Just getting started...help

[SoonerWing]

So here is our canvas





We have 3 young boys so I want this to be a play pool. I am seriously leaning towards a fiberglass pool because I "think" it will be cheaper in the long run.

Questions I currently have are:
1) Am I going to need a retaining wall based on the slope of my back yard?
2) How much slope to a fiberglass pool is too much to be able to play basketball, volleyball, and just be boys?
3) Now that I am posting this I have forgotten all of my questions....

 

[JasonLion]

Welcome to TFP!

1) That is the common way to do it, though there are some other alternatives. It looks like there is enough room in your yard that you might be able to grade things so there isn't any retaining wall.
2) Remember that the water won't slope, though the bottom of the pool can slope. For serious gaming, you want a very shallow slope.

 

[Patrick_B]

Welcome to TFP!

If you can do it, gunnite/shot crete gives you far more options on shape and depth. Any cost savings isn't anything significant to run. Only in the construction cost.

About 3.5' on each end to 5-6' deep in the middle is about normal for a play or "sport pool"

A retaining wall might be good. Hard to decide from pictures...to me anyway. Your PB can help more with that, and others here will weigh in.

Enjoy your time on TFP.

 

[Yev]

A small retaining wall might not be a bad thing. I had a similarly sloped back yard, and I ended up with a small retaining wall, about 21 inches high. This wall is about 7 feet behind the stair entrance to my pool, and it serves as a nice seating wall for people.

 

[pooldv]

We didn't spend much time on it, but while looking at fiberglass pools they were nearly the same price as gunite. A 4'x5'x4' play pool is perfect for all things "play" in a pool for big kids (40+) and little kids.

 

[Yev]

The more I think about your yard, the more that the fiberglass makes me worry a bit. I have no idea what your budget it, and what your goals are, but my concern is that you have a big wide open back yard. Fiberglass pool tend to be very narrow (and not very long) due to having to be shipped on a truck. I think that a fiberglass pool will look tiny in a yard like yours, unless there are landscaping improvements made to help section off the pool area from the rest of the yard. Of course that is just my opinion, I could be wrong. But I don't think anyone has ever said I wish my pool was smaller.

What alternative are you considering, the lower cost vinyl lined, or more expensive gunnite?

 

[SoonerWing]

Edit: Total project budget is `$70k. Fence is 5-7K, lateral line issue is 4-7K. Budget for the pool is ~ $50 - 55K. The fiberglass pools I am considering are 35 - 40 ' x 15'. The boys play football and baseball back where it flattens out so I would like to keep that area open. I don't mind a retaining wall just not sure how much cost that will add. Will post pics of what I am thinking shortly. Thanks for the thoughts, feeling a bit overwhelmed right now.

 

[Patrick_B]

You should have some choices in gunnite at that price range. If you are near Tulsa or OKC, there should be a few to choose from.

 

[SoonerWing]

Regarding the budget 70K is really the total budget.
Fence is gonna run me $5-7 K and dealing with my septic is going to run me $3 - 7 K so the pool budget is ~$50 - 55K
When they built our house they ran the first lateral line about 16 foot off the back porch so I am going to need to move 2 or 3 lines. Additionally, the septic tank is in the way if I want to center the pool with the back of my house, which I think that I do. So my options are for $4-5K I can have a new septic tank installed at a different location and move the first few lateral lines to the back of the property. Or for $6-7 K I can have an Aerobic system installed so that I don't have to work about lateral lines in the future, in case I want to build a shop some day. I don't think that I will but when I built the house I didn't think that we would ever do a pool so at least I am starting to learn from my mistakes. We have been in the house for just over 6 years and have not had 1 problem with the septic tank and I hear that with an Aerobic system there are just more mechanical parts so more things can go wrong.

- - - Updated - - -

Fiberglass pool idea that I like best. This is the general idea only rotated 180 degrees. Wife wants a hot tub with spillover.

Slope concern that I have. I want to put a nice basketball goal on the shallower end and I am worried that with this constant slope anything other that PIG will be quite difficult. Volleyball maybe impossible.

 

[SoonerWing]

Wrong pool length in the schematic above, although I think the slope is relatively the same. Here is the correct image. There is also a 40' which is the same width just longer with the deeper end being a little bit deeper. I want the deeper end deep enough for the boys to be able to do some jumping/shallow diving and flips etc.

 

[Patrick_B]

I like that. Nice shape, nicely done.

On the diving, you either have a deep dive pool, or no diving. There is no safe shallow diving. Someone will get hurt.

 

[Yev]

Edit: Total project budget is `$70k. Fence is 5-7K, lateral line issue is 4-7K. Budget for the pool is ~ $50 - 55K. The fiberglass pools I am considering are 35 - 40 ' x 15'. The boys play football and baseball back where it flattens out so I would like to keep that area open. I don't mind a retaining wall just not sure how much cost that will add. Will post pics of what I am thinking shortly. Thanks for the thoughts, feeling a bit overwhelmed right now.

I dont know how it is done in Oklahoma, but in my area, the PBs do not include electric, that is a separate thing. Now the PB will recommend someone, and they will work with the electrician on what needs to be done, but the electricians price is not included in the pool. If that is true there as well, expect electric pricing to start at 1.5K-2.0K, and go up depending on outlets, lighting, etc. In Kentucky, my fencing, which was 3 rail flatboard fencing was right around $10 per foot installed. My retaining wall, which I did the labor myself, was about $5 per block, and each block was 6" high and 16 inches long. I would guess that you would need to assume 24" high for your wall, so estimate $20 per linear foot for the stone.

My pool is simple, just an IG Vinyl lined pool 40x20, with 20 yards of concrete around it, which is a nice size (not huge) amount of area for some chaises and a table and chairs. Depending on where you live, concrete is about $500 per yard +/- $100. I cannot comment on how much people pay for gunnite pools, as they got out of my budget quickly.