abehep new member... no pool yet

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abehep

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Jul 11, 2015
16
Hurricane, Utah
Hello Everyone,

I've been thinking about installing a swimming pool in my yard for the last couple of years and now am finally committing myself to getting it done this year. I have three small kids 3, 5, 7 and a wife who is extremely anxious to get a pool. I have never owned a swimming pool before nor did I grow up with one. So I'm about as ignorant as they come when talking about swimming pool experience and facts.
My typical evening for the last month has been to search the net for information on building and maintaining a swimming pool. When trying to inform myself on topics such as fiberglass vs. Gunnite, SWCG vs. Chlorine, etc, it felt like at times I was reading about Chevy vs Ford dialogue and there are no clear cut answers only opinions.
I am, however very happy to have found the TFP site where I feel somewhat empowered to take on pool ownership. It seems like a great community that sincerely helps each other have a better pool experience.
One of my top priorities for the pool area is low maintenance cost of pool maintenance. I would prefer to do it myself, but don't want to add too much time to my large yard as it is already quite time consuming. After all my searching I've come up with the following assumptions that may or may not be correct:

Type of Pool: (gunnite vs fiberglass): gunnite can be any shape and size. fiberglass is easier and cheaper to maintain. How much, I don't know. this would be great to know.
I am leaning toward a rectangle shape so I can have an automatic cover. I have neighbors with very tall trees and it is very windy here in Hurricane:wink:

Sanitizing system: (SWCG vs chlorine): this one is a little more difficult. I've read so much my head is spinning. It appears that with the SWCG, you don't have to check your pool as often, but might have deck/equipment problems from the salt. Also, I've talked with pool cover installers in my area and they told me not to use a SWCG as the recessed tracks under the coping get corroded with the salt and cause trouble.

I need to make a decision soon and be done with it.

ciao
 
Welcome! :wave:

I know where Hurricane is. Been through it many times on the way to Zion. Even stopped at the grocery store and a gas station. :mrgreen:

For material choices, I'd go with what the local builder is familiar with. He's more likely to get it right if he's done it a bunch of times. A rectangular pool with a cover sounds like a great idea.

You can always defer the decision on a SWG. Just have the plumbing laid out with a long straight piece of pipe on the return so you can cut into it later and add the SWG easily. With a cover, you won't lose a whole lot of chlorine to sunlight, so lugging jugs of bleach may not be such a burden.
 
I will be glad to help you spend your money!

Maintaining difference between gunite vs fiberglass-I don't THINK there is much difference. They both need chlorine to stay clean as well as balanced water. I am not sure though. I have an above ground pool so what do I know?? LOL

SWG do have their share of problems with the salt. I would listen to the people who have worked with what you are wanting-cover.

You can think about a system to automatically add chlorine.

I don't have any problem with time or effort but I do not have 3 kids! It takes me about 5 mins each evening to do the tests and dose as needed. Another 10 mins on the weekends when I run a full test.

Shoot us a pic of where you want to put the pool and we can help you figure out what you want LOL

Kim
 
Thanks for the welcome. Zion Park is a great place. Do you mind me asking how much time you spend on your gunite pool? I often leave town for 2-3 days at a time several times a month for work and am worried about maintaining a pool by checking it everyday.
as far as pool builders I've found one gunite and one fiberglass (Aloha) that I trust - so the decision remains unclear.

- - - Updated - - -

what would it entail to automatically add chlorine? Also 5 mins a day sounds great. i'll have to clear all the weeds out before I take a picture worth taking:)
 
In the summer, two minutes daily, maybe. Brushing is good for another twenty once a week. Vacuuming takes about that long as well. In the winter, even less. It hardly uses any chlorine then and I can get away with dosing it every three days or so. If you have a solid cover, you won't lose hardly any FC to sunlight. I imagine you could chlorinate it to 5 above minimum and have it stay above minimum for three days easily if the cover is on except when people are swimming.

To automatically add chlorine, you get a salt water generator or a stenner pump setup or a liquidator. Use the search box for older threads about it. I personally don't see the need for automation. I'm out back several times a day smoking anyway, and I know my pool's appetite, so most days I just dump in the usual amount while I'm out there anyway.
 
In my area, the cost of fiberglass vs. gunite was almost a wash, so we went with gunite so we had more freedom to get the exact pool we wanted. We chose chlorine vs. salt because of the many articles written about the potential for saltwater corrosion. I was convinced if the pool was maintained properly, there would be no problem with corrosion, but simply having that possibility lurking out there made me select chlorine exclusively to protect our investment and reduce risk. To echo kimkats, If you're set on a cover & the cover installer recommends against SWCG, protect your investment.

Good luck!
 
This sounds like the exact reasons Skippy and I went with Fiberglass. It cost the same as gunnite in my neck of the woods, and both more than vinyl. But the install was a bunch easier since there was no babysitting of the gunnite and curing time, less hassle for me as I worked 13 hour PM shifts and didn't want to deal with too much (who knew I'd enjoy it so much though in the end? lol)
I have a 32x14 rectangle pool with an automatic cover with the tracks on the deck with a SWG . The deck mounted tracks are barely noticeable and allow for occasional rinse downs with the hose. They look as new today as they did 3 years ago. We also chose the rectangle shape specifically for max swimming length but also for the ease of covering. Then we had someone build the cover bench over the equipment. I think the cover in the end cost about $7,000. Worth every penny to me in I don't worry. Your pool still will need to be opened up to "breath" every day or so you'll have to be cautious of your young kids during those times. The chemical use is less with my cover, and my SWG barely runs as the pool is cleaner. Even with the cover we get the wind blown bits in the one end that retracts but using a Pool Max hand held vac cleans this up in minutes. Skippy brushes the pool weekly (while in it!) and I use these cool soft scrubby pool mitts anytime we get a "bathtub ring" from visitors heavy use of tanning lotions and oils. Its a very easy pool to maintain.

I hope something I've said has answered your questions. You can see my pool in the link on my siggy line.
 
Choosing an Automatic Chlorinator

That is a link to a thread about automatic chlorinators. There are several. I just wanted to get you started.

If you do not want to go that way you can always keep your CYA on the low side so you can use pucks. So long as you know what they do to your pool they are okay to use. It just means you might have to drain some water every once in a while to keep your water balanced.

Kim
 
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