Need help confirming choices of new gunite build

[AQUA~HOLICS]

The spa in the picture I provided was at a finished height at the middle of the pool tile line.
In order to obtain this you need to know the thickness of the tile and mortar from your tile installer.

 

[ajw22]

Build a pool to work in your NJ environment. A So Cal style pool looks great but will not work well in NJ.

I open my pool in NJ in mid April and close it late October. The pool may be swimable from late May to early September however we use the spa much more than the pool. Especially at night when the pool water may be in the 60s or 70s.

I don’t want cold pool water splashing into my 102F spa or cooling it off. You want the hot spa to be thermally isolated from the pool.

While your vanishing edge spa design looks cool I think you will regret it. A raised spillover spa design is much more practical in the colder climates letting the spa be totally isolated from the pool.

 

[AQUA~HOLICS]

Customers biggest concern with vanishing edge spas is the transfer of pool water to the spa when a person exits the spa. This needs to be addressed before deciding whether to have that option on your pool/spa.

 

[pjt]

would you just go with the 2 skimmers and would that be enough?

Yes. My pool has this setup and it works great.

wouldn't it require more frequent vacuuming because dirt would tend to go to the bottom of the pool?

Actually, the opposite. Since all your suction comes from the skimmers, they are effective skimming the vast majority of your debris before it has the chance to sink to the bottom.

I wanted to opt for one of those robots connected to power or the battery powered ones which seems the way to go.

Robot is definitely the way to go. No need for a dedicated suction line, but it is optional (I don't have one). If I ever needed to vacuum, I could connect one to a skimmer. (I don't even own a vacuum.)

I was thinking that since I wanted each skimmer to be plumbed separately that 2'' would be enough ? Do I really need 2.5'' if they are independent ?

2" would work, but 2.5" would be better and the cost difference is negligible.

The separate pump for the SPA is for the reason Allen mentioned that it's hard to get enough GPM to your jets if you go through the pump and heater. Assuming 10gpm for each jet, I would need 120gpm with the current setup and it seems a separate pump would do a better job, that way the pool pump would be shared with the SPA just for circulation and the jets would be operated on that second pump. It seems this is what Allen has on his configuration.

That makes sense with the desired flow rates. Looks like you've thought it through.

If I go with only one pump it would mean that while I use the SPA, the circulation to the pool would stop to have enough flow to the jets correct?

In spa mode, circulation to the pool stops. Your pump will suck water from the spa and return water to the spa.

 

[Poolparty2022]

Thanks PJT.

Regarding the depth, I really struggled with it. I agree that 3' is shallow but I was afraid that 5' might not be deep enough so when I was thinking of the different combination of shallow/deep depth and the required slope, it seemed that it needed to be 3' on the shallow end to allow average sized people to walk 2/3 of the length without having to swim. But this is interesting what you are saying about the deep end. Currently the setup is such that the last 5' would be 6' deep and the first 5' after the stairs would be 3' deep like in the picture below. If I were to change the deep end to 5' instead, I would have to think about how to get to 4' sooner and have a gentle slope.

Regarding the filter I'll look at the 520 filter.

It seems nobody likes that SVRS pump. Originally I wanted to go with the Whisperflo 011533 and Easytouch but ended up reading on this forum about intellicenter being a better choice and I think I need the interlliflo for that, so I'll look into the one you mentioned.

Regarding the volume it will be slightly less than 20k gallons so we should be good with the IC40. And yes the lights will be away from the house.

When you say main drain is optional, would you just go with the 2 skimmers and would that be enough ? wouldn't it require more frequent vacuuming because dirt would tend to go to the bottom of the pool?

Regarding vacuum. I didn't plan for suction vacuum line as I wanted to opt for one of those robots connected to power or the battery powered ones which seems the way to go. In a new build would you put a suction vacuum line nowadays ?

The separate pump for the SPA is for the reason Allen mentioned that it's hard to get enough GPM to your jets if you go through the pump and heater. Assuming 10gpm for each jet, I would need 120gpm with the current setup and it seems a separate pump would do a better job, that way the pool pump would be shared with the SPA just for circulation and the jets would be operated on that second pump. It seems this is what Allen has on his configuration.
If I go with only one pump it would mean that while I use the SPA, the circulation to the pool would stop to have enough flow to the jets correct? and when the SPA is not in use, the jets would serve as returns ? would you do just one spa drain in this situation?


Regarding pipe sizes. 3'' for the SPA is what I wanted to go with. The pool drain with 2.5'' (but now I have to read more about whether I can do withtout drains. I was thinking that since I wanted each skimmer to be plumbed separately that 2'' would be enough ? Do I really need 2.5'' if they are independent ?

No, the chem feeder is the placeholder for the SWG, I should rename it. Regarding the bypass, I was reading about the fact that it was recommended for pumps able to generate more than 120 GPM and was considering adding it as well. It seems Pentair has a kit with an intellivalve so I'll probably get this one.

Again thanks those advices!

View attachment 473049

This is nearly the same profile as our build last year. Checkout the multi year thread if you are interested in seeing pics. We have young children so it has worked out really well and use all depths. If I didn’t have kids, I would have reconsidered the 6’ depth.

 

[RoyR]

Why is the Spa Makeup line crossed out - keep it, it’s nice to adjust the spa return flow (I know you could just increase the speed of the circulation pump, but then the pool returns would increase flow too). The second pump for the spa is a must have imo. Just decide how you want to share the jets.

 

[vespaboy]

Why is the Spa Makeup line crossed out - keep it, it’s nice to adjust the spa return flow (I know you could just increase the speed of the circulation pump, but then the pool returns would increase flow too). The second pump for the spa is a must have imo. Just decide how you want to share the jets.

thanks for your answer. I guess the reasoning was that with the electronic valve you can control the flow as well without needing the make up?
But I was reading earlier about shared equipment and the need to have the spa to spill over the pool to make the water circulate and not have the spa water become green. In the setup I posted, I was under the impression that the main pump would constantly suck up water from both the pool and spa and return to both the pool and spa, return as much water as it takes to the SPA and ensuring proper circulation. Why would I need a spillover into the pool? Am I missing something ?

 

[ajw22]

thanks for your answer. I guess the reasoning was that with the electronic valve you can control the flow as well without needing the make up?
But I was reading earlier about shared equipment and the need to have the spa to spill over the pool to make the water circulate and not have the spa water become green. In the setup I posted, I was under the impression that the main pump would constantly suck up water from both the pool and spa and return to both the pool and spa, return as much water as it takes to the SPA and ensuring proper circulation. Why would I need a spillover into the pool? Am I missing something ?

Yes, you are missing how you use the SPILLWAY mode to refresh the pool water once or twice a day. That is all that is needed to keep the spa fresh.

SPILLWAY mode pulls water from the pool and returns to to the spa. You run it for 15-30 minutes twice a day.

 

[vespaboy]

Why is the Spa Makeup line crossed out - keep it, it’s nice to adjust the spa return flow (I know you could just increase the speed of the circulation pump, but then the pool returns would increase flow too). The second pump for the spa is a must have imo. Just decide how you want to share the jets.

One more thing about your comment on how to share the jets. I was planning on having 1-2 jets return from the main pump to the SPA with one spa main drain connected to the suction side which would provide circulation to the Spa and the 12 therapy jets connected to the dedicated pump with a loop from the second Spa main drain.

this seems pretty standard. The question is that whether 1 or 2 returns would be enough to heat it up quickly when in spa mode or whether I need to think about “sharing” the jets as you mentioned but the only way I see that is to have 2 sets of sets one connected to the main pump and the other one to the jets pump. That seems more complicated than necessary.

Alternatively I could get away with only one pump but I would be restricted on the GPM and would probably have to reduce the number of jets (planning for 12 at the moment).

 

[ajw22]

The question is that whether 1 or 2 returns would be enough to heat it up quickly when in spa mode

It will be. See my spa design I showed you in post#6.

or whether I need to think about “sharing” the jets as you mentioned but the only way I see that is to have 2 sets of sets one connected to the main pump and the other one to the jets pump. That seems more complicated than necessary.

And give you a challenge of fitting all the plumbing is the spa walls.