Finalizing remodel bid - I need light/robot help

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glitter&guns

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Jan 25, 2013
242
The Great State of Texas
After a false start last year due to my daughter's health, I am more than ready to get the pool remodel underway. I have a bid that I would like to finalize Monday, but I just have a few things that I have concerns about. Could y'all take a look at the bid and see what y'all think? At the end I will be asking some lighting questions, which are one of my big concerns.

Here is the bid:


Replaster pool $3,577
Drain/sandblast/clean pool 900
Acid etch old plaster
Chip under tile line, lights, returns
Apply Bond coat
Apply Natural Gray Plaster with MetaMix
Fill pool w water using Startup Tec
When pool is full brush, shock, acid, install return fittings &
start up equip

Deck Seal Alamo moss 1,920.
Chip loose areas and patch
Cut expansion joints at cracks & as needed
Powerwash deck & prep for color

Tile cleaning & grout touch up 350.

Install Intellibrite 5g w remote 1,396.

M4 robotic cleaner 1,353.

TOTAL 9,497


OK - so my big question for y'all. I have a lagoon shaped pool and am using grey plaster. I have 1 light can on the deep end facing the house (and it has been broken since I bought the house last year). I could have a "regular" light installed for $350. What is the right choice? I have read that the LED lights are not as bright. I have also read that they are brighter. I am trying to justify $1,000 for a light and I am struggling with it. ANYONE? Does anyone have before & after pics of LED vs old style pool lights?

I think I can get a better deal on the M4 so I will probably go through another company to get the robot. Any thoughts on the M4 or Maytronic or recommendations on something better?

A couple of things that aren't on there - I am going to have spotter tiles put on the steps and going to specify that all the return jets and everything be grey or black to better blend in with the pool (I think if I don't specify I will end up with white). Is there anything else? I have never had a pool remodel before so any help is more than appreciated.

Thank you all so much. I am trying so hard to get this right the first time with limited surprises as we go. And for good measure I attached pictures of the pool as it is now - the rock "patio" stuff will be removed and more sod laid.

 

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LED pool lights are not as bright as equivalent non-LED lights, but they are fairly bright. Of course you can find regular lights that are dimmer :) How your setup ends up looking depends on just how dark a finish you are getting and what kind of effect you are trying to achieve. To get a full color light show effect with a fairly dark gray you would be much better off with two lights, but if the gray is a lighter gray or you just want enough light to swim by then one light will be enough.
 
Very nice looking pool. Don't agonize over making everything perfect......do your best and then enjoy your pool.

Can't help much with lighting.....I've always had standard lighting and I like it fine but I don't have a comparison.

So glad you are removing those tiles. They slope TOWARDS the pool and you want ALL areas to slope away from your pool.

There is an article in Pool School about cleaners. Lot's of recent members have chosen the Dolphin M5 and it looks like a good one to me......I have a similar one but not quite as good, I think.
 
I know that my color LED light is not nearly as bright as my old light ... especially anything in the red spectrum. The "white" light is generated by all the color LEDs being on. I just bought a LED bulb (~$250) that I just had to screw into the existing fitting where the light switch is used to toggle the colors/shows. There are pure white LEDs that I would guess are similar brightness to a regular bulb.
 
I wanted to thank you all for your advice. I finalized the contract and went with a regular type bulb. Y'all confirmed my fear that as cool as the LED light is, it probably won't do what I want it to in this situation. If it was too dark, then I would have had to have the whole LED pulled and a traditional light installed. This way I can go buy an LED "bulb" retrofit and give it a try. Hey, and I saved a bit of money.

I am still at a loss over my cleaner. I looked at the new Polaris the other day that climbs the wall and waits for you to pull it out and uses the motor to evacuate the water out of its system - and more importantly has a GIANT debris cup. I am still worried that the Maytronic has such small debris areas, and my pool has acorns etc in it. Ugh. Decisions. I think the only thing that makes the Maytronic seem like a better deal is the fact that it is designed to be worked on so easily. I can't get anyone to make the same claim about the Polaris.

Thanks again! Hopefully within the next 2 weeks, we will have a big mess going in the back yard!
 
I have an Intellibrite in my pool, and for me it is PLENTY bright. Looks really cool. And my pool is significantly larger than yours. I think your pool would fit in my pool's small shallow end. :)

This is a total WAG, but your pool looks to be somewhere around maybe 8,000 gallons? It is hard to tell without knowing how deep it is. I have a friend with a pool like that which is 3' at each end and 5' in the middle, and his is 8k.
 
Thanks for the input Robbie - I actually just double checked my paperwork as I insisted that they put an estimate on pool volume on my bid (they guys here were nice enough to help me figure out a rough number and they were really close!!!). Pool company says it is right around 20,000 gallons. I will be filling it back up soon, so I will have a hard number then. Mine is 8.5 foot at the deep end. Your pool is over double the size of mine - that is crazy big! I really don't have much light pollution in my area - there are no street lights out here - so I keep thinking that the intellibrite would be enough (and I swam all last year with no light at all)... but.... it is a mistake that I don't want to make. I am going to go ahead and buy an LED bulb. I suppose if I want a light show I shouldn't be too lazy about walking over to the switch to "flick" it. Thanks for your help! I need all the help I can get!
 
A couple of things on the robot, unless your getting the bid from a pool store that sells the Maytronics product line you are probably better off buying it over the counter. Maytronics has a thing about only honoring their warranty if bought in a local brick and motar store dealership, not over the internet, etc. This could lead to trouble if it is sold to you by a pool builder that is not a licensed dealer, that is if you care about warranty, if you don't you can save a LOT buying one online.

Also I suspect the M4 and M5 while good robots would be massive overkill for your small pool, you might want to look at one of their smaller basic Orion robots, Deluxe 3 or similar
 

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Isaac-1 said:
A couple of things on the robot, unless your getting the bid from a pool store that sells the Maytronics product line you are probably better off buying it over the counter. Maytronics has a thing about only honoring their warranty if bought in a local brick and motar store dealership, not over the internet, etc. This could lead to trouble if it is sold to you by a pool builder that is not a licensed dealer, that is if you care about warranty, if you don't you can save a LOT buying one online.

Also I suspect the M4 and M5 while good robots would be massive overkill for your small pool, you might want to look at one of their smaller basic Orion robots, Deluxe 3 or similar
Click to expand...


My builder also is a pool store that sells the Maytronics and works on them. Thanks for pointing out the licensed dealer issue. I guess I will have to look into it - one of the selling points is that it has a 3 year warranty.

As to the size of the pool vs the M4, I guess I will try to do some research on that as well. The pool builder had indicated that this would be the best size for my pool, but maybe it is overkill. I have a tree that overhangs the pool and I do get a decent amount of acorns in small twigs, etc in the pool. I know that big amounts of stuff will still have to be scooped, but it would be nice to have a robot helping me with that.

Thanks for pointing out potential problems.
 
20,000 gallons is a pretty big pool too. Around here most of the pools are in the 12,000 gallon range, 16,000 is a large pool.

I guess somehow my scale is off, I would have never guessed that your pool was that big!
 
RobbieH said:
20,000 gallons is a pretty big pool too. Around here most of the pools are in the 12,000 gallon range, 16,000 is a large pool.

I guess somehow my scale is off, I would have never guessed that your pool was that big!
Click to expand...

I had another guy from the pool co come by today & I asked him his guess on it. He said 19,000. I am guessing it is somewhere in that general area. I will be sure to check the water bill when I fill it up so that I can be sure. It was built a long time ago and I think they made them deeper back then.

And in your defense, I did take the on picture standing on the retaining wall, so the scale is probably skewed.
 
Glitter, any update on what you went with and any pictures? I am about to replaster my pool which is a similar size and shape and am very interested in how yours turned out.
 
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