My head is 'swimming' with decisions about new PB!

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Nellieand3

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Jun 8, 2015
4
Goodyear, AZ
Hi all!

It is time for hubby and I to decide and my head hurts from all the info. We had 5 PB's come out- 1 never got back to me, so down to 4...Caribbean, Thunderbird, Shasta and California. Our budget 28k, so we have limitations! The later 2 have quotes over 31K, so we politely declined (it really was a very simple pool we want).

We have a small yard, so it is basically a play pool. Perimeter: 75 and Depth: 3.5x5. No water features.

We are deciding between the in floor system (3k expense) or a robot. If we get a robot we may add the water feature back in (aesthetic vs. function). I have 2 teen age sons, so we have manual labor to help clean the pool!

Your opinions on water feature (cascade coming through a wall on back of pool) or in floors??

We have a small berm in the back of the yard so that is a concern. 2/4 companies feel like we need a small wall to block the dirt from going into the pool. (hence why the water feature is on the table)

Pebble- tec or sheen, I cannot get a clear answer on which is better.

[FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]I am so confused about the in floor and how serious an issue the berm is![/FONT]

[FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]I feel like everytime I talk to one of the 2 favorites, it gets more confusing. Now one company is recommending a geometric pool (originally it was free form), but the hubby does not like the rectangle shape.

[/FONT]Finally my last issue is acrylic decking cost. For 343 sq foot of exiting patio, I have a quote for $1.2k to add the lace and a quote for $2.3k.

Any solid advice will be appreciated.
 
Don't let PB tell you what kind of pool you want, its your pool. If i told a PB I want freeform and they kept saying square, I would have walked away.
Tec vs Sheen. Both good products and same for durability, Sheen is smoother, peblletec has bigger pebbles.
For your deck, did they give you a break down of the cost per square footage? Make sure your quotes are broken down line item so you can see exactly what is going in and the cost involved.
 
I would have to see the berm to comment on it. I can tell ya though, a friend of mine has a large berm by her pool, and its horrendous.

If you did put a wall there, you would need to put a lot of gravel behind it so the water would drain out from behind the wall. if you dont, it will just overflow the top.

My vote is for the robot cleaner and scratch the in-floor system .
 
Thanks for the replies. Just getting my thoughts down helped.

The berm is about a foot, not too big. It is funny, since I posted I asked one PB for a quote on a water feature and he emailed back 'look on our website'. Hmmm, if he is not too interested at this stage, I wonder what it will be like after we sign. :p

I am leaning toward the robot, I think we will get more enjoyment from the water cascade.
 
Take all the time you need. Maybe you have a reason to rush, but probably in the long haul, you can take your time. I NEED my pool for physical therapy, and I'm choosing to go slowly. It's such a huge investment. So read and read the forums and google the rest of the internet, too. And if you aren't sure of a decision, just keep thinking and researching until you are sure. I wish I had found this site a year ago. I can't wait for our pool, but I definitely would have done some things differently. There's just so much to learn, because many things about a pool are permanent (or at least fixed for many years).

My vote is also for the robot, especially since your pool is smaller and you have two sons to help!!! When the boys leave, you can always upgrade to remote control. I hear that's fun!

We're going with Pebble Sheen. We like the feel of the smaller pebbles. I'd prefer no pebbles, but for the warranty and durability, I think the pebbles will be worth it. In our Houston area, Pebble Tec is a sharp upgrade; another no-brainer for us. Some people like the look of the larger pebbles with the Pebble Tec. I don't care one way or the other on that.

Water feature: I think it's nice. You can use it when you want to add a little glitz and sound to your pool. I love having water splash down on me on a hot, hot summer day - when I'm already in a pool!! LOL!!

Sorry, but I'm too inexperienced to help with the berm and deck issues. But there are plenty of great people here who will add to the information. Congratulations on deciding to have a pool! Suz.
 
Nellie, not to take up for PB's (I decided to build my own), but you are kind of in peak season right now. Having gone through most of the steps, I have to think most PB's don't want to spend a ton of time on a low dollar pool. The flip side to your thinking might be the ones that are responding aren't as busy (which makes you wonder why).

I also vote robot.
 

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I vote robot or an extra port/line for suction/pressure side cleaner. I think the in-floors on such a simple pool is overkill.

Try to get as much automation as your budget will allow as that helps a lot with ease of use. There's only one valve in my entire setup I have to manually turn on any regular basis and I'm seriously thinking about automating it.

Water features - keep it simple. We have an complicated waterfall with little pools of water in it for extra splashy sounds. I hate it because it's a maintenance nightmare (algae breeding ponds is what I call them!). If you do a sheet descent, keep in mind the stone texture and design as it will develop calcium scale over time. Dark stone shows the grey-white calcium scale much sooner.

Berm - like others said, a picture is worth a thousand words. Sounds like it does need a retaining wall so I think the PBs are on target with that.

I have PebbleTek. Friend has PebbleSheen. Honestly I like both.

Not sure what other equipment you're getting but get the biggest filter you can. I'd go cartridge and go big. Then those strapping young teenagers only have to clean it once or twice a season :)


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kimkats said:
How bad is it when I see a waterfall or sheer decent all I can think of is how hard it would be to keep clean?

Kim
Click to expand...

Actually, my spillway and waterfall (and pool tile) got really bad one winter because I got lazy and let the water go for too long without proper testing. The CSI went way over +0.6 and, over the course if the winter, I developed calcium scale all over everything. I then paid for that mistake by paying for a tile cleaning service to come out and soda blast everything clean (kieserite or magnesium sulfate blasting). Worked beautifully to clean all the calcium but set me back ~$300 ($3 per linear ft of pool perimeter).

The last few years, I have kept my CSI carefully in check and I have developed little to no scale. Anything that has developed is easily acid washed away with a dilute spray of muriatic acid.

So water features can be very beautiful but they do require care and maintenance to keep them that way.


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