Rattus Suffocatus
Silver Supporter
- Jun 5, 2019
- 1,713
- Pool Size
- 14000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool Universal40
Okay.. sorry.. I was pretty busy this week (and still am) so as I eat my Banana at lunch, I will let you know what I think.
I am in Tucson. I only have one experience with a big Phoenix pool builder and it was the worst of the bunch during bids. They are the guys who make most of their equipment themselves in China but do use Pentair for the important stuff. They are cheap if you want cookie cutter. Add anything and it's exponential.
Otherwise, my builder knowledge is in Tucson. They won't come up to Phoenix, so I am not that useful for that.
The builders here either have been doing it forever or are former employee's of the guys who have been doing it forever. There are a limited amount of subs here anyway, and in most cases one is the preferred one of the two.. so the "pool builder" is like a general contractor in that they hire the subs for most of the work. I think our PB did landscaping and the pavers were their own guys. That is also what they screwed up and had to redo because they used an inadequate base for the monsoons, and lost them money on our job.
In Tucson, the shell of the pool is guaranteed by the shotcrete company, and I have to say, they were really good. The excavators were really good. The plasterers could have been better and the start up guy was only okay. But it was the start up guy who told me the whole story about the subs, and I have since verified that.
In Phoenix, I would guess you have many more choices, even for the subs.
In Arizona, stuff moves at Manana time, especially in Tucson. Be ready for that, and try not to get upset.
Build the SMALLEST pool you can with the least amount of frills (a SWCG is a good toy since the OP understands that, but adding it yourself later is 1/3 the price, too...). ESPECIALLY if you don't want it and your wife does, and you want to lose as little money as possible when you sell the house later on. You still will only get $20-30K out of the pool so if you can get away with a 40K pool and get 20K later it's a better decision than a 80k pool which will get you 30K later. Smaller is easier to take care of (assuming you are 10K gallons still or more) and uses less chemicals. Our pool is 13K gallons and is just about right. Don't go too shalllow on the shallow end or do large sun areas as they kill the bang for the buck ratio severely.
Adding heat is expensive because the gas line run is for some reason 4x the cost of a water line run... and those who have heated their pools do it only once. They get the $400 gas bill and that's that-- then they use it for their spa which is still more costly to run than my "portable" one is and takes longer to heat up. So in my case, I did a detached heated tub and no heat on the pool. I am going to probably rig a couple of solar panels up to extend out the season a couple of weeks, but maybe I won't. I am using the electrically heated hot tub at present. My physical setup and orientation is that I will need to do it at the opposite end of the pool than the equipment so I will need a small pump just for that. I want to try to run that with a solar panel itself too so it will be a science experiment if I even do it.
Attached spas are 2-3x more expensive than "portable" ones like I have and are less comfortable but are a LOT better if your goal is entertaining. In my case: Go away! is my front door mat, so I am good.
I think that is about it. It's better than mowing the grass in the Midwest, but if my wife doesn't use it a lot this spring then there is going to be a lot of sarcasm and maybe screaming....
Oh the water quality sucks in AZ, so maybe see if you can rig the autofill to run off the soft line. I couldn't do it without a major replumb of the house, so if it's a problem I will probably put a cheap softener in a shed outside of the house...
I am in Tucson. I only have one experience with a big Phoenix pool builder and it was the worst of the bunch during bids. They are the guys who make most of their equipment themselves in China but do use Pentair for the important stuff. They are cheap if you want cookie cutter. Add anything and it's exponential.
Otherwise, my builder knowledge is in Tucson. They won't come up to Phoenix, so I am not that useful for that.
The builders here either have been doing it forever or are former employee's of the guys who have been doing it forever. There are a limited amount of subs here anyway, and in most cases one is the preferred one of the two.. so the "pool builder" is like a general contractor in that they hire the subs for most of the work. I think our PB did landscaping and the pavers were their own guys. That is also what they screwed up and had to redo because they used an inadequate base for the monsoons, and lost them money on our job.
In Tucson, the shell of the pool is guaranteed by the shotcrete company, and I have to say, they were really good. The excavators were really good. The plasterers could have been better and the start up guy was only okay. But it was the start up guy who told me the whole story about the subs, and I have since verified that.
In Phoenix, I would guess you have many more choices, even for the subs.
In Arizona, stuff moves at Manana time, especially in Tucson. Be ready for that, and try not to get upset.
Build the SMALLEST pool you can with the least amount of frills (a SWCG is a good toy since the OP understands that, but adding it yourself later is 1/3 the price, too...). ESPECIALLY if you don't want it and your wife does, and you want to lose as little money as possible when you sell the house later on. You still will only get $20-30K out of the pool so if you can get away with a 40K pool and get 20K later it's a better decision than a 80k pool which will get you 30K later. Smaller is easier to take care of (assuming you are 10K gallons still or more) and uses less chemicals. Our pool is 13K gallons and is just about right. Don't go too shalllow on the shallow end or do large sun areas as they kill the bang for the buck ratio severely.
Adding heat is expensive because the gas line run is for some reason 4x the cost of a water line run... and those who have heated their pools do it only once. They get the $400 gas bill and that's that-- then they use it for their spa which is still more costly to run than my "portable" one is and takes longer to heat up. So in my case, I did a detached heated tub and no heat on the pool. I am going to probably rig a couple of solar panels up to extend out the season a couple of weeks, but maybe I won't. I am using the electrically heated hot tub at present. My physical setup and orientation is that I will need to do it at the opposite end of the pool than the equipment so I will need a small pump just for that. I want to try to run that with a solar panel itself too so it will be a science experiment if I even do it.
Attached spas are 2-3x more expensive than "portable" ones like I have and are less comfortable but are a LOT better if your goal is entertaining. In my case: Go away! is my front door mat, so I am good.
I think that is about it. It's better than mowing the grass in the Midwest, but if my wife doesn't use it a lot this spring then there is going to be a lot of sarcasm and maybe screaming....
Oh the water quality sucks in AZ, so maybe see if you can rig the autofill to run off the soft line. I couldn't do it without a major replumb of the house, so if it's a problem I will probably put a cheap softener in a shed outside of the house...
hehe
