveing a variable or 2 speed will return that money. I am curious to see what size plumbing they are using. Most likely 1 1/2. Even more efficiencey is lost in the smaller plumbing but hey it saves you money up front only to spend it in operating costs. Here is where you may get several different opinions. If that were my build I would have 2 lights and 2 skimmers. The PDA 4 will run everything with that setup but if you would like to turn on yard lighting there isn't enough channels on it. Ask them what the waranty is with the interior finish. Pebble Tec here in Atlanta has a 15 year. Most others only have a 5 year and then its a game of who honors that waranty the installer or the factory. Pebble Tec is sort of a monopoly. You want it that way. If there is an issue you only have to deal with one entity and that is the company that installed it. They are PebbleTec and they honor it weather it was the aplication or the product. What cleaner are the offering?
 
Really, they were middle of the road on their price. The other pool company did not check out. Thank you for the advice on the spa, we will try out what you suggested and see what works for us. Ok, so using a varible speed pump is best? What size plumbing do you suggest for this size pool? Or does the size of the pool matter to what size plumbing? Also, we insisted on an overflow line for the pool because of the ever changing Texas weather and our proximity to the coast. What size should that be; or does it matter? Where in the pool should it be placed? They were going to tie that in to our drain for the deck drains, is that a good idea? I wondered about the interior finish and I will find out the warranty because they never said what brand and I had heard that Pebble Tec was a good product. Thank you for your advice, I appreciate an expert. :) This isnt something I do every day and it is alot of money! I am going to ask about the plumbing and finish.

How many jets should I have in a 40 sq ft spa? And what should be used instead of Nature2?
 
My spa is about 8-9 ft in diameter, and it's got 12 jets. They seem a bit underpowered with my 1.5HP jet pump, but if I plug 4 of them, the remaining 8 have plenty of pressure. Instead of the nature2, use chlorine! Either use a SWG or a Liquidator if you don't want to manually pour bleach in the pool each evening. For more info about the nature2, do a search on here, and you'll see many reasons to avoid it :cool:
 

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Garden:nut
We live in the same area and one thing that should be easy to find is a good pool builder around here....
Based on what I have heard and our own (very short) contact to A&S, I would highly recommend you to consider alternatives. Have you talked to enough references?
From what I have heard and read, Blue Haven are worse but A&S is not much better.... :( You can find many horror stories on both of these 'builders' on the various pool fora.
I would recommend that you spend some time on this site and perhaps Gardenweb and educate yourself - I am still learning every day but this seems to be one of the greatest online resources out there.
Feel free to PM me if you need some recommendations on PB's in the area (based on colleagues and friends previous pool builds - we are just barely getting started ourselves)
Good luck......
 
Thank you all for the advice for the spa. What is the difference between a in-line chlorinator and a Liquidator? Dont both put chlorine in my pool? The Nature2 comes in the package, but I have to pay extra for the in-line chlorinator. I didnt think we should go with SWG because we are wanting flagstone and i had read that it causes it to split. I guess I need to do some more reading on this equipment. . :|

Friendswoodnewbie, I shot you a pm. Thanks for the advice.
 
From my perspective and I believe I have a really good perspective, the amount of money I would have lost from work to be my own contractor (assuming you could take off several days a week), I would have saved plenty by being my own pool builder and subbing all the work out and finding the best for each phase. There are plenty of pages that show you the entire construction process and other sites that explain the whole process. From my experience, my PB had really good talents in the raw construction and much more poor experience in the coping/end work which I believe I'll suffer for quite some time. Hindsight, I would have done it myself. That's whats great about these sites. You can evaluate.

If you haven't seen this yet, here is my thread and my experience. new-pool-construction-t28608.html
If you read through it, it should give you a LOT of insight on questions you should ask that I never thought of until they happened.
 
An in-line chlorinator uses Trichlor pucks, which will add CYA to your water. While you want some CYA in the water, using trichlor pucks will raise the level to an extreme level very quickly. A Liquidator slowly injects liquid chlorine in the water. Liquid chlorine, either regular bleach or pool store 12.5% chlorine, won't add anything to the water except chlorine, water, and a small amount of salt.
 
My A&S region designs and sells. The entire project is subbed out and the project management is usually atrocious. The shell is usually done well but that's about it. Their warranty has so many loop holes is isn't funny. Check around your area. Ask for several customer names in the area, some under construction, some a couple years old, some several years old.

They used to be great 15 years ago in my region. Used to be is telling. A lot has happened since then. I haven't heard a lot of good things in your neck of the woods on other pool forums also. I strongly urge you tread with caution. Watch the pay schedule. They tend to want a lot up front and very little on the end which leaves the home owner with very little leverage to get things corrected.

Scott
 
New quote - new pool company

Pool
94' perimeter pool
18'x34' freeform
3.5 to 7 ft deep
Flagstone coping
650ft deck in peagravel or spraydeck
2 skimmer with 2" suction lines
2 anti-vortex main drains with 2"suction lines
2" plumbing, 8 return lines
2hp Tristar dual speed EE pump
Hayward swim clear 425 quad-cluster cartridrige filter
2 Hayward led lights
2 bubblers
Aqua logic control system with Aqua pod remote
Hayward Tigershark pool cleaner
Fill Line
Overflow line
Pentair In-line chlorinator
Paramont Clear O3 Ozanator

spa
8' spa, raised 12"
8' stacked stone spillway
8 Hayward massage jets
1 led light
Hayward H-series H400 natural gas heater
Air Supply Silencer 2 HP air blower
2 1/2 plumbing
1 return line and 2 anti vortex main drains
hydrostatic valve incorporated into structure

Ok what do ya'll think?
 
I think you should drop the ozonator. From what I have read, it really doesn't do much good and if you really have a problem, adding some extra bleach is not such a big deal.

8 returns sound like a lot but I guess more is better :-D

I am a little surprised by the mix of brands - Hayward, Pentair. Nortmally, I think you get a better warranty if you stick with one brand (3 years vs 1)

Otherwise, it sounds good to me but wait for the experts to chime in (personally, I like SWG pools but I am sure this will work as well)

Good luck in your selection. Remember to check references.... :-D
 
2.5" on the pool drains too.
Skip the Ozone. It's just a high margin toy that isn't needed.
Waterway Plastics' line of Power Storm jets are more versatile and come in more varieties.
Hayward T-15 cell instead of the Intellichlor but keep the Rainbow 320 as it's Hayward equivalent isn't.

Keep getting quotes.

Be careful of slick, fast talking, pressuring car sales type.

Check references. Those under construction, a couple years done and 5 years done. Visit if possible, without the sales guy there. Less pressure on both you and the reference is more likely to speak more openly.

Scott
 
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