Pool Design & Layout Process - Input Requested

[blbncsu]

Going down the road of investigating installing a vinyl lined IG pool but that feeling of being overwhelmed by the whole process is starting to creep in

We have interviewed 2 pool builders thus far and we have a good idea of what we want in our yard but I'm a bit lost on how others have gone about their whole design/layout process. The pool builders install pools and have "contacts" for the other trades but its up to me to coordinate and quote them out. In order to do a good job and not be lead around by contractors I feel the need to have the whole pool design layed out and detailed down to the square foot but thats easier said than done and harder to convey.

Did you start with a landscape architect and do a full yard layout including pool, decking, patios, retaining walls, drainage, etc...?
Did you interview pool builders first and select one before designing the pool deck and receiving quotes for the other items?
How did you get accurate quotes for concrete decking, patios, electrical and did you use a detailed blueprint of your layout or how did you do that?

I'd like to better understand how others went about the whole pool building, design, quoting process and what steps were followed and in what order. Would help make me feel better!

 

[mhosborn]

For us, our PB did most of the work. We had to arrange on our own:

-- Fencing
-- (Wood) deck reconfiguration
-- Sprinkler system reconfiguration
-- Electrical

Our pool design was done in a program that provided 3D renderings of what the final thing would look like, so it made that part of it much easier to understand. We knew where we wanted the equipment pad, and all of our quotes used that location.