New Pool Build in Orlando, FL

[Erik13]

Good Evening TFP Folks!

The wife and I are building our new home here in Orlando, FL, and the plan has always been to have a pool! Unfortunately (or maybe not), the builder didn't offer a pool option during construction. We've got a few months until construction wraps up, so we're trying to get out in front of the planning, design, contracting, etc. so once we close we can get started on the pool.

I've spent the last few weeks reaching out to 10+ well-rated contractors/builders in the area, and we've had a few site visits and design appointments so far (seems like a veeeeery long process before even getting to any money talks). While one of the reps was very informative, most have not offered up much advice or design input - thus, finding this site and all the info on it has been very welcome. If anyone has any recommendations for builders in the area as well, feel free to throw them out in case I missed them in my research.

I wanted to start a new build thread after reading through a ton of stuff to hopefully address some specific questions with the group, so please, once I start getting some info back from these designers, I'd truly appreciate any and all input!

I'll update with photos and designs when they start rolling in.

Thanks In Advance!

 

[Erik13]

Just for an idea of our backyard, here's some pics we got after the foundation went down last week. Missed getting a pic rearward (1st pic is North and 2nd is South), but we back up to a pond, then marsh area, and then sod farm. Backyard will face due East, so we'll be full sun.

 

[Yargnits67]

Hi Erik,

Welcome to TFP! The people here are amazing. I sent you a PM about the builders in the Orlando area we dealt with and the one we ultimately decided to go with.

Good luck and looking forward to following your build!

 

[NickCYC]

I just wanted to say Hi neighbor. We are building a home and pool in Orlando as well. Our closing date is for November, but they haven’t started digging the hole for the pool yet. It is a very long process indeed!

 

[Erik13]

I just wanted to say Hi neighbor. We are building a home and pool in Orlando as well. Our closing date is for November, but they haven’t started digging the hole for the pool yet. It is a very long process indeed!

Morning Nick! Looks like you might be out West towards WG. There isn't much single-family new home construction going on anywhere else in the area - we got lucky with a small development in Oviedo. They're saying construction should wrap up in January, but we'll see. Just met with Kura Pools out towards you this week, and they were nice to speak with. Had a few other PBs out that way on the radar, but they won't build over here - business must be good if a 30 minute drive is too far lol.

 

[Erik13]

Found this pic on our builder's site, which shows the rear of our model home with a pool quite well (except flip flopped from our build's orientation - lanai will be on the right). We definitely want to offset the pool opposite the lanai to leave room for a future planned covered outdoor kitchen space that will flow off of the covered lanai. We were thinking geometric pool as well, but this is just for illustration.

 

[Erik13]

We got back the very first design from one of the PBs! We're trying to keep the sun shelf and the spa on the lanai end of the house, so this is what this designer came up with.



We thought the sun shelf was a bit small in the first version to accommodate two loungers that we were hoping we could turn in any which direction for sunbathing, watching the TV that'll be mounted in the outdoor kitchen space, etc, so we asked if we could offset the spa somehow for some extra space. The turn around on the design was quick, but you'll see from the photo that the red square was more of what we were thinking instead of eating into the open patio space.


The plan for the pool is ~15' wide and 30' long - we're trying to find some inspiration on google for some kind of same-side sun shelf and spa design that we like, but we aren't finding much so far. We didn't want to do the spa on the far side of the home, since we think it would just feel disconnected over there. If anyone has any ideas here, please fire away!

 

[NickCYC]

We are on the newer side of the Dr Philips area. I can tell that business is excellent for the PB in this area. Our home builder uses Holland so that was our only option.

The design that you have in the first picture was very similar to our original design. I favor that one but you are right about space. if you want to use ledge loungers with table in between you may not have enough space. I will let the experts weigh in.

 

[ckinchen]

Hi! I am in Lake Mary area and the pool builders have been super busy and it took a while to to get a final design and price. I think in retrospect if you can go and meet them in their office you would have more opportunity to tweak the design to make it what you want and you don't have to sign right there. Due to covid I did not want to do that until I knew what I wanted exactly and didn't want the high pressure sales, but it was actually fine and didn't push me. You won't get an acurate price until you do that, there are so many decisions to make. Not sure what part of town your in but so far I am happy with the designer/builder I am working with, he made any changes I wanted. Mine is being squeezed into the side of my house due to drainage easement restrictions but looks similar to the pictures you posted. In permitting now so another 4 weeks hopefully.

 

[Erik13]

We are on the newer side of the Dr Philips area. I can tell that business is excellent for the PB in this area. Our home builder uses Holland so that was our only option.

The design that you have in the first picture was very similar to our original design. I favor that one but you are right about space. if you want to use ledge loungers with table in between you may not have enough space. I will let the experts weigh in.

Looks like Holland Pools and Spas is out of Longwood, so I'll have to reach out to them. If they're going down to Dr. Philips, I'm guessing they'll service Oviedo.

We definitely want ample lounging area on the shelf, so that's a good point about a table too.

 

[Erik13]

Hi! I am in Lake Mary area and the pool builders have been super busy and it took a while to to get a final design and price. I think in retrospect if you can go and meet them in their office you would have more opportunity to tweak the design to make it what you want and you don't have to sign right there. Due to covid I did not want to do that until I knew what I wanted exactly and didn't want the high pressure sales, but it was actually fine and didn't push me. You won't get an acurate price until you do that, there are so many decisions to make. Not sure what part of town your in but so far I am happy with the designer/builder I am working with, he made any changes I wanted. Mine is being squeezed into the side of my house due to drainage easement restrictions but looks similar to the pictures you posted. In permitting now so another 4 weeks hopefully.

We actually did an in-person design meeting this morning, which with some of the PB designer's advice, we think we might've found a better solution for the design. Once I get it from them, I'll post it up with whatever their first price quote is. You're right though, much easier than trying to go back and forth over email for tiny changes here and there.

We're on the North end as well, in Oviedo. Mind if I ask who you're using?

 

[ckinchen]

@Erik13 That is great. I think finalizing the design is the hardest part. I went with Atlas pools which are in Oviedo. I used Fred. He was recommended to me and is pretty detail oriented which i appreciate since I am too .

 

[Erik13]

@Erik13 That is great. I think finalizing the design is the hardest part. I went with Atlas pools which are in Oviedo. I used Fred. He was recommended to me and is pretty detail oriented which i appreciate since I am too .

We're actually going through the design process with Atlas now (as well as a handful of others), just waiting to see what they come up with.

 

[Erik13]

So we got back a revision from the first PB where we tried to keep the spa and sun shelf on the same side, while not eating into the patio area:

I don't mind the same side design, but I think we need some imagination regarding the spa. Raising it a bit, adding more of a spill over, etc. - we're just not sold on it as the final design.

Then, another PB sent us over what we came up with in an in-person meeting, which might be a better solution for the design, where we extend the shelf across and move the spa to the midpoint. Asked for a "sports pool" design as well, which in case anyone hasn't heard of is just the deep end in the middle with two shallow ends:

 

[Erik13]

So now that we're getting close with design with a couple of PBs, they're asking what kind of finishes and equipment we're looking for.

• What's the consensus on equipment brands? From my reading, Pentair and Jandy are preferable over Hayward, taking into consideration all the parts of a system.
  • Obviously the SWG has come up, and the wife is buying in hard to the "saltwater pool is better for your skin/nails" line, but I'm not sold yet. It's also an easy add down the line.
• Regarding water line tile, is ceramic tile still the best for longevity? How does glass keep up?
• I'm trying to go with a white base in the quartz or pebble, to stay away from as much color fade as possible and to keep the pool cool. The wife wants to go darker blue for the look. Any input here?
• Any other features or recommendations? Any best practices to keep in mind for design?

TIA!

 

[RDFBocephus]

• I'm trying to go with a white base in the quartz or pebble, to stay away from as much color fade as possible and to keep the pool cool. The wife wants to go darker blue for the look. Any input here?
• Any other features or recommendations? Any best practices to keep in mind for design?

TIA!

Regarding the white base I feel it looks more refreshing and inviting. Also not sure if you have young ones, but sometimes in darker pools people tend to get lost underwater, and run the risk of someone jumping on them.

Regarding the design negotiations do the most you can at this point as you will most likely be waiting a long time after signing, and during that time you will be scratching your head thinking should I have done something differently. So get it squared away now. Just my 2¢.

 

[ckinchen]

@Erik13 I will let the experts respond but I will tell you what I am doing.
Equipment I think many like Pentair, I did not hear such great things about Jandy. So one reason I went with my pool builder is I just felt better about Pentair. Also liked I can have all the equipment controled by my automation. I was not sure what automation does until people explained to me here, so may want to look that up. I will be able to control lights from my phone.
I did do Saltwater, it just seems to be a wise choice, just seemed to be recommended here on the forums. Remember it is still chorine, just different somehow.
I did ceramic tile because it is very expensive to do glass. I read people say glass can pop out, but really due to cost doing my waterline in ceramic tile, and adding a sheer decent and that will be in glass tile for some pop.
I also did not want a dark interior. I went with pebble interior just have not picked which yet. If there are snakes I want to see them! But we still have time to change our minds. One has life time warranty but 2k, quartz not lifetime. I did ask here so you can probably find that post. Downside is to get the warranty water needs to be tested at a pool store, I have 2 close to me which is good, but that can be a pain too. I still have time to switch to just quartz..but thinking of just keeping the mini pebble. That is about 2K
Hope this helps!

 

[ckinchen]

@Erik13 Did they send you the dimensions, you can ask for that. That helped me visualize the space too. Did they say how much space was between the wall and the pool? If it is less than 6 feet then it will cost you more. When we sat down with our builder we wanted ours 5ft from wall and also a sports pool. Something to do with the slope and how close to the house it would be hard to do a sports pool. But also they brought up something that they said many builders might not be doing. I think it was called shoring? When they build so close to the house the sand and dirt can fall from under the house and cause all sorts of issues. They said some builders may not even be discussing this. Since my husband is an engineer he knew what they were talking about. So if we wanted our pool to be 6ft deep, something to do with the slope, we needed to be 5ft from the house wall, and that was another 2K on top of everything else so we decided it was not worth it. The shoring puts boards and stuff to keep the dirt from falling out, so structurly the dirt that is under your home does not move during the pool build. I bring this up so you can discuss with pool builders if in fact your at the 6 or 5 ft from wall. I don't think it is customary or necessary to do if 6ft. Also here is a picture of my pool. It is similar but no spa. Due to our drainage easement it is not a full rectangle. It is going to be 13/14 X 32. First picture is what we thought we were getting with a different builder, second is what we ended up with after we finally figured everything out.

 

[Jimrahbe]

C,

I would not build another pool if it could not be a saltwater pool...

When you get out of a chlorine pool you feel like you need a shower.. When you get out of a saltwater pool you feel like you just had a shower.

While it is possible to add a saltwater system after the pool is built, it makes no sense on a new pool. Depending on how your pool is plumbed, it can be almost impossible to add a cell without replacing a lot of the plumbing.. This is not a cell problem, but just due to plumbers making everything as compact as possible. They don't think about future repairs or modifications, like adding a salt system. If you do nothing else, make sure they plumb your pool with the necessary space to add a salt cell.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[Erik13]

Regarding the white base I feel it looks more refreshing and inviting. Also not sure if you have young ones, but sometimes in darker pools people tend to get lost underwater, and run the risk of someone jumping on them.

Regarding the design negotiations do the most you can at this point as you will most likely be waiting a long time after signing, and during that time you will be scratching your head thinking should I have done something differently. So get it squared away now. Just my 2¢.

I'm definitely trying to figure out as much as possible up front! Want to make some smart decisions.