Desperately Seeking Pool Advice

[fsubarb]

Hi all! I/We are trying to become first time pool owners in the great state of Florida. So happy that I stumbled upon this site this morning while Googling our many pool questions. I have been reading several of the threads and am already learning.


We are currently seeking quotes from different PBs. Of course each PB tells us something different than the last PB told us. Shocking, right? I am hoping some of you will share your knowledge on a few questions I listed below.


- Decking- Travertine vs pavers vs ??? Any advice on the lowest possible maintenance and most affordable decking for a salt water pool that will have a bird cage and two kids running around it??


- Pool finish- Thoughts on the quartz (Marquis Series) vs StoneScapes/Pebble Tech? Once again we want something that looks beautiful with the lesser maintenance...if that exists?!


Thanks again for any wisdom you would like to share. Have a very Happy New Year!!
Barbara

 

[MarianParoo]

I have to ask.... Is a bird cage a screened enclosure?

 

[pooldv]

Welcome to TFP!

We are very happy with our rocksalt finished colored concrete deck, color is tan or buff. Not too hot, not too slippery, completely safe with saltwater, same price as brushed concrete for us and NO maintenance. Pics in build thread, link in sig.

Quartz lasts longer than plaster and pebble lasts longer than quartz. Both are very nice and there are lots of people here with both types who are happy with them.

 

[gwegan]

The lowest maintenance decking is concrete. Colored or uncolored, textured or untextured. A properly installed concrete deck will have the lowest cost of ownership over its lifetime.

Travertine is a natural product that comes in various degrees of quality and finish. It can be installed as a tile or as a paver.

Pavers are generally concrete products installed over a sand or concrete base. They vary wildly in price and are manufactured by national and local producers. Some are good some not so good. You generally get what you pay for.

As you know, there are a wide variety of plaster products sold today. From quartz to pebble tec. Some secret and propetary som just mixes made up by plaster contractors.

Most of these proprietary mixes will give you longer life than plain plaster, however the main determinate of longer life is properly balanced water chemistry.

 

[kimkats]

Looks like you are off to a wonderful start! Some good info has already been given.

Once you have some plans from some PBs share them with us on this thread and we will go over it with you piece by piece. Make sure to have models and such for the equipment so it is apples to apples.

Kim

 

[Marlahoutex]

Besides what gwegan stated, remember it's also the quality of the plaster application that's important. From what I've learned here, even if it's the "best" finish out there, if it isn't applied correctly then it's possible you may have problems.

 

[duraleigh]

fsubarb,

Welcome to the forum.

You have asked the same question twice on the website. Here's Rule 8 from the pool rules.....

8. Do not create multiple threads on the same topic. Creating multiple threads may cause you to miss important information about your question and is confusing for those who are trying to help you.

Your identical threads both have multiple answers so I will not merge them. It is VERY confusing to responders to remember when and where they answered your post.

 

[kimkats]

Dave I asked her to start this thread here in her intro thread. I thought she would get better/more answers here.

It is my fault not hers :slidehalo: Next time I will just move the thread.


Kim (still so much to learn about being a mod)

 

[fsubarb]

Thanks to everyone for your information and being very welcoming! To answer one of the questions, we are planning a bird cage. I will definitely post some of the plans we have received from the PB's. We are waiting on two PB's to email us their proposals. The two we have received already are not as detailed as I would like, so hoping the two we are waiting on will give more details.


I'm sorry to cause any confusions with my post. I first posted as the intro email suggested on the "welcome board." Since I put questions in my intro, one of the moderators (I think) suggested I post them in this thread for answers. Maybe I could have deleted my original post?? Sorry...I'm all new to this.

 

[kimkats]

Barb it was me that asked you to post here. It is my bad not yours. SORRY

You can ask the first 2 PB for more details. If they are not willing to help out with that than you do not want to work with them.

Kim

 

[txnole]

Something tells me I'm going to like FSUBarb, if her user name is any indication!

For decking where you are, you need to consider settling. I think concrete is a mistake for this reason and I would suggest travertine pavers. We made the same choice and the screened enclosure. My greatest learning in our build is that I could self-source much higher quality travertine for less than half of my PB proposals. I had them price all options (pavers, travertine, etc) and then just took a credit against the materials. FWIW, Travertine Mart was the supplier I chose and couldn't be happier.

For your pool finish, the lowest maintenance is going to be achieved by managing water quality. That is by far the biggest factor. For us, it's saltwater pool, manage water quality, drop the robot in. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

Check the pics in my sig if the travertine comments helped you. GO NOLES!!!!

 

[fsubarb]

Thanks TXNole for your advice! I know this is a great place when I've met two fellow Noles already. Hoping you are recovering from our mishap on Thursday; hoping 2016 will bring great things for our Noles! I will definitely check out your pictures. How is the maintenance with the travertine? We would rather spend our Saturdays watching the Noles while swimming than having to spend lots of time with upkeep. We will also be getting a saltwater pool with a birdcage, so glad to hear travertine is a good choice.

Kim, no worries...I'm thick-skinned and can handle it. ��. I'll post proposals soon. I'm hoping to get the two we are waiting on emailed to us this week.

 

[txnole]

Definitely ready for 2016 and what is to come. ::warchant::

Maintenance for the travertine has been simple. We sealed with DuPont Stonetech three months after install to account for any settling. Haven't had to do much of anything except hose off what the dog tracked in. With saltwater, I do plan to re-seal again next year and then every 3-4 years following. While DuPont says 4-5 years, they're not the ones that would have to deal with replacement stone for any damage.

For the screen enclosure, no maintenance whatsoever.