Hi there, this will be a fun first post. Been lurking on the site for about 6 months at the recommendation of a friend, and it was very helpful in deciding some items like equipment, materials, etc. Below is the post of the majority of our pool build. It's done and filled, and the landscaping is about a week out. So sorry, no long drawn out post.
So, a bit of background. We relocated to The Woodlands, TX, (a suburb about 30 miles North of Downtown Houston) in late 2012. When we bought our home, we were in the middle of a corporate relo so we bought a builder inventory home that was close to completion. We loved the selections and the floorplan but the lot. Well, it's a decent sized lot for the area, but the house has a HUGE footprint and chews up a ton of the lot.
We knew that with kids, and being in South Texas, we would want a pool. We had the builder's pool company sketch us a possibility or two before we bought the home so we knew it would work. A little over a year later, we decided that we wanted to get serious. I had researched pool companies and knew that I didn't want the PB to dictate design. Most of the pools around here are free form, and with such a small yard, I wanted something that was more urban, modern, and just "fit" the space, rather than being jammed in there. Remember, we don't have much room. Literally 20' off our back patio is our property line. Worse than that, The Woodlands dictates a 10' rear covenant easement to keep drainage moving, and rarely lets you build in it.
So we hired a landscape architect that specializes in urban and commercial type projects (I had a work affiliation). I knew they would deliver a good design. After some considerable back and forth, this was what we had as a starting point for bidding:
I should mention some of the other issues we faced:
So with that, a bidding we went!
We looked at about 6 PB's and got bids from 3. One pool builder would not do salt, and his design was essentially a rectangle. Very plan. Second builder was about the same price, would do either salt or chlorine, and had a perfect plan. The third builder was $10k more (with some pretty snazzy pentair equipment) and would have been even higher when we added in the extras we wanted. Plus, in order to install a SWG, we had to sign our life away. We asked him to provide a price on the extras we wanted....and we never heard back. Eh?
So we went with guy #2. Checked out well, done pools in the neighborhood, spoke to current owners, full insurance, etc. Signed the contract and away we went. Specs we ended up with. yeah, they're probably overkill, but I'm an overkill kind of guy:
Inground gunnite geometric pool
Approx 8,000 gallons.
Triple weir water feature
30' x (6.5' at one end and 8.5' at the other)x 3.5-6.5' deep
Hayward Swim Clear 425 Cartridge
Hayward TCell SWG
Hayward TriStar VS Filter Pump
Hayward Super II Water Feature Pump
Polaris 280 Cleaner with Booster Pump
Hayward Color Logic 4.0 LED lights (2)
Hayward Pro Logic 4 Automation
Hayward Aqua Pod remote control
Wet Edge Satin Matrix - Antigua
While we were waiting on the permits, I had the column removed. This involved installing a double 16" LVL with approximately an 18' span to carry the roof load.
The column to be removed:
Double LVL:
Column gone:
Pool staked for inspection:
Digging: Unmarked power line!
This is our house service line. We are lucky we didn't kill the meter pan, or start a fire as it arced when the line was cut. Yikes! Our electrician re-built the meter pan, and ran a new service line and we had our meter back on that night. Good to know people....
Digging Done.
Rebar!
I was getting worried they were going to gunnite with the conduit still there!
Will be continued on next post....
So, a bit of background. We relocated to The Woodlands, TX, (a suburb about 30 miles North of Downtown Houston) in late 2012. When we bought our home, we were in the middle of a corporate relo so we bought a builder inventory home that was close to completion. We loved the selections and the floorplan but the lot. Well, it's a decent sized lot for the area, but the house has a HUGE footprint and chews up a ton of the lot.
We knew that with kids, and being in South Texas, we would want a pool. We had the builder's pool company sketch us a possibility or two before we bought the home so we knew it would work. A little over a year later, we decided that we wanted to get serious. I had researched pool companies and knew that I didn't want the PB to dictate design. Most of the pools around here are free form, and with such a small yard, I wanted something that was more urban, modern, and just "fit" the space, rather than being jammed in there. Remember, we don't have much room. Literally 20' off our back patio is our property line. Worse than that, The Woodlands dictates a 10' rear covenant easement to keep drainage moving, and rarely lets you build in it.
So we hired a landscape architect that specializes in urban and commercial type projects (I had a work affiliation). I knew they would deliver a good design. After some considerable back and forth, this was what we had as a starting point for bidding:
I should mention some of the other issues we faced:
- Drainage issue where all the water would go to the left rear of the lot and sit.
- A two-story column that needed to be removed in order to open up the rear deck.
- Did I mention that the whole pool could be no more than 10' wide, including whatever offset that the pool builder was comfortable with off our patio?
So with that, a bidding we went!
We looked at about 6 PB's and got bids from 3. One pool builder would not do salt, and his design was essentially a rectangle. Very plan. Second builder was about the same price, would do either salt or chlorine, and had a perfect plan. The third builder was $10k more (with some pretty snazzy pentair equipment) and would have been even higher when we added in the extras we wanted. Plus, in order to install a SWG, we had to sign our life away. We asked him to provide a price on the extras we wanted....and we never heard back. Eh?
So we went with guy #2. Checked out well, done pools in the neighborhood, spoke to current owners, full insurance, etc. Signed the contract and away we went. Specs we ended up with. yeah, they're probably overkill, but I'm an overkill kind of guy:
Inground gunnite geometric pool
Approx 8,000 gallons.
Triple weir water feature
30' x (6.5' at one end and 8.5' at the other)x 3.5-6.5' deep
Hayward Swim Clear 425 Cartridge
Hayward TCell SWG
Hayward TriStar VS Filter Pump
Hayward Super II Water Feature Pump
Polaris 280 Cleaner with Booster Pump
Hayward Color Logic 4.0 LED lights (2)
Hayward Pro Logic 4 Automation
Hayward Aqua Pod remote control
Wet Edge Satin Matrix - Antigua
While we were waiting on the permits, I had the column removed. This involved installing a double 16" LVL with approximately an 18' span to carry the roof load.
The column to be removed:
Double LVL:
Column gone:
Pool staked for inspection:
Digging: Unmarked power line!
This is our house service line. We are lucky we didn't kill the meter pan, or start a fire as it arced when the line was cut. Yikes! Our electrician re-built the meter pan, and ran a new service line and we had our meter back on that night. Good to know people....
Digging Done.
Rebar!
I was getting worried they were going to gunnite with the conduit still there!
Will be continued on next post....
