Hi all, we have selected our builder and mostly settled on our design, so I figured it was time to start a build thread. I've only recently registered here at TFP, but I have been lurking and reading and learning as much as possible here for nearly two years. It has been beyond helpful to me and I really appreciate everyone here. We'll be doing a pool and spa, currently 561 sq ft, 93 ft perimeter, 29 ft long by 24ft wide (on the side with sun shelf). I say currently because the one thing we may change is to make it wider stretching the back side of the pool further out into the yard. Depth will be 3.5 - 4.5 feet. We are planning to do travertine pavers in a herringbone pattern for the decking, and either travertine or limestone coping, along with pebbletec plaster. The equipment will be Jandy with a VS pump and cartridge filter. We will be chlorinating with bleach and I'm hoping to have the PB install a Stenner pump and tank on a timer for chlorination. We are also considering an aquacomfort heat cool pump, but not 100% sure on that yet. A drawing is attached. I'm happy to hear any thoughts or advice.
New build - Plano Texas
- Thread starter SunnyInTexas
- Start date
Welcome!
Nice design. Looks to use your yard space well.
Do you have small children? I only ask as the elevated spa by the deck might block off some of your view into the pool if you are keeping an eye on kiddos. Otherwise looks good to me.
We are using Hauk as well (we are in Allen). Several people here are using them as well. Our choices are also very similar to your- we are putting in travertine pavers in herringbone with travertine coping.
I'm interested to hear if they will install the stenner pump for you. Otherwise we are using the same equipment you listed.
Nice design. Looks to use your yard space well.
Do you have small children? I only ask as the elevated spa by the deck might block off some of your view into the pool if you are keeping an eye on kiddos. Otherwise looks good to me.
We are using Hauk as well (we are in Allen). Several people here are using them as well. Our choices are also very similar to your- we are putting in travertine pavers in herringbone with travertine coping.
I'm interested to hear if they will install the stenner pump for you. Otherwise we are using the same equipment you listed.
Thank you! We have a 5 year old and an 8 year old. Visibility is a bit of a concern now, but from the lounge area to the side of the pool it is unobstructed. We have kind of struggled with decisions like that. We really like the spill over we'll have with it raised, both the look and sound. We have decided to take the more long term approach, accepting the temporary draw back to have what we want long term. We plan to live here for a long time. We have talked about raising it 9 inches instead of 12, but that probably wouldn't make too much difference I suppose. I really like the folks at Hauk. I feel like we're in good hands. We have our designer coming out tomorrow to spray paint to help us decide if we want to go bigger. I'm planning to discus the Stenner and I'll update you.
Love the design! You KNOW we would LOVE to see a picture of the yard as it stands now. If you can get the pool painted on it even better.
Ok, had the pool painted on, but it is a bit messy as we started playing with the lines. Apparently my house's survey is off by around a foot on some measurements, so that threw us off a little. It gives us a pretty good indication of size though, and we are going to go a little bigger. Basically we're planning to pull the whole back edge of the pool out a few feet further into the yard. The president of sales and the construction superintendent are still discussing the Stenner, so I can't provide any update there yet. Sounds like I'm the first that has ever brought that up. Here's a picture of our yard currently. It's a big pie shaped cul-de-sac lot with lots of room to work with.
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Love how you found you could go bigger. Kind of scary how your survey is off so much. Will you follow up on that?
Hi,
I'm impressed that you already figured out that you don't want to fool with the pool store. Just even knowing there is such a thing as a Stenner, at this stage, is great.
My gut feeling is that most PB's have not even heard of a Stenner chlorine pump.
Make sure you get you TF100 test kit in your hands before the pool is completed, that way you will be ready to start testing as soon as the water goes in.
Are you planning to have an automation system?
Thanks,
Jim R.
I'm impressed that you already figured out that you don't want to fool with the pool store. Just even knowing there is such a thing as a Stenner, at this stage, is great.
My gut feeling is that most PB's have not even heard of a Stenner chlorine pump.
Make sure you get you TF100 test kit in your hands before the pool is completed, that way you will be ready to start testing as soon as the water goes in.
Are you planning to have an automation system?
Thanks,
Jim R.
Yes Kimkats, I was a bit surprised by that! Our designer said he's come across it before, though it is not exactly common. Our lot is an irregular pie shape, and the house was built to fit the lot. There is the main part of the house, and then two wings that come off it, fanning out each at a slightly different angle more or less parallel to the lot lines. The length of each of these wings was true to the survey, but the distance between them at their far endpoints was about 14 inches further apart. I'm guessing the unusual lot and angles probably contributed to the survey being slightly off. Either way, I'm glad it came to light now and not during excavation! We will have to get a new survey at some point once the pool is in.
Jimrahbe - I have been planning for the pool for two years, and have been filling that time learning everything I can. I have been studying everything from materials to equipment to water chemistry, with the goal of making good choices and doing things the right way from the start. And because of wonderful people like you who are always happy to help and share their knowledge, I feel like I'll be able to do just that. I can't even tell you how thankful I am for this site, all of its members, and those who laid the foundation for TFPC. My dad had a pool long ago, and I learned quickly that blindly following pool store advice was not the best approach. You bet I will be buying a TF100!
As for the Stenner, my designer had not ever heard of it and I'm not sure if any of the others with the company have either. My designer seemed open to it though, and actually seemed pretty interested in what I thought about water chemistry and the pitfalls of other sources of chlorine. I'd like to have it all installed at once, but if they are for some reason unwilling to do it, I'm confident I can figure it out with the help of the great folks here.
As for automation, it will be a Jandy Aqualink system that allows control with smartphone or tablets. I'm not sure of the exact model number or name though. My thinking is that this will be most convenient as my wife and I always have our phones on us.
Jimrahbe - I have been planning for the pool for two years, and have been filling that time learning everything I can. I have been studying everything from materials to equipment to water chemistry, with the goal of making good choices and doing things the right way from the start. And because of wonderful people like you who are always happy to help and share their knowledge, I feel like I'll be able to do just that. I can't even tell you how thankful I am for this site, all of its members, and those who laid the foundation for TFPC. My dad had a pool long ago, and I learned quickly that blindly following pool store advice was not the best approach. You bet I will be buying a TF100!
As for the Stenner, my designer had not ever heard of it and I'm not sure if any of the others with the company have either. My designer seemed open to it though, and actually seemed pretty interested in what I thought about water chemistry and the pitfalls of other sources of chlorine. I'd like to have it all installed at once, but if they are for some reason unwilling to do it, I'm confident I can figure it out with the help of the great folks here.
As for automation, it will be a Jandy Aqualink system that allows control with smartphone or tablets. I'm not sure of the exact model number or name though. My thinking is that this will be most convenient as my wife and I always have our phones on us.
Any reason you are only going 4.5 depth? Or maybe I read your post wrong... I would definitely recommend going deeper than 4.5.
Well, depth is a decision we've struggled with. The reason we thought we'd keep it 4'6" as the max, and through most of the pool, is that my wife is 5'5" and in 5 feet of water she's eyeball deep, making that part of the pool not very comfortable for her. Why do you recommend deeper?
We are really second guessing the depth now. We talked to our kids' swimming teacher today and she also suggested we should have one area at least 5 feet deep to make it safer for cannonballs. Also the more I think about 3.5 feet for the shallowest end, the more I think that is too shallow. I've read a few post with people saying as much, and that they wish they had gone with 4 instead of 3.5. Now we are thinking we might do 4-4.5-5, with about a quarter of the pool at the end with steps at 4', half of the pool in the middle section at 4.5, and the last quarter at the end nearest the garage at 5'. I know most party pools have the deepest section in the middle, but with our design the kids couldn't really jump in to the middle due to the landscaping and sun shelf and spa. Also we want to play volleyball, and my wife can't really play comfortably in 5 feet. If the five feet section is in the middle she'll never really want to play at the net. If we have the deepest quarter at one end, I think she and and others of her height will have an easier time playing.
Thoughts are welcome!
Thoughts are welcome!
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Sounds like a win-win.........One thing you REALLY need to work with the PB on is your water level. When you say 4- 4.5- 5 make it known you mean water height at the middle of the skimmer face when the pool is done and water is in it. Otherwise it will be too shallow because they might do the height from bottom to coping.
I did clarify that with the PB. He said it would be the specified depth to the waterline, not the coping, give or take an inch or two. That seemed reasonable, but is that potential variance of a couple inches typical of a gunite pool?
Yes. If they have a "light" load it might be more as there will be less gunite. If they have a "heavy" load it might be less as there will be more guinte. It also depends on the skills of the installers (as does much of the pool build).
Hi Sunny!! Your design is awesome! It reminds me a little of mine if you want to take a peak in my build thread. [emoji5] I have a large sunshelf, raised spa, and almost 7 year old twins. I'm 4'9" tall and our depths are great! We did 3'6" for our shallow end, with a slow slope to 5'. We also put in the sleeves for volleyball but if we'd had the 5' in the middle, I wouldn't be able to play. You might be able to go with the 4' shallow end comfortably for your wife. I tend to hang out most in the area that is about 3'10" deep and I'm shorter than she is. We've really enjoyed our depths. The best thing I did was take a tape measure and simulate water depths on my body. How deep is your shelf? We find 9" to be perfect.
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Thank you Twinkies! You have a beautiful pool and I enjoyed going through your build thread. I cracked up at the anatomical resemblance of the initial design! I love the plaster color you chose, we want something similar. You also have a very nice big sun shelf! i might like to make ours a little bigger than currently designed, as I'm sure it will be popular. I believe it is about 6 inches deep. We went to our HOA pool today, which ranges from 3 to 5 feet, and really got a good feel for the depths. We are now pretty sure we want 4-4.5-5. 4ft will be little too deep for my 5 year old right now, but she is growing fast and we think this will work best for us long term.
Here's a rundown of the proposed equipment:
Jandy iAqualink automation
Jandy VS ePump
Jandy CL580 cartridge filter
Jandy 400k btu gas heater
Jandy Neverlube valves
Polaris 280 w 3/4 hp booster pump
Savi Melody LED lights (1 spa, 4 pool)
Stenner pump 10gpd w 15 gallon tank (hopefully)
Aqua Comfort heat/cool pump (maybe)
Jandy iAqualink automation
Jandy VS ePump
Jandy CL580 cartridge filter
Jandy 400k btu gas heater
Jandy Neverlube valves
Polaris 280 w 3/4 hp booster pump
Savi Melody LED lights (1 spa, 4 pool)
Stenner pump 10gpd w 15 gallon tank (hopefully)
Aqua Comfort heat/cool pump (maybe)