Hello all. Long time reader of the site. I have searched quite a bit but still have a few questions.
First, our plan is a 16x41x24 L-shaped liner pool with 8 foot deep end. We have three kids 10,8 and 4 and love to entertain. We have gotten three bids. We plan on doing salt, variable speed pump, LED lighting, and no diving board. All quotes included 2" plumbing, separate return plumbing, and main drains.
My questions are the following:
1) Vinyl over full length stairs...good or bad idea? We have had two builders recommend them and one insist that they will eventually be a problem due to the vinyl fit over the outside corners combined with friction which will cause the liner to prematurely fail. Is this really an issue? Fox has an interesting product which is sort of a PVC cap corner protector that goes over the stair corners but I'm not sure it's really an improvement. The stairs would take up some of our shallow end but I have heard many people rave about them saying that adults tend to congregate on them who don't want to get all the way in.
2) How many skimmers for an L and where to put them? I am thinking two both on the long wall of the L. What about number of returns for an L this size?
3) Jets in the stairs...good or bad? One builder says he worries about them because they can have a higher chance of leakage over time and are difficult to fix.
4) Heat pump vs. gas heater. We are in East TN so pretty warm overall and my wife likes warm water. It seems the heat pump is the better way to go since we want more constant heat vs just occasional bumps up. We may add this later.
Is it really worth $65-75K to do this with all the bells and whistles ie salt, VS pump, LED's, etc.?
Thanks so much for any help.
First, our plan is a 16x41x24 L-shaped liner pool with 8 foot deep end. We have three kids 10,8 and 4 and love to entertain. We have gotten three bids. We plan on doing salt, variable speed pump, LED lighting, and no diving board. All quotes included 2" plumbing, separate return plumbing, and main drains.
My questions are the following:
1) Vinyl over full length stairs...good or bad idea? We have had two builders recommend them and one insist that they will eventually be a problem due to the vinyl fit over the outside corners combined with friction which will cause the liner to prematurely fail. Is this really an issue? Fox has an interesting product which is sort of a PVC cap corner protector that goes over the stair corners but I'm not sure it's really an improvement. The stairs would take up some of our shallow end but I have heard many people rave about them saying that adults tend to congregate on them who don't want to get all the way in.
2) How many skimmers for an L and where to put them? I am thinking two both on the long wall of the L. What about number of returns for an L this size?
3) Jets in the stairs...good or bad? One builder says he worries about them because they can have a higher chance of leakage over time and are difficult to fix.
4) Heat pump vs. gas heater. We are in East TN so pretty warm overall and my wife likes warm water. It seems the heat pump is the better way to go since we want more constant heat vs just occasional bumps up. We may add this later.
Is it really worth $65-75K to do this with all the bells and whistles ie salt, VS pump, LED's, etc.?
Thanks so much for any help.