North Texas Pool Build, Almost Complete

Jump to latest Follow Reply
L

lantanapoolbuild

0
May 23, 2016
15
DFW, TX
I've been nothing more than a troll here over the past few months, but decided it was time to contribute.

After the debate of whether to move into a different house with an existing pool or build a pool, we decided building would actually be more economical. We reside in Lantana (up near Flower Mound and Highland Village) and very few homes have a pool in this master-planned community. Due to the shortage, we've noticed that home with pools fetch a premium and sell quicker. Our goal was to add a pool and keep it around $35k....not an easy task.

We took bids from 3 companies and ended up selecting a company that has done a ton of work in Lantana and was recommended by several neighbors. Our specs:

78 perimeter feet
9.5-10' wide by 29' length. Engineering letter required for coming in to a 1:1 ratio (depth vs. distance from exterior wall).
3.5' to 5' to 4' depth
4' tanning ledge
10' bench
Stonescapes Aqua Blue pebble finish
Flagstone Coping
12' long raised back wall with 3' sheer descent
6 returns
2 skimmers
420 Cartridge Filter
Intellio VS Pump
Booster Pump
Del Ozonator
Nature 2 Express
EasyTouch 4 Electronics
LED Intellicolor Lighting
400sqft exposed agg decking
Mini Subway Tile Water Line Tile
Umbrella Sleeve on Tanning Ledge

Total Price $34,555

We have a 60' wide lot, but only 20' of depth from the back of our house so it is a tight squeeze! The dig was scheduled to be a normal bobcat dig, but ended up being a 'mini' dig because the gate opening wasn't measured properly. Luckily this was on the PB, as excavators typically charge for 2 digs on a 'mini'.

We signed our contract back the last week of April and had all permits in hand by the first week of May. Then came the rain.....ground was finally broken on June 7th.

We decided to put in the arbor/pergola after the fact for a more reasonable price, but it will look like the image below.






 
It was a long dig-day, as they started at 8:30am, and didn't finish until close to 9pm. They used the mini bobcat to dig, then shuttled that through the very narrow gate opening on the side of the house (less than 3" clearance on each side of the Bobcat blade). Out front they met a traditional Bobcat where they would dump each load into his bucket and then load into the waiting dump trucks.

Right after they left I noticed they had dug a skimmer in the wrong place. I reached out to the PB via text and 20 minutes later I hear the crew back at work in the pitch dark using their cell phone camera-lights to dig out a new skimmer! They were finally "done" at 9:30pm.






The skimmer right above the blue level is in the wrong place....they read the blueprints wrong and put the second skimmer where the LED light is to be installed...

 
Plumbing came on June 8th and steel came on June 10th



Preliminary electric and equipment pad was installed on Saturday June 11th.

Unfortunately I was away on business on June 14th when gunite was sprayed in (not a day I wanted to miss)!

June 16th and 17th saw the waterline tile, coping, and back wall come together, including the 3' sheer descent water feature.


 
The electrician was out on Jun 18th to run the wires from our breaker box, install EasyTouch4 Panel, LED lighting, and wall switch.

Other than watering our ugly concrete hole, nothing much happened until June 29th.....

Decking arrival!




We had some grading and clean-up on June 30th, then nothing until July 6th when they came out to bring our fence and gate up to code....nothing too exciting or picture worthy there!

That brings us up to today, Plaster Day! We went with Stonescapes Aqua Blue mini. They arrived at about 10am and were wrapped up by 2pm. I missed all of the action as I was away at meetings, bummer!




We are happy with the color and excited for the acid wash and fill tomorrow! We can't wait to get the mess cleaned up and get some sod and landscaping back in. We miss our lush and finely manicured backyard. The tornado feeling is growing old!

We're also expecting the fence/gate team to be back out this weekend to build a "hide" for the equipment. Given the tight quarters on the lots in our development there wasn't anywhere to put equipment on the side of the house.
 
The plaster guys returned at 7am this morning to acid wash, scrub, and start the fill. They also dumped in some chemical concoction that said "startup" on the bottle.

Finally, the day is here that it's no longer just a hole in the ground!



A closer look at the Stonescapes Aqua Blue Mini Pebble now that it has been scrubbed and cleaned. Love the color!

 
How are you planning on sanitizing your pool? Are you using liquid chlorine, aka bleach? As you know from reading this forum, you don't need the Ozonator/Nature 2 system. You'll get plenty of UV from the sun and I think the Nature 2 puts metals into your water, which you don't want.

Please post more pics when it's filled! Looks great!
 
Congrats! Be sure to follow your installer's instructions especially for the first 30 days. And here is NPT's start up guide.
Overview | National Pool Tile Group

Use copper in your pool at your own risk! It is known to accumulate over time and stain water, hair, dogs, plaster, fingernails, swimsuits and more green. It is incredibly difficult and fairly expensive to manage copper stains after they begin and the only way to remove copper from the pool is to sequester it with chemicals and drain the pool. There are hundreds of threads here from pool owners spending many hours and hundreds of dollars trying to remove copper from their pool.
More here, Pool School - Metals in the Water and Metal Stains

Since we are in early warning mode. Chlorine is the only sanitizer that effectively kills bacteria, viruses and pathogens in the pool. In order to keep your pool safe, sanitary and prevent person to person disease transmission it is necessary to maintain chlorine above minimum for your CYA, [FC/CYA][/FC/CYA], at all times. Ozone and "minerals" do not do anything to sanitize the water in the pool, they only sanitize water that passes through it.
More here, Alternative sanitizers and pools--The Truth!!

Now, go enjoy that pool! :paddle:
 
Marlahoutex said:
How are you planning on sanitizing your pool? Are you using liquid chlorine, aka bleach? As you know from reading this forum, you don't need the Ozonator/Nature 2 system. You'll get plenty of UV from the sun and I think the Nature 2 puts metals into your water, which you don't want.

Please post more pics when it's filled! Looks great!
Click to expand...

I did not include the in-line chlorinator in my specs. We will be using chlorine, but hopefully a lower level with the use of the Ozonator and Nature 2. My plan is to let them start the pool up with the Nature 2, then remove the cartridge or not replace after the 6 months it's good for.

I see so many "hater" reviews on the Nature 2, but yet when you look at Amazon and such, all the verified purchases tend to give it a very high rating.

We're first time pool owners so we'll be learning. We have pool school next week and will be spending a lot of time on the forums in the next 1-2 weeks to help get a grasp on things.

What originally sold us on the Ozonator/Nature 2 was that they claim that chemical usage will only be 10-20% of a typical chlorine pool. I bounced this proposal off a golf buddy who owns and operates a very high end landscaping and pool company here in the DFW area and he also suggested the Ozone/NAture 2 combo. He knew he wasn't building my pool but still suggested going this route.

I'm torn....

- - - Updated - - -

cowboymommy said:
Looks great! Almost one month to the day!! Our dig starts today after multiple delays. I would be THRILLED to get it done in a month.
Click to expand...

If it wasn't for the decking guys being backed up due to the May rain delays this could have been a <3 week job!

We're happy with their progress, just disappointed that we missed usage for both Memorial Day and 4th of July weekends due to the entire month of May being a washout!
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
lantanapoolbuild

Your thread caught my eye last night. I really enjoy watching in ground pool construction pics. Thanks for sharing. Looks great.

I have nothing to add other than how great it looks. But I noticed your location under your name and wanted to just say my thoughts and well wishes go out to your community from someone over here on the east coast. A real shame what happened out that way to your community and that police force. Hang in there.
 
mikemass said:
lantanapoolbuild

Your thread caught my eye last night. I really enjoy watching in ground pool construction pics. Thanks for sharing. Looks great.

I have nothing to add other than how great it looks. But I noticed your location under your name and wanted to just say my thoughts and well wishes go out to your community from someone over here on the east coast. A real shame what happened out that way to your community and that police force. Hang in there.
Click to expand...


Much appreciated. I was supposed to have meetings in Downtown Dallas today. Needless to say, those were cancelled. We're at the point that the TVs are just going to remain off for the weekend. Too much negativity and having my young children exposed to all of this stuff is getting frustrating!
 
Lantana, you can do a search of this forum for Nature2 and you can read the comments from some very knowledgable people right here. Even though I've never met any TFP-ers (That just sounds wrong! LOL!) I trust them to give me sound advice. When I went through pool school a few weeks ago, I was told I was the most knowledgable person he had ever pool schooled. That is only because of this forum. Make sure you do your research so you can make an informed decision on the Nature2. Just trying to keep you from spending money you don't need to and so you'll have extra for KImKats to help you spend!
 
We started our fill at 8am this morning after the plaster guys came out for a quick scrub and acid wash. They also dumped in a bottle of startup-tec which is supposed to limit the amount of brushing/scrubbing necessary.

By 1:30pm we were only around 1/3 full, so I dumped in another 6ft hose and that got us filled up by dinner time.

While the true chemical start-up isn't until tomorrow, the PB told us to go ahead and start enjoying it! He didn't have to tell us twice! I'd be lying if I said I wan't just as excited as the kiddos!

We just about told the PB to fill in the umbrella sleeve when plaster was out yesterday, so glad we decided to keep it!



 
My plug for the TFP way, which eschews using any metals based equipment (Nature 2) or ozone is that the process here is based on, literally, the most sound science possible by some of the smartest people in the country on the topic of pool chemistry. Being blunt but straightforward and honest, your friend is quite likely not on the same level as the TFP 'founding fathers' (which certainly doesn't include me). PB's and pool maintenance folks are quite often, (usually in fact) not on the same page as the TFP methodology for a variety of reasons. Not all of which are negative towards them, some of which are just reality based due to how often they visit a given pool, etc.
The longer I'm around, the more fascinated I am by the astounding level of profound knowledge that helped to develop the 'simple' trouble free pool care method.
Metals can cause havoc in a pool long term. And ozone/UV are only active when running and therefore provide no residual FC while turned off. There is nothing inherently wrong with using ozone or UV, but they are unnecessary, redundant and more costly in the long term to purchase, run and maintain/replace. As well as adding unnecessary complexity to your equipment setup. Incidentally, the sun provides all the benefits you need from UV unless perhaps you are handling commercial pool levels of bather load and need the extra oxidizing capabilities or have an indoor pool with no UV. A SWCG or bleach are all you need to sanitize your pool, both of which are completely and inherently safe when used in accordance with the FC/CYA relationship chart, so there is no need to reduce their use.
Glad to have you here. We are here solely to help you learn the best/easiest method to maintain a safe pool.
 
Very nice price! I know it's on the smaller basic end but I've been told many times just the basic pool starts at $40k. Not to mention, it looks beautiful.

Rule of thumb is you'll get half the pool in equity. Pools are not investments, they are entertainment vehicles.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply