Vegas OB! Just got plans back and need some feedback (pics included :) )

BUT it is going to be SO pretty when we are all done!

I LOVE your idea pictures! WOW!

The overflow for the spa...........that is going to be pretty to look at. I am not sure how it will sound but if you turn the pump up it will increase the sound for sure!

Kim:kim:
 
Ok beach so you have no joined the ranks of Kim and are sending me further into the poor house lol. I showed my wife the lights and we are ordering a pair and just submitted to have our plans redone so we can add extra electrical around the yard.

funny thing is before this site I was going for a basic pool no spa and now I'm probably going to be into my project another 15-20k with all the nice things I see here..... is there a way to say no and not try to incorporate everyone's fancy ideas :hammer:

Sorry about that...pool projects seem to be like that. Way back when, I had a "pool" put in. It was during a recession, and the builders were advertising "no frills" specials just to pay the bills, and ride out the storm. I had never had a pool, there wasn't an internet with an awesome TFP forum where members shared their hard earned knowledge, but I knew I wanted water in the back yard. So, we had one of these put in. I then spent 23 years in a love/hate relationship with it. The equipment and plumbing was barely sized for it, and was below "low end". It was placed wrong. The only "automatic" thing was the old style, metal box timer to turn the single speed pump on and off. The shape didn't fit what we wanted to do with it. Being "short", it got too deep too fast for the little ones, and the whole pool was rarely used. Little things, on and on, that we'd never thought about, until we had this big concrete hole in the ground. And, yes it was a "cement pond", kids got wet, had a blast, and we have many good memories from it.

But, lesson learned: you're going to hopefully live a long time with that hole in the ground. If it's the way you "want it", you'll spend more time enjoying it, and less time "what if-ing". Which I've learned the hard way, is way worth a few extra bucks in the front end. Which is the way I'm approaching my own project. I hope it turns out to be a more rewarding experience. And I'll be happy to share that opinion...but it'll take 10 or 15 years to be sure...;) Not only that, if you were to eventually sell, having a paradise for a back yard makes things that much more desirable..;)

I sent you an email....Sorry, was really busy yesterday afternoon, and didn't get a chance to look here..
 
Beach I'm actually happy to spend the money so don't feel bad lol. I'm actually running out of space in my backyard because of all the nice stuff I see on here, I secretly want to knock down my backyard wall and extend it 20 feet so I can incorporate more but I think my HOA would have a fit.

Funny thing is I usually read the wife's want all the fancy stuff but in this case it's me [emoji43] happy husband happy ........
still trying to figure that one out but at least with all my seating and lighting and fireplace and grill if I get kicked out of the house I can survive in peace in my backyard by myself for many years to come. I might just have to add a fancy pool table like Brian [emoji12]

So you guys keep the ideas coming and I will continue to use them until I run out of space or money which ever comes first [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]


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So I have a few questions as I'm closing up on getting all my bids so I can get a shovel in the ground
1. So I'm probably going to go with Prism Matrix deep blue see mini pebble and I'm wondering will color led lights work well with a darker blue color at night. ( if someone has this finish or something close I would love to see pics ��)
2. How long will the plaster color hold up and aside from keeping my water balanced is there anything else I could do or a different product I could use ( I have been tossing the idea of Aqua Brite around with the wife and having Brian come out to Vegas)
3. Do I need more than 1 skimmer on my pool if it's 33x17 free form
4. Other than travertine or Kool deck is there any other options that won't burn my families feet in this HOT Desert . I only ask cause the prices are so drastic from one to the other. Is there a middle ground that looks nice.
5. I would like to do a dark coping to give contrast to the light color decking I'm planing and was wondering does anyone have recommendations for a product I may not have to seal since I'm doing salt and will not hold too much heat
 
Plaster color will fade in a year or two no matter what product you use. AquaBright is probably the best bet for long lasting color. There's no getting around it - chlorine and UV fades all colorants.

As far as decking goes - I love my acid wash finish concrete decking. Simple, easy to clean, durable. Cool on the tootsies? No way. But we just throw down towels or I spray down the deck a little with the garden hose.

I have 1 skimmer on my 18'x38' pool. Wish I had two because of the wind patterns. I would vote for two skimmers.


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So I have a few questions as I'm closing up on getting all my bids so I can get a shovel in the ground
1. So I'm probably going to go with Prism Matrix deep blue see mini pebble and I'm wondering will color led lights work well with a darker blue color at night. ( if someone has this finish or something close I would love to see pics ��)
2. How long will the plaster color hold up and aside from keeping my water balanced is there anything else I could do or a different product I could use ( I have been tossing the idea of Aqua Brite around with the wife and having Brian come out to Vegas)
3. Do I need more than 1 skimmer on my pool if it's 33x17 free form
4. Other than travertine or Kool deck is there any other options that won't burn my families feet in this HOT Desert . I only ask cause the prices are so drastic from one to the other. Is there a middle ground that looks nice.
5. I would like to do a dark coping to give contrast to the light color decking I'm planing and was wondering does anyone have recommendations for a product I may not have to seal since I'm doing salt and will not hold too much heat

#1 That's a great product with a great reputation but blue pigments in plaster will fade no matter what. Your best bet for colored plasters are grey, black, and green since they are non organic pigments. The only trouble is those aren't the most desirable colors.

#2 You should get 10-15 years out of any surface you choose so long as the water is properly maintained. The only question is what will it look like. I really like the idea AquaBright (for obvious reasons) and I believe you will is well. Look at it this way: it is expense up front but you will know exactly what it will look like the day it's applied and it will stay that way for a very long time. There will be no streaks, mottling, and blotchiness and none of that will develop with time.

#3 One skimmer is plenty. Just be sure to plumb the skimmer and main drain separately all the way back to the equipment pad.

#4 I like stamped concrete but it will get hot.

#5 Anything dark will be very hot. Sealing usually isn't necessary and salt should not be of any concern. Salt gets incorrectly blamed for a lot of issues.
 
Big Will, just caught up on your thread. There are a few things I wanted to mention. We have a 6x8 spa and went from the standard 6 jets to 8 jets by adding 2 additional jets to one seat for a triple jet seat. We were concerned about pressure loss as well because we have a far run from the pump (~70 feet). We get plenty of of pressure and bubbles from the 2 Venturi dials without a blower. And the tri-jet seat is awesome!

What did you decide on depth? We went with a sports pool at 34' long. 3.5/5/4. We are more social pool people than swimmers, and in hindsight, I would have gone 3.5/5/3.5 because a good bit of our pool is between 4 feet and 5 feet which is an awkward depth (deep to stand/shallow to swim). I do like our 5' depth tho.

As for benches, I've always heard 16" to 18" of water depth were standard.

Check out my build, I've learned a lot these past 6 months!


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Grump I am reading through your build now, it's very nice!
So we are going to do 4ft to 7ft, we are a pretty tall family and 3.6 ft doesn't even come to my waist and I can stand straight up in 6ft.

So I have a question- in your spa did you do a dedicated pump since you have 8 jets? And does it matter what type of jets I purchase and are they interchangeable down the line if I don't like the ones I choose


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Grump I am reading through your build now, it's very nice!
So we are going to do 4ft to 7ft, we are a pretty tall family and 3.6 ft doesn't even come to my waist and I can stand straight up in 6ft.

So I have a question- in your spa did you do a dedicated pump since you have 8 jets? And does it matter what type of jets I purchase and are they interchangeable down the line if I don't like the ones I choose


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As for depth, that makes sense, especially with a traditional deep end. Just give consideration to when the shallow end begins to slope. No dedicated pump for the spa. Just regular old spa mode with our 3hp variable speed pentagram pump. I don't know about changing our jets, ours were our PB's standard.


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Thanks for the info on the spa, much appreciated!
So I have 2 more questions

1. I'm very intrigued about the Tri spa jets and would like to include that. Do I need to submit a new plan for that plumbing or can I just tell the plumber what I want and just accept his upcharge?

2. What size does travertine floor need to be to make a good deck outdoors size and thickness? The reason I ask is I may have an opportunity to purchase some travertine for $2.50 a square foot (which I think is a good deal.... feel free to comment) but I want to make sure I'm purchasing the right stuff. Anything I should be aware of as well other than the size and thickness


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Thanks for the info on the spa, much appreciated!
So I have 2 more questions

1. I'm very intrigued about the Tri spa jets and would like to include that. Do I need to submit a new plan for that plumbing or can I just tell the plumber what I want and just accept his upcharge?

It depends how your builder and city is. Both of ours were strict so we made this change on plans with other changes needed.

2. What size does travertine floor need to be to make a good deck outdoors size and thickness? The reason I ask is I may have an opportunity to purchase some travertine for $2.50 a square foot (which I think is a good deal.... feel free to comment) but I want to make sure I'm purchasing the right stuff. Anything I should be aware of as well other than the size and thickness

We have 1.25" thick tumbled travertine pavers. I think that's pretty standard in terms of thickness. For size, do you mean the actual size of the pavers or of the decking area itself? If the latter, again it depends on your lot, house, pool layout etc. Once you clarify I can add more insight. Check out travertinemart.com, their product is good and prices are reasonable. Your shipping may be expensive tho. I would suggest you get premium select grade and not the porous standard grade pavers, especially if you are going to have salt water.

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I'm talking about the size of the travertine itself
I actually want travertine and color just like post 475 from your build.
I want to make sure I'm getting the correct stuff and since I'm doing salt I want a high grade I think so I don't have to seal it


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Ah ok. I have a French pattern travertine which consists of all different sizes:

5d6dfbbeb2d9faf583abed9eef811706-1.jpg


My coping is 8x16 laid end to end.

Our color is "ivory". But what I've learned is the color shade changes from time to time with different shipments from the quarries. Definitely try to see some in person from a recent order if possible. Ivory was more white a year or two ago and our supplier had a little darker shade when we started our build. Originally we had selected a walnut which was a little too brown. We were happy the recent batch of ivory was a bit darker, but still lighter than the ivory, so we made the switch. We are very happy with the color and prefer the lighter chalky color as opposed to the darker wet look when sealed.

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That makes a lot of sense. I love your travertine , I had to keep reading through all the banter to see them lol.
Do you need to seal them with a salt system? I would rather not if I do t have too.... and if I don't seal is there something that I need to do to maintain them properly so they last a long time in this Desert


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The jury is out on what the long term damage of salt water pools is. I've started a thread here you can dig up. We are not going to seal ours unless we start to see early signs of damage. We have little kids so it wasn't worth it potentially being more slippery and we have neighbors who agonize over resealing to keep a consistent look. Some members here, like Martinkennedy have had their travertine a while and are avid natural unsealed stone supporters.


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So positive news on this front! Looks like we may be able to dig as soon as next weekend.
I will have more details on Thursday and I will update you all then.
I do want to express my sincerest gratitude to the members on this forum for making it all possible and providing me the proper resources so I can make the best informed decision


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Now that IS some good news! Will you be able to be there when they dig? That is one of the big days it is nice to be there to answer any questions to field any ideas they might have.

Will, did you know you can become a supporting member? It gets you discounts on the test kit and Swimming Pool Supplies, Pool Safety Cover, Swimming Pool Covers, Swimming Pool Pumps, Pool Pump Parts - INYOPools.com
and it helps us keep the light on! Here is the link if you are interested: CLICK HERE to Become a TroubleFreePool.com Supporter!!

Kim:kim:
 
I will DEFINITELY become a supporter! TFP has provided me so much insight that is way more valuable than the donation I am giving. Thanks for the link. I do have a question- how do u get the lifetime "tag" ?

and yes I will be there for the dig and wouldn't miss it for the world
 

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