New Geometric Owner Build in Orlando

[coastertrav]

Hello everyone, long time/first time.

I've been lurking on the forums learning all I can and reading all relevant build threads in preparation of my own owner build, and now that we are about to jump in and start the process I figured it was time to start my own thread.

Firstly, why in the world am I looking to do this myself?

So by day I work as an engineer in the construction industry (theme parks and water parks specifically), so when we started this whole process I reached out to around 10 pool builders in our area and met with probably seven of them to go over our idea and budget. About halfway through meeting with all the companies I started asking myself, "why am I giving these guys my money when I am having a hard time seeing what they are bringing to the table?" I am a little obsessive by nature so every time one of the builders would suggest a product, building method or design I would run and investigate until I felt like I knew everything about their suggestions to make an informed decision. After researching pumps/filters/SWCG/chlorinators/ozone/UV/water features/lighting/plaster/pebble/ect I really felt like this project wasn't some kind of voodoo and I knew enough to be dangerous.

For the site, we live in a new community with a blank 70' x 25' backyard. All landscaping around the pool will be new and for now we are going without a screen. I plan on having a footer poured around the new patio in case we decide to add a screen in the future.

Equipment wise I am using all Pentair (same as we spec at work).

3hp VS pump
Sanddollar Sand Filter SD60
Easytouch 4ch Automation (mostly for water feature valves and lighting control)
SWCG
Intellabrite Color LED

I've laid out the plans in AutoCAD and am a few days away from submitting to the structural engineer for the permit drawings and maybe 2-4 weeks from permitting. I am right now making final tweaks to the plans and have it narrowed down to two layouts. The difference in layouts are basically just the rotation of the sunshelf and the style of the stairs. Comments and questions are welcome. Also, if anyone has any subs they have used and can recommend in the Orlando area that would be greatly appreciated.

Layout 1 (Square Stairs)

Layout 2 (Circle Stairs)

 

[kimkats]

Hi and welcome! Lets get this party started!

I LOVE #2 with the circle steps the best! Just look very pleasing to the eye!

You will want to move the Easytouch up to 8 or you will not be able to automate some of your features.

Make sure your SWG is rated for double your water size. This will save on costs down the road.

Let us see where this pool will be going please.

I can't help with subs. I don't even know of any in my own area LOL

Kim

 

[ctrav]

Welcome to TFP Coastertrav...attached pics of the backyard space will be helpful. I agree with Kim on curved steps and 12" shelf depth is a good choice but could be a steep drop off for little ones or older folks. If you plan to put chairs or loungers on the shelf 12" could be just a little deep so you may want to consider 10". I find that 10" works very well on our pool.

A few questions:

will the pool have full sun
how many skimmers
how many returns
will there be bubbler on the shelf
will you have a light over the equipment pad
what type of pool cleaner do you plan to use

I have no idea on the subs and this may be a major hurdle for a self build but the good news is that once you find one they will normally know others to help with the project. Perhaps a general contractor to oversee the project, help with permits and inspections may be worth it.

Best of luck...

 

[riley00dog]

Welcome [emoji1309] Your first question is a good one! What you are about to go through will all be worth it in the end... well that’s what I’m told anyway [emoji23] I have a similar obsessive nature though I’m not an engineer with that kind of insight. These traits will make the build more frustrating for you at times BUT you will end up with a much better finished product... along a few more grey hairs. Good luck on your build. It sounds like you are well and truly all over it already.

 

[tampatommy]

Layout 2 for sure.

 

[ajw22]

Layout 2

 

[Brentr]

Welcome to TFP I like layout 2. I do not know any subs in your area but we have quite a few members here in your area so perhaps they will chime in. You can also contact them if you come across anyone in your area, just keep looking thru the threads. Congrats on your new pool build. I love the fact that you are going to put in footers for future screen, smart

Not to overwhelm you but here are some other suggestions

1. Speaking from experience. Put in a double door on one of the sides. I only had one door and ended up putting in a double door and another single door on the opposite side. I should have listened to my wife
2. Plan on plumbing electrical and water for a future summer kitchen.
3. Plan on adding solar and heat pump in your equipment pad.
4. Make sure that you have a very large equipment pad, our equipment pad is 19 ft long x 9 ft wide.
5. Put lights at pool pad.
6. Put in water spigots in all 4 corners of the screen cage both inside and outside the screen cage.
7. Put in electrical outlets in all 4 corners of the screen cage both inside and outside the screen cage.
8. Go with a large outdoor space as possible. We have 1800sq ft of pavers and we wish we did a larger space. You will be quite surprised how much room tables chairs and lounges take up.
9. Run conduits for speaker wires if you plan on wired speakers.
10. Put in footers for future screen cage. Some people do not like the pool cage however we believe in it as we swim a lot at nighttime.
11. Plan on positioning your pool so that you can watch TV comfortably when you are in it. I know that this may sound strange but we love watching TV, football games, NASCAR races and movies when we are relaxing in the pool.
12. Place pool light facing away from the house, we had ours facing towards the house and we notice some glare from it.
Look at the 3 links in my signature bar for ideas. Post lots of pics

 

[ctrav]

Good stuff...

 

[Chopjaw]

I like #2. I would add more lights in the Baja area or even LED bubblers. Something to consider, take the stairs down to the 4' depth the entire width of pool (just a thought). I would also make the width from the house to the pool edge wider like 7'. To me it's a better area to work with. You might want to think about having another pump to run just your water features. Umbrella holders in the pool.

 

[coastertrav]

Thanks everyone. I’ve tried to get to all your questions and comments below. I cannot thank you enough for your input.

I LOVE #2 with the circle steps the best! Just look very pleasing to the eye!

You will want to move the Easytouch up to 8 or you will not be able to automate some of your features.

Make sure your SWG is rated for double your water size. This will save on costs down the road.

Let us see where this pool will be going please.

Thanks Kim.

Question on the easytouch. Since I don’t have a spa I can’t think of needing more than 4 outputs. I’d have one for the VS pump, one for the lights and one for the automated valve for the water features. That would leave me one spare for a future heater if necessary. Let me know if there is more I’m not thinking of. I don’t mind purchasing spare capacity if I can think of uses!

SWCG will be the 40k gallon one. The pool as designed now should be a bit under 15k gallons.

I’ll post a picture of the back yard soon. Not much out there now.

Welcome to TFP Coastertrav...attached pics of the backyard space will be helpful. I agree with Kim on curved steps and 12" shelf depth is a good choice but could be a steep drop off for little ones or older folks. If you plan to put chairs or loungers on the shelf 12" could be just a little deep so you may want to consider 10". I find that 10" works very well on our pool.

A few questions:

will the pool have full sun
how many skimmers
how many returns
will there be bubbler on the shelf
will you have a light over the equipment pad
what type of pool cleaner do you plan to use

I have no idea on the subs and this may be a major hurdle for a self build but the good news is that once you find one they will normally know others to help with the project. Perhaps a general contractor to oversee the project, help with permits and inspections may be worth it.

Best of luck...

The depths on the plans are to top of bond beam, so the water depth ends up about 6” below that, so should be perfect lounger depth.

The pool is is in full sun with no enclosure for now. Maybe in the future if the first season shows we have a big problem.

I dont have final plumbing plans, but there is a bubbler on the sun shelf and am planning on 4 returns with two venturi skimmers and a channel drain in the deep end.

There will be a light over the equipment pad. I saw that suggestion here a while back it thought it was a great cheap addition.

I’m open to cleaner ideas. I’ve done a bit of reading and have power on the patio for a robot, but I’m leaning towards a vacuum and will be putting the port in either way.

No no need to have a GC when I am the GC. I’ve been in contact with a few subs, but of course if anyone has recommendations I wouldn’t turn the info away.

Good luck on your build. It sounds like you are well and truly all over it already.

Thanks! I hope so!

Not to overwhelm you but here are some other suggestions

1. Speaking from experience. Put in a double door on one of the sides. I only had one door and ended up putting in a double door and another single door on the opposite side. I should have listened to my wife
2. Plan on plumbing electrical and water for a future summer kitchen.
3. Plan on adding solar and heat pump in your equipment pad.
4. Make sure that you have a very large equipment pad, our equipment pad is 19 ft long x 9 ft wide.
5. Put lights at pool pad.
6. Put in water spigots in all 4 corners of the screen cage both inside and outside the screen cage.
7. Put in electrical outlets in all 4 corners of the screen cage both inside and outside the screen cage.
8. Go with a large outdoor space as possible. We have 1800sq ft of pavers and we wish we did a larger space. You will be quite surprised how much room tables chairs and lounges take up.
9. Run conduits for speaker wires if you plan on wired speakers.
10. Put in footers for future screen cage. Some people do not like the pool cage however we believe in it as we swim a lot at nighttime.
11. Plan on positioning your pool so that you can watch TV comfortably when you are in it. I know that this may sound strange but we love watching TV, football games, NASCAR races and movies when we are relaxing in the pool.
12. Place pool light facing away from the house, we had ours facing towards the house and we notice some glare from it.
Look at the 3 links in my signature bar for ideas. Post lots of pics

Thanks! I’ll try and answer all.

1. Good idea! I’ll keep it in mind if we add the screen.

2. Did this when we built the house. The covered patio has electrical, gas and plumbing already roughed in.

3. We will be including provisions for a future gas heater.

4. We can only go a few feet wide but will do our best. I don’t plan on making it cramped.

5. Will do.

6 & 7. I’ll keep this in mind if we do a screen. Probably not on the back side as space back there is limited.

8. We are using all the free area we can based on setbacks and impervious land use.

9-12. Planning on this all. Thanks for the reminder and reassurance.

I like #2. I would add more lights in the Baja area or even LED bubblers. Something to consider, take the stairs down to the 4' depth the entire width of pool (just a thought). I would also make the width from the house to the pool edge wider like 7'. To me it's a better area to work with. You might want to think about having another pump to run just your water features. Umbrella holders in the pool.

Thanks! An LED bubbler will be on the sunshelf. I thought of doing the stairs all the way across, but my wife and I like the long bench. I don’t want to push the pool away from the house as the property setback won’t let us move the far side of the pool any further back and would narrow up the pool. The right side of the patio is just to have walking across, not setting up chairs.

From looking at the pump curves in the data sheet 3hp VS pump is overkill and can run everything I’ve included and more. I’d really like to stay away from adding additional pumps.


Thanks for all your input!

 

[kimkats]

I say plan for the future so the 8. You just never know.

Kim

 

[Chopjaw]

Thanks everyone. I’ve tried to get to all your questions and comments below. I cannot thank you enough for your input.


Thanks! An LED bubbler will be on the sunshelf. I thought of doing the stairs all the way across, but my wife and I like the long bench. I don’t want to push the pool away from the house as the property setback won’t let us move the far side of the pool any further back and would narrow up the pool. The right side of the patio is just to have walking across, not setting up chairs.

From looking at the pump curves in the data sheet 3hp VS pump is overkill and can run everything I’ve included and more. I’d really like to stay away from adding additional pumps.


Thanks for all your input!

The VSF is VERY efficient with power. Expensive yes but to me it’s a no-brained...

Good luck

 

[Brentr]

Coaster I see that you are putting in a sand filter. My pb installed a sand filter however I replaced it with a de filter a couple of years later. While a sand filter is good have you considered a cartridge or de filter. You will find many pros and cons to all 3 of these filters. [emoji482]

 

[coastertrav]

Coaster I see that you are putting in a sand filter. My pb installed a sand filter however I replaced it with a de filter a couple of years later. While a sand filter is good have you considered a cartridge or de filter. You will find many pros and cons to all 3 of these filters. [emoji482]

Oddly enough one of the problems I had with the builders in the area was that they all heavily push the cartridge filters even when I told them I wanted sand. One went so far as to tell me that you can’t use sand filters with a salt water pool (made it easy to remove them from the running).

I like the ease of cleaning the filter with the sand filters, and it’s what we solely specify at work for all the zoos and aquariums we do the engineering for. Also, growing up my parents always had sand filters in our pools and we never had issues with any of them.

I appreciate you bringing up the other options and am curious what cause you to go to a DE from the sand filter.

 

[Brentr]

Ok here is the reason. Not knowing any better my PB put down a plastic pad on existing dirt to set the pool equipment on. As with time the weight of the sand filter caused the plastic pad to shift and my pool pad was not level anymore. I decided that to eliminate the weight I needed a lighter filter so I went with a DE filter and replumbed my existing equipment. Here are pics before and after.
pic before

Pic with DE filter.

 

[bmoreswim]

Here is an exact picture of your steps from #2 from my pool.

 

[coastertrav]

Here is an exact picture of your steps from #2 from my pool.

Wow, that’s awesome. Glad to see it prior to making a decision.

 

[kimkats]

I love, love, love my sand filter! Now saying that I do have to confess I had a cartridge filter with my last pool and it might have been a good filter but I listened to the pool store.......add this, do this, come back in a week..... and ruined my pool So love my sand filter AND TFP!!!! LOL

Kim

 

[coastertrav]

Hello everyone!

I promise I am not abandoning you all, just had a busy few weeks getting this thing started.

We closed on our loan for the build on Monday of this week so now that we are sure that we have the financing we are full steam ahead.

Our plans are into the engineer and we have a modified version of the circular stairs we are going with that I will share once we get the engineered drawings back. I am calling on subs for final bids and am starting permitting as soon as the drawings are signed and sealed for the county.

Now on to pics!

Here is our blank backyard:

And here are some tile samples I've picked up locally and are trying to decide between:

For the finish I think I have swayed back to the pebble finish as I know of at least one guy locally that quoted me less than $1k difference between the mini-pebble and quartz and the durability of pebble is what is going to win me over.

 

[ctrav]

Congrats on the start of your project Travis...

Looking forward to seeing the progress. What kind of timeline did they give you?