PB in Austin, TX Area

[cheesewolf]

Hey everyone. I am new to this forum and plan to use it to get advice throughout my pool building process. I have gone to Pool School and feel much more educated on everything from Pool Chemistry to my wish list for my Dream Pool!

But first, I was hoping to reach out to people from the Austin area and get recommendations on a PB they used and would reccommend. I have 1 recommended from a friend but would like options to compare.

Thanks in advance.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

I'm not from Austin but please note that many of the Texas PB's are pushing pool owners AWAY from salt water chlorine generators over warranty issues. Please see this thread -

Texas vs. SWG - What is the deal

I'm not sure if you are interested in a pool that uses salt water chlorine generators and the choice of chlorination method is up to you, but I just wanted to put this out there in case you are considering it. Many of these PB's will try to push you towards a traditional trichlor puck feeder chlorinator and then try to up-sell you on alternative sanitizers like UV & Ozone making the (mostly bogus) claim that if you use UV/Ozone in conjunction with a puck feeder, you can use 90% less chlorine. The real truth is that PBs want to maintain warranty work through their sub contractors and many subs refuse to warranty their work when salt water pools are involved. So instead of the PB's holding the bag on warranty issues, they avoid SWGs altogether.

Salt and stone can be an issue in some cases (like using soft travertine stone coping with a salt pool). But there are ways to mitigate these issues during the build, such as choosing more durable materials around the pool and/or using stone sealants to keep water penetration to a minimum.

Good luck with your search and hopefully TFP can help you cut through a lot of marketing BS that is out there with pool builds.

 

[cheesewolf]

Yeah, I am not doing SWCG or any pucks. Plan to go total TFP method with household bleach. Thinking about just doing white plaster also, any thoughts on that?

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Yeah, I am not doing SWCG or any pucks. Plan to go total TFP method with household bleach. Thinking about just doing white plaster also, any thoughts on that?

The TFP Method covers SWGs as well as manual bleach chlorination. Most bleach users eventually want some form of automation because manually dumping bleach and lugging jugs of chlorine around gets really old really fast. But I understand if you want to avoid SWGs.

If that is the case, then I would suggest you put a Stenner chlorine pump into your build plan. A Stenner will allow you to fill a 15 gal container with liquid chlorine and dose automatically using a peristaltic chemical pump. It's a pretty cheap setup, ~ $300 to $500. I think you'll appreciate that.

As for plaster, that's a subjective call. I love my PebbleTec but know plenty of people that hate the feel of exposed aggregate on their feet. White plaster is classy but it stains easily and requires an experienced plasterer to make it look right. Plaster application is as much a skilled art as it is a science.

 

[mgmoore7]

As for plaster, that's a subjective call. I love my PebbleTec but know plenty of people that hate the feel of exposed aggregate on their feet. White plaster is classy but it stains easily and requires an experienced plasterer to make it look right. Plaster application is as much a skilled art as it is a science.

Agree. I don't think I would trade the pebblesheen (done by pebbletec) for anything. It is the perfect texture. Too smooth and too rough are both bad. Pebblesheen appears to be the perfect compromise and it is beautiful and has a longer warranty/lifespan.

 

[cheesewolf]

Thanks for the info. I didn't realize all the options PebbleTec offers, I will probably research that more. Also, the Stenner Chlorine pump makes sense, I need to research that more also. Pouring bleach every night doesn't seem like a big deal now, but I can imagine how it could difficult to manage if we go on trips. Hmmm...this is why I need this forum.