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

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Will, what you should know is YOU are the one in trouble AGAIN for not sharing!!! :hug: Thank you IMAZ to letting us know! Here is a STAR for you!

Will, that is mighty close to the AC units. My main worry will be can everything be worked on when needed with it all that close? I would have them dry fit them and go from there. From the looks of it the AC unit's have the main "guts" that might need work are on the other side so they should not be a problem. I don't know about heaters so don't know where the parts that might need work will go.

I am willing to bet they do NOT want the weight of the heater on top of all of those pipes so there is that as well.

I just thought of something.......your filter! It would oh so much easier if it were on the outside area!

Talk to them and get their thoughts on it.

Kim:kim:
 
That is a great suggestion for the filter, I will bring that up today when they come out.
And going forward I promise to post pictures right away and also tell on IMAZ when he doesn't post pictures or tell people when his pool is getting gunite ( I think he got it yesterday [emoji56])
I'm officially an angel and the biggest one you might ever see lol


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Big Will said:
Let me know your thoughts , thanks
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Having just cleaned my filters last week I can tell you it's going to be a tight squeeze all the way around. However, there's not a lot of room to start with. I've seen quite a few setups like this in Vegas when the homeowner wants the equipment out of the view of the pool and has a narrow side yard. In my opinion working around it will be challenging but doable.

Regarding the equipment pad on the pipes, inspector will tell you if that's an issue or not, guarantee it ;) Chances are plumber doesn't want to come back and redo that so I doubt if it was against code knowing an inspector will look at it he'd do something against code . . . but who knows. Good luck!
 
Heya Will. You asked about solar covers and pool temps in another build thread so I thought I'd respond here.

Bearing in mind that my pool is classic, white plaster - you'll see a little heating bump with your darker finish from what I've heard.

With daytime temps at 90, and nights around 60, I found keeping my blue solar cover on all day allowed the pool to maintain 84 degrees in the afternoons. I did use the heater to spike the temp so the kids could swim last Friday, but once spiked, with the cover on 24/7, the pool maintained 84 no problem. I'm curious at this point if a clear cover would allow it to rise higher. Prior to this, I tried taking the cover off during the day to allow the sun to fully hit the pool. I found that I gained about 30-40% less temperature day over day with the cover off versus leaving it on.

We had a cold front come through yesterday, low of 46, high of 66 or so. Cover stayed on, pool was down to 80 in the afternoon yesterday. It was still 80 when I checked it a few minutes ago, I'll update here when I take my normal 4:30p temp reading. I'm curious with the upcoming week having highs around 80 and lows around 50 if I can maintain the high 70's. I found I could raise it from 77 to 84 with about three hours of heating. I haven't seen my gas bill yet though. ;)
 
Trip thanks for the info! I'm doing a heater but I thought about solar for a while then a solar cover. I couldn't justify spending 4-5k for solar after installing a heater so that's why I started to inquire about a solar cover. I know for sure I won't need it from mid may to September but like poolvd I wouldn't mind swimming in march or April especially when the weather goes from 50 to 80 degrees and it feels like we're burning before the true heat comes lol. How difficult are they to put on and take off on a free form pool? Any disadvantages to having one or dealing with one?
Qing I will send you a email or pm because I am interested. Thanks for thinking of me


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SPL said:
I am doing an O/B in Vegas with gunite coming in on Tuesday. A few challenges with gunite contractors lately but I think we are on track. How is everyone looking for lead times on plaster? Seems like the subs are all getting busy early this year. BTW, had great luck with excavation, plumbing, and steel. Landscaping is under contract and hope to finalize coping and tile shortly.
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Subs are getting busier earlier in the year due to the economy picking up and building/construction at an all time high. So far my build has been very smooth and everything is on track ( knock on wood) historically from what I read gunite and plaster are usually a little tougher to lock down and getting bump once or twice is not out of the norm. With that being said my buddy Imaz ( who also has a thread ) is having his done tomorrow morning and he had to even call the inspectors to come out so he can get the green light cause the city was dragging there feet.

Right now is a good time to be at the stage you are at because in the next few weeks a typical build can go from 6-8 weeks to 10-15 weeks or more. I can say that the subs have been extremely responsive and even the ones I decided not to use have followed up with me just to see if I need there services.

its nice to see another OB in Vegas and I would love to see pics and details about your project....... have you considered starting a thread, I would def follow. But feel free to PM me or comment on here and we can exchange information and even see if we can bounce our bids off each other so we can work a better deal :cheers: ( I also have TONS of subs if u need a few)
looking forward to seeing your project
Will
 
Will, my pool is quite small (about half the volume of yours), that said, the covers are a lot less heavy than they used to be. I pull mine out from the center/side of the pool, tenting it basically, then pull one "wing" on the left in, and then one "wing" on the right in. The resulting amorphous blob can then be scooped up and set where it will be mostly shaded until I need to put it back on. For larger pools, they make a large roller that you can basically set on one end and roll the cover up. On a freeform, if it's wider in some spots than others, I'd just reach down and fold the cover over to avoid the narrow spot before rolling it onto the roller.
 

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No work done in last 2 days [emoji22]. I was at home and even ready to help dig trenches for some cardio and give them some free labor and..... nobody showed up , so I just went on a quick 5 mile run


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Big Will said:
How difficult are they to put on and take off on a free form pool? Any disadvantages to having one or dealing with one?
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Click to expand...
A cover that size may prove bulky but you can easily cut the solar cover so you can take it off in sections. You just want to keep the heat in (not try to heat the water with it). They are not good heaters. Without one, at night you'll lose most of the heat to evaporation. I'd get something light/thin if you get one. IMO the biggest disadvantage is the debris that you put back into the pool once it's been sitting on the ground. I skipped using it with my new pool since I have the heater (old 28' AG didn't have heater). It was surprisingly low cost to heat my ingrained pool. I've never paid more than $100 more per month than my bill w/o it so it's worth if for me not to deal with a cover. Once mid-June comes I hardly have the heater kick on. I keep it at 84 degrees and depending on the sun put it to 88 when I know we'll swim (weekends especially).
 
Hey will...since you're in a holding pattern, and the solar cover topic came up, thought I'd share my experience with them over the years. Our last house was in a similar environment to Las Vegas...high desert. It was about 6 degrees cooler on average, but the nights cooled a bit more as it was closer to the coast. We also had a lot more afternoon wind to go along with the cooler evening temps. So, we did get a lot of junk on top of the covers. We had crusty junk from water evaporation and blown in plant matter and the occasional plastic bag or paper. Naturally , taking it off would inevitably result in some of this being dumped into the pool.

Then there is also what happens when the plastic eventually deteriorates, and the bubbles start rotting off. Guess where they go? (Hint, if you said "the trash can", you are a new pool owner..LOL :) ) Yeah, the bottom of the pool is right! And guess how many trash cans it takes to throw away a cover? They will definitely all need disposal at some point. And if they fill up a trash can or three, how much room do you think they need when you take them off to go swimming? And being light plastic, you wouldn't think they'd blow around in that 20 mph sustained afternoon wind do you? And of course, that blob of plastic makes a fantastic accent to your lush, tropical back yard too...;) That is, once you're done wrangling it off the pool, in the aforementioned wind, because it won't act like a sail or anything.

But the worst part was that at some point we would get busy, take a vacation or something in the middle of summer, and look at the pool in horror, as it had turned green due to using up all the chlorine in the pool, and reaching over 100 degrees. This happened about once a summer, and we finally just said it wasn't worth it.

Now that we have the "bad" out of the way, there is some definite "good" with them. Namely, they do work to heat/keep the water warm in our climate. They also keep the evaporation down from heat and wind. And if like me, you have a wife who prefers water about the temperature of a hot cup of coffee, often times a little bit of good far outweighs a lot of bad. And couple that with the ingenuity of the smart people here on TFP, and I'm determined to give it one more go..:)

I'm going to try the build it yourself roller gizmo idea from the forum, and make mine in about 3 or 4 pieces. This seems like a great way to solve the on and off problem, as well as the appearance issue. I think with the SWG, I might be able to avoid the attack of the green swamp monster (you DO hear my wife laughing, it's not your imagination!) I figure if I cut them into pieces when they are new, it will make it much easier, and less messy, to cut them in pieces to throw them away every couple years to try and avoid the invasion of the plastic bubble pieces. Plus, the local water agency has a coupon that you can save 50% on a cover, so I figure it'll only cost me half as much to remember the other reasons we gave up on them (even without a heater of any kind!).

And I do have a wife approved back up plan should we continue to have a fun-filled, keystone cops level adventure with solar covers in our back yard: just use the dang heater! (she's always right, but one day I will accidentally prove her wrong! LOL)
 
Nectarologist said:
A cover that size may prove bulky but you can easily cut the solar cover so you can take it off in sections. You just want to keep the heat in (not try to heat the water with it). They are not good heaters. Without one, at night you'll lose most of the heat to evaporation. I'd get something light/thin if you get one. IMO the biggest disadvantage is the debris that you put back into the pool once it's been sitting on the ground. I skipped using it with my new pool since I have the heater (old 28' AG didn't have heater). It was surprisingly low cost to heat my ingrained pool. I've never paid more than $100 more per month than my bill w/o it so it's worth if for me not to deal with a cover. Once mid-June comes I hardly have the heater kick on. I keep it at 84 degrees and depending on the sun put it to 88 when I know we'll swim (weekends especially).
Click to expand...
]]

This is usually true in more normal or humid climates, however, in extremely dry climates such as south/central AZ and Las Vegas, even with a very strong sun during the daytime, in my experience, you lose more heat to evaporation than you gain via direct sun action. I can heat a pool in excess of 102-104 degrees simply by leaving an opaque blue solar cover on by day during the dead of summer here, when the humidity is 10-15%. Leaving it off day and night, the pool never goes over 90-92. When nights are less than 70 degrees, leaving it on by night and day can still push the temperature over 94 degrees. I'm starting to believe it's purely a function of the enormous amount of evaporation we get.
 
Nectarologist said:
A cover that size may prove bulky but you can easily cut the solar cover so you can take it off in sections. You just want to keep the heat in (not try to heat the water with it). They are not good heaters. Without one, at night you'll lose most of the heat to evaporation. I'd get something light/thin if you get one. IMO the biggest disadvantage is the debris that you put back into the pool once it's been sitting on the ground. I skipped using it with my new pool since I have the heater (old 28' AG didn't have heater). It was surprisingly low cost to heat my ingrained pool. I've never paid more than $100 more per month than my bill w/o it so it's worth if for me not to deal with a cover. Once mid-June comes I hardly have the heater kick on. I keep it at 84 degrees and depending on the sun put it to 88 when I know we'll swim (weekends especially).
Click to expand...
So with the $100 you spend extra could you give me an example of how often you would heat the entire pool for the month and also how long does it take to heat?
BeachHead said:
Hey will...since you're in a holding pattern, and the solar cover topic came up, thought I'd share my experience with them over the years. Our last house was in a similar environment to Las Vegas...high desert. It was about 6 degrees cooler on average, but the nights cooled a bit more as it was closer to the coast. We also had a lot more afternoon wind to go along with the cooler evening temps. So, we did get a lot of junk on top of the covers. We had crusty junk from water evaporation and blown in plant matter and the occasional plastic bag or paper. Naturally , taking it off would inevitably result in some of this being dumped into the pool.

Then there is also what happens when the plastic eventually deteriorates, and the bubbles start rotting off. Guess where they go? (Hint, if you said "the trash can", you are a new pool owner..LOL :) ) Yeah, the bottom of the pool is right! And guess how many trash cans it takes to throw away a cover? They will definitely all need disposal at some point. And if they fill up a trash can or three, how much room do you think they need when you take them off to go swimming? And being light plastic, you wouldn't think they'd blow around in that 20 mph sustained afternoon wind do you? And of course, that blob of plastic makes a fantastic accent to your lush, tropical back yard too...;) That is, once you're done wrangling it off the pool, in the aforementioned wind, because it won't act like a sail or anything.

But the worst part was that at some point we would get busy, take a vacation or something in the middle of summer, and look at the pool in horror, as it had turned green due to using up all the chlorine in the pool, and reaching over 100 degrees. This happened about once a summer, and we finally just said it wasn't worth it.

Now that we have the "bad" out of the way, there is some definite "good" with them. Namely, they do work to heat/keep the water warm in our climate. They also keep the evaporation down from heat and wind. And if like me, you have a wife who prefers water about the temperature of a hot cup of coffee, often times a little bit of good far outweighs a lot of bad. And couple that with the ingenuity of the smart people here on TFP, and I'm determined to give it one more go..:)

I'm going to try the build it yourself roller gizmo idea from the forum, and make mine in about 3 or 4 pieces. This seems like a great way to solve the on and off problem, as well as the appearance issue. I think with the SWG, I might be able to avoid the attack of the green swamp monster (you DO hear my wife laughing, it's not your imagination!) I figure if I cut them into pieces when they are new, it will make it much easier, and less messy, to cut them in pieces to throw them away every couple years to try and avoid the invasion of the plastic bubble pieces. Plus, the local water agency has a coupon that you can save 50% on a cover, so I figure it'll only cost me half as much to remember the other reasons we gave up on them (even without a heater of any kind!).

And I do have a wife approved back up plan should we continue to have a fun-filled, keystone cops level adventure with solar covers in our back yard: just use the dang heater! (she's always right, but one day I will accidentally prove her wrong! LOL)
Click to expand...
Beach, I read that thread on making your own solar cover so I may have to walk down the street and peak over your fence and take a looksie at how it goes for you :fro:. The wife really likes warm water so it's really the only reason I'm considering it, however, if it doesn't cost that much to heat the pool enough to take the chill off then I might just be like your wife and use the heater from time to time. I'm guessing that since I'm going with a medium mini pebble like yours that once it's hot the extra couple of degrees we get will be suitable to her and work out well.... time will tell

- - - Updated - - -

SPL said:
I am 6'3" myself and really wanted a little more depth than standard also. We ended up with 6 1/2' in the deep end and fortunately didn't run into any trouble with the dig.
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That is awesome news on the dig! I was so nervous we were going to hit caliche and I was going to have to pay extra money but everything went smooth as well aside from a little bit of hard dirt which gave us a quick scare.
Im happy with the depth and being in the pool now before gunite the slope is very gradual and isn't a big drop off which I'm happy about. If I had to do it again I would still choose 4-7ft especially since my kids will continue to grow and I won't shrink for another 20 years I think lol
 

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