New Northeastern Pa Build

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ok i got serious questions:

1. pool company wants do full plumbing before they shoot so they can test all the lines. (i know this is to save a trip too) so they want to do the full plumbing to the pad and also set all equipment at that time. before shooting that ok? warranties don't start till pool is done they said in writing, but that means my equipment will be sitting all winter into next spring during my construction.

all ok to do when they want to

2. electrical. they wanted to do this in one trip also. i said no go cause my pool house which will have my sub panel in won't even be there. so this first trip before shooting will be what? conduit to pull all rights back to pad and that's it correct?

correct. more money but needs to be that way.

should i be concerned with any of this?

jim

edit: cause i got answers
 
I have another question that comes up now and then but from searches didn't see any recent thoughts.

i got a hold of another company around my area that will come out to me.

1. what i like: they use a unite crew below where i live that i know is very good. they also do the rebar. they also dod the tile and the coping. so i know all will be done correct by one company. nice and easy to keep track of them.

2. what i'm not sure about: they use flex for plumbing only. they said they would go dvc but they said they bury in sand so not a problem and in our area there sin't a lot of rock so no big deal. they also do 1.5" vs anything larger with the variable speed pump.

i really would like some opinions here. cause i like the fact they use one crew for most of the detail imps work. the company itself digs and does plumbing, bonding, pad. but then the gunite company pretty much takes over.

jim

PS. My take: dvc is good cause its so darn strong and can't corrode with chemicals. flex is good for our very cold winters cause of freeze. it will move with the soil and such. no unions cause of length it comes in.

my buddy is a commercial and residential excavator for 30 plus years. he does commercial utility work for various towns too. he has never had a call for a crushed flex if installed properly. he has seen leaks with pvc, but also held up well. he said he sees no issues but he doesn't install pools either he said, but said doesn't see what diff it would make in being a pool vs other uses for plumbing.
 
Ok so I am all set.

This is how weird the world is. I find out that a PB in my area, who my dad actually went to school with, does concrete pools. I knew he did vinyl pools hand over fist in our area and he has a huge service business but never knew he did gunite. I called him about 2 weeks ago. He came up Monday after work. He got me a estimate on Tuesday and Thursday I decided to use him! And not cause he is from my area, but because his plan was the best. Well him and the other guy I stumbled upon a few weeks ago, but this PB is in my home town and my dad knows him well so that's a good thing. My dad never knew he did gunite either. He actually did a bunch of peoples pool who we know of and they were all gunite. Small world. Here I am searching and searching and he was right down the street. Yes his price was more than the large company price, but he will be there everyday. He lived 5 mins away (always a plus). My dad trusts him. My excavator who is my very very good friend has done work for him (ya he didn't realize either). the projects louis has been on were all vinyl.

So there you have it. Yes more money, but no mysteries with him if we run over PVC lengths I will be paying more, if we dig and hit some issues I won't be saying crazy hourly rates, he will be there everyday. He digs, he plumbs, his 1 guy does tile and coping, and they do electrical. Their rebar, shell, and plaster is done by 3 diff companies but these are the only 3 he uses.
He will be using all pentair equipment. We will have automation through easy touch/ screen logic with him. He uses only 1/2 on 12" grid rebar. His shell is min 8" throughout. Beam is thicker obviously. 3 lights. only guy who did 3 lights. pentair gobrites. he got more space for our free form out of our yard from the others. 2 skimmers, 2 returns up top and floor return through drain, but not by skimmer. from the filter pad.

All in all i'm happy. He is drawing up the contract and is taking care of the permits with my dad. We are going to finish the pool this year vs not finishing it cause we won't have a permanent fence but that's why my dad and him are doing the permits for me through the township.

So now we just have to sign and the plan is to dig as soon as the weather breaks. He is hoping april 1st-ish.

I'll post up full details when we sign. I have most of the models, but not all yet.

What I haven't decided yet was salt system vs chlorine. Very minor at this point.

We are going down to NPT to look at tile when I get the plaster samples from Diamond Brite and I have to grab 2 other paver colors and another sample from a diff paver company to take with us.

Right now we are leaning towards super blue. I have been being coached by a veteran pool builder from outside my area, who i stumped upon and has been awesome at consulting me dow this road, along with all you wonderful people here. I have some ideas for tile, but the problem is going to come with matching the blues in the tiles with the pavers that are in reds, grey family.

So there it is, my story if anyone is still listening.

I will say in closing that I am so glad I waited on this last year till now cause if i didn't I would not have ended up with who we picked. i would have made some really bad choices i think.

Only thing we gave up on cause of this builder being more than the large company was no spa now. the extra money to have him (along with what i feel is a better plan) ate up the spa, but my wife doesn't mind at all. she is much happier also.

Ok I'm off to start one of my lego creator building with my daughter. we have been sitting on 6 of them and the disney castle for over a year now. we have 3 done so tonight we are starting, i think, the movie theatre.

jim
 
I can hear the relief in your "voice"....I like the idea his work is done mostly by in house people.

If y'all want a spa in the future you can get a stand alone spa. We can teach you how to care for it too! LOL

Have fun building with your daughter! How old is she? What memories you are building at the same time!

Kim:kim:
 
kimkats said:
I can hear the relief in your "voice"....I like the idea his work is done mostly by in house people.

If y'all want a spa in the future you can get a stand alone spa. We can teach you how to care for it too! LOL

Have fun building with your daughter! How old is she? What memories you are building at the same time!

Kim:kim:
Click to expand...

Thanks Kim!

She is 7. I was a huge lego geek as a kid so now finally having kids I can relive my kid years. lol She is into the friends line. Has a ton of those. I love the huge creator sets they do yearly of buildings so I have been buying those yearly and now started them with her. She doesn't do bad being they are aged for 16 plus. She obviously needs help but she handles herself pretty good. It's pretty cool seeing her work on them. She is loving the ghostbuster headquarters right now cause it is huge and has a ton in it to play with. My son is really into ghostbusters right now. Loves the old 2 movies. lol So he plays with it too. He is starting to get into them. He is 4, so we have been doing trains and city stuff.

Fun fun times for the winter. Once spring hits we will slow on the lego's to be outside but its a good way to pass the winter.

Jim

- - - Updated - - -

I have an automation question. . .

With easy touch will i have full control over all my valves meaning when I want to clean the pool can I use the control to close the 1 skimmer and the drain to get more suction from the skimmer I'm using to clean?

I didn't know if i had that kinda control. I know I have control over the heater, pump on and off with speeds, timers, and lights. but didn't know if i could fully control each valve on it's own with feedback.

jim
 
Jim,

Most automation systems are set up so that they can control a pool cleaner. The key for you is to makes sure you tell your pool builder exactly what you expect the system to do, so he can make sure it happens.

If I remember correctly, you have a dedicated vacuum line going to the pool wall. If this is the case, then there would be an automated valve that would open turning on the cleaner. This could happen automatically with a schedule that you set, or by simply pushing a button.

Again, now is the time to tell your PB what you expect so he can make it happen.

Thanks,

Jim R
 
Jimrahbe said:
Jim,

Most automation systems are set up so that they can control a pool cleaner. The key for you is to makes sure you tell your pool builder exactly what you expect the system to do, so he can make sure it happens.

If I remember correctly, you have a dedicated vacuum line going to the pool wall. If this is the case, then there would be an automated valve that would open turning on the cleaner. This could happen automatically with a schedule that you set, or by simply pushing a button.

Again, now is the time to tell your PB what you expect so he can make it happen.

Thanks,

Jim R
Click to expand...

Hey there jim. We will have a pressure line for a pressure auto cleaner if we ever use it. He just wants it in just in case. I want to use a robot. But I was talking about manual by me with using the skimmer.
 
Jim,

Since I've had my Robot, I have never had to vacuum my pool, ever... In the off chance you want to vacuum manually, you can just turn the valves yourself. I would have asked for a 2" vacuum line rather than a pressure line, since you plan on having a Robot anyway..

Jim R.
 
Jimrahbe said:
Jim,

Since I've had my Robot, I have never had to vacuum my pool, ever... In the off chance you want to vacuum manually, you can just turn the valves yourself. I would have asked for a 2" vacuum line rather than a pressure line, since you plan on having a Robot anyway..



Jim R.
Click to expand...

He wanted the pressure line in just in case down the road for a pressure side robot. S full electric like I will use. He does it for resale in our area cause people still use them.

Can I use the line for vacuuming? So plumb to the skimmer side vs return side and if they ever needed it to be a pressure line it can be replimbed at the pad?
 

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Jim,

I believe that a pressure line is normally much smaller that a standard Vacuum line. A pressure line is much too small to be used as the Vacuum line.

Again, I doubt you will ever need a vacuum if you use a robot...

Jim R.
 
ok. . .

so to kinda recap

1. make him switch the pressure line over to a cleaning line? just for my own knowledge. they are a 2" line which terminates at the pad with a 2 way valve i assume but the termination at the pool is it a special hookup? also will the manual cleaner i use for that line be different than the manual one i would use through the skimmer?

so when i use it would i be closing off the 2 skimmers and floor drains to increase pressure while cleaning?

thanks guys!

i didn't sign yet but we are in the process of pulling permits. lol that's how we roll in my town. we do things kinda backwards off just kinda go with the flow.
 
Jim,

Yes.. I would call it a vacuum line, rather than a cleaner line, just so there is no confusion.

The vacuum line normally is connected to the suction side of the pump, along with lines from the skimmer, the main drain, etc. using Jandy valves. You can then adjust the valves to allow you to select the water source you want. At the pool end, the line has a cap or small door which you open when you want to attach a suction side cleaner or a vacuum hose.

If some future owner wanted, this same vacuum line could be converted to a line for a pressure side cleaner without much effort.

Jim R.
 
Jim,

Yes, instead of connecting the hose to the skimmer, it just connects to the wall port. It is by far a much better way to do it rather than using the port under the skimmer basket.

Jim R.
 
Question:

For markers on steps what is the go to size if i did a square or diamond shape every few feet vs strips like alot of people do?

I ask cause I'm thinking of having mickey heads made for me as markers. We are a huge disney family. I thought it would be cool to have our own "kinda hidden" mickeys' in our pool. I just wanted a starting place to see if I should even go any further with the idea.

Pool dig date which is very loose right now due to weather is April 1st.

I laid the pool out last night with stakes and hose. We ended up making it 3 feet longer and 3 feet wider. So my new free form measurements will be 35 long by 23 and 20 wide for the bump out areas. the thinner area will be like 17 wide.

My wife is happy now.

We have the final colors and material picked out for all walls and pavers along with bullnose coping.

We are going down to NPT in phili in a few weeks to pick tile to match.

Pretty sure the quarts plaster will be super blue.

That's it for now.

jim
 
These are 2 x 2s.

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Ours are roughly 3x3. 6x6's cut in quarters. No problem appearance wise with that size. Much bigger would look a little weird. That said, I think if you went with a 3" head diameter plus ears, that would be a good compromise size.
 

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