Vinyl Pool Build - St. Louis area

[Kripp]

Hello! I have been silently reading and admiring pictures on this site for the past year. We are hoping to have a pool built in the St. Louis area in the spring. We received our first quote last night. I would appreciate any comments anyone may have about the below. Are there any follow up questions I should be asking based on this list? How many other bids would you recommend soliciting? This price is slightly higher than what I was expecting but not by much. We are still deciding whether we need the heat pump but is there anything else we could remove or downgrade to help with the pricing? Thank so much!

Installation of a vinyl lined pool-18’X38’X6’deep with a vinyl 7’X11’ tanning ledge. $56,454.77

Options included in the price of this pool:
*Permits (up to $250.00)
*20mil liner of choice
*Vinyl Instep
*Standard Mesh Safety Cover and Installation of Cover
*Pentair Super Flo 1.5H Pump
*Pentair Sand Filter
*Pentair Intellichlor Salt Generator
*2 Pentair Globrite LED Lights
*Pentair Easy Touch Automation
*Pentair Heat Pump with Chiller
*All Clean Rock Backfill
*Concrete Coping
*4 foot of concrete decking around the pool (broom finish)
*Water to Fill the Pool
*Basic Electrical Hook Up
*All 2” Plumbing Used to Maximize Water Flow for Sanitization
*Telescoping Pole, Vacuum Head, Wall Brush and Leaf Net
*Maintenance Kit
*First Year Winterization
*Pool 101 Course (Basics of How to Operate Pool)


Fiberglass Seat $1,500.00



Installation of 160 linear feet of standard black aluminum pool grade fencing. $4,800.00

 

[Melt In The Sun]

Looks like a decent equipment loadout. I'd want some more details on the exact pump and filter they're planning on installing; we'd recommend a 2-speed pump at least, if not a variable speed. Do you have any plans for a cleaner? Are you sure you need automation, rather than just a manual timer?

 

[Kripp]

Are you sure you need automation, rather than just a manual timer?

Are you referring to this item: *Pentair Easy Touch Automation

To be honest, I am not sure. I don't even really understand the purpose of the above but I don't think we need the fanciest stuff. Thank you for your comments!

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Skippy and I felt we couldn't justify a bunch of high tech automation if a simple timer would do the trick. It freed up funds to splurge on the automatic cover which was more important by far for us.

Is there a significant difference in cost between just a heater without chilling function and the one you list? That might be another place to trim costs as there are cheap effective ways to cool a pool down *if even necessary*.

 

[camueller]

What are the walls and floor going to be made of? I'm over in the metro east side, bought a house with an in ground vinyl pool. I'm from TX originally and was only familiar with concrete/gunite pools. I had no idea the idiots that built my pool built the walls out of pressure treated pine and the floor is just sand. I saw the receipt for the build, which was just under 30k about 8 years ago. I cringe when i think about how much they must profit the made off the previous owner. I also cringe at what I'm going to have to do in the future to keep my pool looking decent.

My point only being make sure you know how the pool is constructed. And don't pay 60k for a cheaply made pool.

 

[Kripp]

What are the walls and floor going to be made of? I'm over in the metro east side, bought a house with an in ground vinyl pool. I'm from TX originally and was only familiar with concrete/gunite pools. I had no idea the idiots that built my pool built the walls out of pressure treated pine and the floor is just sand. I saw the receipt for the build, which was just under 30k about 8 years ago. I cringe when i think about how much they must profit the made off the previous owner. I also cringe at what I'm going to have to do in the future to keep my pool looking decent.

My point only being make sure you know how the pool is constructed. And don't pay 60k for a cheaply made pool.

Yikes! That seems crazy. 8 years ago was not that long ago! I will definitely check.

 

[Kripp]

I'm posting a mock up I made of our yard. It's not precise but was helpful to get a better idea of our space. Our yard is a walkout and we have two concrete pads below two decks off the main floor. They are about 12x12. The door that we will use to get to the pool is on the left and we are considering putting the fence just inside that concrete pad so that there is not direct access to the pool. I think it looks a little odd not being centered with the house. Any thoughts? We could use the space from having the pool shifted so we still have some flat yard and room for our trampoline. Behind the pool the yard slopes and we have a little more yard that backs up to woods/ creek but not much. I will also note that we don't currently have stairs from either deck but plan to add stairs to the deck that is more in the center of our house and inside the fence. I appreciate any first impressions. Thank you!