New Build in NE FL

[Brooksrandy81]

We are pool owner newbies but after a long process of finding a PB we like, we just signed on the dotted line and I think the dig should start around Jan 10th. We are contacting tree trimmers now as we have large spanish oaks behind the house and some of the limbs are over where we are putting the pool. My wife has had the county forester out to discuss trimming the trees and digging in areas under the drip line to ensure the trees will not be severely damaged or pose a risk to the pool and deck etc.

Here are the specs so far

Free Form 505 Sq Ft
7 Ft Round Raised Spa (18 inch) w/Spillway and natural stone surround and the elevated area above the tile on front of elevation inside pool
5500 Shotcrete They are saying 8 inches thick
3' 6" to 7' with a deep end swim out
Sunstone Pebble Finish (thinking Either Saint Lucia Pearl or Blue Peark) by C L industries
We will use a 6x6 tile by master tile by the water line
2 and 3 inch chedule 40 pipe
2- 3 inch drains
3 adjustable eyelets in pool
6 adjustables in spawalls
sun tanning ledge with a small section of steps

Equipment
Hayward Ecostar VS pump
Hayward Swimclear Cartridge 200SQ FT
3 hayward color logic lights 2 for main pool 1 for spa
Hayward 40 k Salt Chlorinator
Hayward Aqua Plus Automation with wireless remote
StaRite 330,000 LP heater for spa

Deck
1300 Sq ft
Tremron pavers either Mega old town or stone hurst in lions bridge color with Polymeric Sand. With Charcoal bullnose coping

Enclosure
32x 56 with Mansard Style Roof
7 inch Structural Super Gutter
2 Downspouts
Heavy wall bronze aluminum
18/14 charcoal phifer screen

I have option for LED bubblers at 525.00 a piece (not sure if we want that)

Also adding in a fire pit with propane ring. We were thinking of doing the paver/stone bench by the fire pit but now we think we will stick to furniture

I will also attach pictures of our layout and 3D rendering -

If anyone sees anything worth commenting on or experiences with products, good or bad, would love to hear them. Thanks!

 

[Brentr]

Go with as much deck space as possible, you will be quite surprised how much space a couple of lounge chairs and table take up. Also pre plan for future summer kitchen. Post lots of pics

 

[GaryT58]

Looks/sounds great. Some suggestions.

+1 on as much deck space as possible. Loungers and chairs do take up a lot of space and you want to be able to easily walk around pool.

May want to install some umbrella mounts into deck near areas you may want to sit in and around pool. We have a couple built in loungers and table, which has an umbrella mount which we have an 11 foot sunbrella installed. Lets us sit in shade when we want, and we use it a lot when we just want to hang out by/in pool at night with a drink and read or watch grandkids. You can get movable umbrella systems as well.

I do not see estimate of pool size in gallons, but suspect your 40,000 gallon salt water chlorine generator (SWG) is at least 2x the pool size. We definitely recommend oversizing the unit. 2x or more is good, especially if you will have lots of swimmers and/or get lots of direct sunlight.

 

[Brooksrandy81]

We have 1300 sq ft of deck and due to large river oaks behind the house and septic to the right of the back porch, we are limited on where we can go and have maximized the amount of space that we can. And we added just a lot more deck over on the side by the spa and because we have a screen enclosure, the cost jumps a lot. We had the pool drawn up at 550sq ft but decided to shrink it down to 505sq ft to gain more deck. I'm not sure 100% on the gallons and I'm waiting on the actual engineering plans. We were considering umbrella mounts and then I saw someone posted those cantilever umbrellas I started to think about going with those. Still something we are considering. IWill try to post lots of pictures when they start! I do want to put in a propane supply for a fire pit as well.

Will try to find pics to show the area where this is going to show limitations.

 

[Brooksrandy81]

Sorry the panoramic pics are a little skewed looking. We are taking down the stone wall prior to build starting

The red square is approx where the screen enclosure is going. The yellow circle area is the septic and holding tanks and we cannot go any further that direction with the deck or screen. We are already going 18 feet past the side of the house and we cannot go more than 32 feet from the bay window and 25 feet from the very back of the house bc of the trees.

 

[Brooksrandy81]

 

[kimkats]

What a pretty house and area!

I love the stone wall. Why take it down? It will serve as a good stopping point for kids and pets.

Kim

 

[Brooksrandy81]

What a pretty house and area!

I love the stone wall. Why take it down? It will serve as a good stopping point for kids and pets.

Kim

Thanks! Taking the wall down bc the entire area is going to be fully enclosed with a screen and that will keep the dog out of we need him to be. No kids. We also want the social area of the existing porch to be open to the pavers straight out in front of it, next to the pool, so that the area flows and is very open and gives the feeling of even more space.

We are def going to have a gas line ran to the far side of the house, next to the corner of the house, where the couch and rug sitting area is on the rendering, so we can have a gas fire pit.

What is the opinion on benches and sitting walls made out of pavers vs furtniture for the fire area? We see how nice the pavers can look but it is very rare that the photos online show these examples in a screen enclosure so we are concerned with how the paver bench/wall would look inside of a screen. Also, my wife has a bad back injury and will have long term effects from it and not sure if it makes sense to do a paver seat vs a cushioned couch and chair. Thoughts on the look and function of either? Obviously furtniture can be moved around and all and pavers cannot.

 

[Brentr]

And what about a future summer kitchen? And a place to add BIG TV?
Congrats, some suggestions if I may?
1. Speaking from experience. Put in a double door on one of the sides. I only had one door and ended up putting in a double door and another single door on the opposite side. I should have listened to my wife
2. Plan on plumbing electrical and water for a future summer kitchen.
3. Plan on adding solar and heat pump in your equipment pad.
4. Make sure that you have a very large equipment pad.
5. Put in water spigots in all 4 corners of the screen cage both inside and outside the screen cage.
6. Put in electrical outlets in all 4 corners of the screen cage both inside and outside the screen cage.
7. Go with a large outdoor space as possible. We have 1800sq ft of pavers and we wish we did a larger space. You will be quite surprised how much room tables chairs and lounges take up.
8. Run conduits for speaker wires if you plan on wired speakers.

Look at the 3 links in my signature bar for ideas. Post lots of pics

 

[kimkats]

I see what you mean by the wall going down would open everything up more. Good call.

For around the fire pit I would do half and half...........have the raised wall by the screen with room for chairs and loungers on the side by the pool. That way the sight line from the pool to the fire pit is not blocked.

You do know you can build your fire pit any shape you want? It does not have to be a circle! They make fire bars any shape you could want! Look here for ideas:

rectangle fire pit - Google Search

Just wanted to give you some options to make it fit the area as well as looking nice!

I know I don't care to sit on a bench for long periods of time. I love a soft seat with good back support. A place to put my feet makes it even better!

Kim

 

[Brooksrandy81]

And what about a future summer kitchen? And a place to add BIG TV?

The area where a tv can go is over on the existing back porch and there is already electricity there (having the 1" pavers laid over the concrete up there). Kitchen could go either on existing porch area or near fire pit area and also have electricity and water in that corner too.

Congrats, some suggestions if I may?
1. Speaking from experience. Put in a double door on one of the sides. I only had one door and ended up putting in a double door and another single door on the opposite side. I should have listened to my wife

Glad you reminded me bc that is something we already discussed wanting but didnt write it down. They have us down for 2 - 4 ft doors but not a french door so will inquire about that.

2. Plan on plumbing electrical and water for a future summer kitchen.

Have that already in the area where it could go

3. Plan on adding solar and heat pump in your equipment pad.
4. Make sure that you have a very large equipment pad.

Will discuss that with them

5. Put in water spigots in all 4 corners of the screen cage both inside and outside the screen cage.
6. Put in electrical outlets in all 4 corners of the screen cage both inside and outside the screen cage.

Already have them inside and what will be outside on the house end so will see what is involved for doing the far outside corners

7. Go with a large outdoor space as possible. We have 1800sq ft of pavers and we wish we did a larger space. You will be quite surprised how much room tables chairs and lounges take up.

We have maximized the footprint that a,dcan take up given the trees, septic, and pond that is next to the house and also reduced the pool by 50 sq ft to get more deck. We would have went further the other direction opposite of the spa if we could but the 2 holding tanks and septic are right there so prevents that. We have hosted get togethers just on the very small patio we have now so 1300 sq ft should work well... Hopefully bc that's it! Lol

8. Run conduits for speaker wires if you plan on wired speakers.

Good idea. We were thinking of using the blue tooth speakers but will see what is involved to do that as well. Thx.

Look at the 3 links in my signature bar for ideas. Post lots of pics

Will check it out! Thanks for the tips and info! Wife loves taking pics so I am sure we will have a lot.

 

[Brooksrandy81]

I see what you mean by the wall going down would open everything up more. Good call.

For around the fire pit I would do half and half...........have the raised wall by the screen with room for chairs and loungers on the side by the pool. That way the sight line from the pool to the fire pit is not blocked.

Would you do just the wall or an actual bench with a back made of pavers? My wife feels that if we do the pavers for sitting, we should just spend more money and have an actual L shaped bench put in the corner next to the screen.

You do know you can build your fire pit any shape you want? It does not have to be a circle! They make fire bars any shape you could want! Look here for ideas:

rectangle fire pit - Google Search

Just wanted to give you some options to make it fit the area as well as looking nice!

Thanks. We have looked at the square ones but not about them. My wife thinks the square and rectangular ones look more modern and that isn't our style. But lots to consider for sure!

I know I don't care to sit on a bench for long periods of time. I love a soft seat with good back support. A place to put my feet makes it even better!

Kim

That's how my wife is as well which is why we have considered doing all furtniture vs the paver bench.

 

[kimkats]

I do have yo say I like the idea of furniture over a built in bench because yiu can move them and change them as wanted.

 

[hotrodbones]

Nice Layout! Cant wait to follow your build and compare the schedule to mine. How deep is your tanning ledge? I was debating on the LED bubblers for mine but we wanted a deeper tanning ledge at 12-14" at the water line and bubblers are not very effective at that depth.

 

[Brooksrandy81]

I do believe we have ours going in at 9 inches. I'm not 100% on the led bubbles they will cost 1025.00 to have those 2 in there. It will depend on what else we add and how much the fire pit will end up costing.

 

[Brooksrandy81]

Thoughts on colors and what not for pavers etc? We went to the store last week to start narrowing down the selection and are meeting with the builder next week to hopefully nail it all down. Pretty sure we are going to go up to the paver plant on the north side of town to see all of the pavers installed outside and also the special order colors as my wife has now seen some online she likes but then the colors we saw at the Trenton store look different with the digital photos and now we are confused. Will post pictures below... Trying to get more grey and bluish grey colors with some browns but not too warm or orange but will include the photo of an existing stone wall that has multiple colors that helps see how the paver and stone color will go with house (wall will be removed). Also need to decide between Stonehurst and Mega Old Town....

This is Mega Old town paver in Lions Bridge with Oceano ledger for surround of raised spa and also the elevated area above the water line tile. Then we haven't decided on pebble finish color yet, picked out what we think is our porc water tile, and we are doing the charcoal coping. Also trying to decide about perimeter design away from the pool..m so many choices. But this is OUR FAV right now.

This is same as above but with caribbean cream stone

This is golden sunrise... Least favorite. These were the top 3 that could possibly work as far as stone goes.

This is a closer pic of the paver, coping, and tile. Thoughts?

This is the 3 different stone options side by side with the coping and paver just to compare

This is a pic of the existing stone that as you can see has a warm tone to it but it is a mixture of 2 color schemes of veneer to achieve this color. While we do like how this stone looks, we aren't convinced the similar colored stone veneer would go as well with the pavers we like...thoughts?

So this is Stonehurst but in Sierra. We originally liked this color in the catalog but seeing it in person, it was too orange and red. The Lions Bridge color we like is the same as Sierra except it starts with a white base so not so orange and red in color. We like this paver bc it has thinner grout lines and straighter edges with the nice texture. But again, we don't want to look super modern with really clean edges.

This is Mega Old Town and pretty sure this is Sierra as well but as you can see, the colors don't look the same. This paver has a smooth top with a more pillow look to it as the edges are softer and almost beveled and a little wider. We like this as it's more traditional but not sure about more dirt getting trapped in the joint space between pavers (dirt from the dog, our shoes, etc) and while we don't want to be super modern, we also like things that aren't cookie cutter and this is one of the most popular pavers.

So this is a on online photo of Stonehurst in the color we like, Lions Bridge, but the one we saw in person wasn't this vibrant and nice looking (was inside a store) so not sure what to think about what color we will actually get when we order. But really love what's in this photo

And lastly, this is an online photo my wife saw and she loved the color and thought it was lions bridge but it is called Oak Run. Given how different the lions bridge keeps looking, we really want to see this color in person too and think it could work...thoughts?

My wife has now been looking at the glass tile accents along the steps and really likes how that looks but isn't sure how it will look with our current color and style that we have (earthy and greys). Any thoughts on the glass accent step tiles? We also have to pick a spillway material.. Either granite or tile etc. They said granite doesn't provide that smooth water fall bc of the edge and tile or marble would be best. But my wife does not like contrasting light colored grout esp with the small tile so not sure about using the glass tile there...or the cost! Help!

 

[Brooksrandy81]

OH! Also, thoughts on the contrasting coping along the perimeter of the pavers, not just along the pool? I have seen pavers laid with the edge just stopping with no definition, I have seen the same paver just turned long ways to make the edge the same color but like a brick edge, I have seen them turned the other direction to make a skinny vertical border in the same color. Then they have used a dark color, like the charcoal, and turned them either horizontal or vertical to get a simple border. Then also moving the darker border one row inside and having a similar color or same color as the border and a second border on the inside in the darker color. Mind. Blown. Who knew there was so much to consider???

My wife and I want the charcoal coping along the pool, defining the area, and also the edge of the steps going up to the spa in the charcoal, but haven't decided what to do with the outside edge of pavers. Also haven't decided what the top edge of the fire pit and spa will be...brain is frying!

 

[Nectarologist]

I'd have the edge the of pavers (soldier row I think the stone guys call it) match the coping. It will give the patio area nice definition and look good matching the coping. I have this and it's been 1 full summer and i'm really glad I did it this way I also replaced a deck with a paver patio and there is a "wall" that goes from 18" to grade so for the cap we used the same stone as the pool coping and it ties the area in nicely. The pic below is a panorama image but I posted b/c it shows all aspects. You can see on the left and right the "wall" areas and if you look to the right of the pool on the roman end you can see it' the same coping stone. Let me know if you want specific up close pics that may help you decide. The square stepping stones line the grass area and can't be seen well are also the same color as the coping. I have TechoBloc for coping and it's onyx black I believe. The magazines make them appear darker/deeper in color than when they are in the sun. Since you'll be covered that may not be a big deal to consider. The 2nd photo shows a better angle of the border row before sod was put in.

 

[kimkats]

The Stonehurst you found online has been sealed with a wet look product is my guess. It is expensive and has to be redone every once in a while to keep the look up.

With that out of the way...............I vote for your first pick! It is my fav as well! I like the colors and how everything ties in together.

One thing you can do is go through the blocks when they come in. It will be a lot of work but so worth it to toss out any you do not and to stage the different colors how YOU want them.

We had one build where the tilers put all of the same color/tone together....all the dark in a row, then all of the light, etc. It look awful They made them redo it but it took quite a bit of time and "fussing" to get it done.

I like the idea of the darker stone being the coping AND the outside edge of the patio. To me it really "finishes" the look.

You are on the right track with your colors and pics.

Now lets talk about the glass tile....There are different color grouts. I do not like the light grout with glass tile for the same reason as your wife. It stands out too much. Try going to Lowes or Home Depot and picking up samples of their glass tile just to see how it looks with your other picks and go from there.

Something else to think about with glass tile is the color of the mastic that goes under it. There are different colors of that as well. This can change how the tile looks. (I know the last thing you needed is something else to think about LOL Sorry)

Saying all of this I will tell you that you cannot go wrong with ANY of your pics! They are all good and everyone will love it all when the water is in the pool and the drinks are in the cups!

Kim

 

[Brooksrandy81]

The Stonehurst you found online has been sealed with a wet look product is my guess. It is expensive and has to be redone every once in a while to keep the look up.

With that out of the way...............I vote for your first pick! It is my fav as well! I like the colors and how everything ties in together.

One thing you can do is go through the blocks when they come in. It will be a lot of work but so worth it to toss out any you do not and to stage the different colors how YOU want them.

We had one build where the tilers put all of the same color/tone together....all the dark in a row, then all of the light, etc. It look awful They made them redo it but it took quite a bit of time and "fussing" to get it done.

I like the idea of the darker stone being the coping AND the outside edge of the patio. To me it really "finishes" the look.

You are on the right track with your colors and pics.

Now lets talk about the glass tile....There are different color grouts. I do not like the light grout with glass tile for the same reason as your wife. It stands out too much. Try going to Lowes or Home Depot and picking up samples of their glass tile just to see how it looks with your other picks and go from there.

Something else to think about with glass tile is the color of the mastic that goes under it. There are different colors of that as well. This can change how the tile looks. (I know the last thing you needed is something else to think about LOL Sorry)

Saying all of this I will tell you that you cannot go wrong with ANY of your pics! They are all good and everyone will love it all when the water is in the pool and the drinks are in the cups!

Kim

Don't forget a projector screen an hdmi projector and the movie Top Gun!