New Home & Thinking Of Adding A Pool

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DJFaninTN

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Aug 20, 2017
184
Panama City Beach, FL
We moved to the panhandle of FL about two years ago. We found a house under construction and loved the lot and the layout of the house. We are less than a mile from the Gulf so we visit the beach often. But we have found we don't care for being constantly surrounded by vacationers. Yes we know we live in a high traffic vacation area & knew what we were getting into. People who go on vacation tend to leave their common sense at home.

So we have decided to add a pool to our nice large pie shaped lot. But there is one issue we have noticed when we started looking at adding a pool. I pulled the lots survey and noticed something really odd. Between me and my neighbor there is a gas line underground. I knew there would be an easement, but when looking at the survey, it says the easement is 20' on my side and 20' on my neighbors side.

Now here is the crazy thing. Almost half my house is on that easement and we are on a slab. How the heck the builder got the permits pulled and OK'ed by the powers that be is beyond me.

We are meeting with a pool company on Tuesday to see what they will say. I can bet I will be finding myself in the city engineer's office and trying to figure out if they will let us use part of that 20' easement to install a pool.
 
the one good thing visitors bring is $$ which keep our taxes low .. lol.

I spoke with the home builder today. He vaguely remembered there being an easement but said hey they all signed off on it and knew it was there. He doesn't think it should be a problem. First pool company shows up tomorrow so we'll see what they have to say. Waiting on a call back from a second pool contractor.
 
1st contractor showed up and looked over the survey and thought it wasn't going to be a problem. He said there was no way it was 20' on each side.

So we gave him a wish list and we will see what he comes up with.

Still waiting on second contractor to call. His business must be real good not to return calls within a 24 hour period.
 
DJFaninTN said:
Still waiting on second contractor to call. His business must be real good not to return calls within a 24 hour period.
Click to expand...

Get used to that! Non-returned calls are one thing, but then I started getting responses like, "well your house is kind of far away from us..." and "this is our busy season, call in a few months".

It's worth it though. When I'm at a beach, all I can think is, "I can't wait to get away from this gritty sand and go to a pool or go boating"
 
I have had a number of issues with easements and property line disputes.

Proceed with extreme caution.

I would not spend a penny til both the local title company AND an attorney (who only deals with real estate) sign off on this.

Hate to be a bummer but some of the folks who say 'its no problem' will be long gone and
you may be left with very expensive issues to resolve.
 
So second PB already has basic drawing and pricing. Never have heard back from PB #1. I am in outside sales and if there is one thing that jerks me is someone who is in sales and doesn't call you back or email you in the time frame THEY promised. Pretty crappy IMO.

What PB#2 has come up with is an L shaped that is 16 x 34 from 3.5 to 6'. Pool by itself is $29,500.
Includes:
Permits
Excavation
6" Shotcrete pool shell w/3 steel 12" oc.
One row 6x6 Frostproof tile
One row 4x8 Bullnose Brick Coping
Two main drains, one skimmer, two pool returns & one pool cleaner outlett
One 1hp pump & one high rate sand filter
One Rainbow 320 chlorinator
All sch 40 PVC
One set steps and one ladder or swimout
Marcite Interior of pool (blue quartz)
Vacuum & cleaning equipment
Start up chemicals
One 12volt LED white light

Options:

Automatic Pool Cleaner
Salt System
Three Deck Jets
Upgrade Variable Speed Pump
Upgrade Cartridge System
Upgrade Pebble Plaster
Auto Water Level
Paver Pool Deck
Concrete Removal
 
Last edited:
Re: New Home & Thinking Of Adding A Pool

First thing, lose the rainbow chlorinator, that uses tablets, which you really don't want to deal with and waste your money. A SWG would be much better both. Just make sure its gonna be rated for at least twice you pools volume (if your pool will be 20k gallons, make sure SWG is rated for 40k+ gallons). And you might want a 2nd light too. Also, a variable pump might cost more, but you can run it at a lower speed and end up saving money on electric bill.

- - - Updated - - -

Also, the startup chemicals might contain trichlor or cal hypo, or algaecides, etc, so probably don't want those. You should be able to get whatever chemicals you actually need from Walmart, Home Depot, etc for cheaper.

Have you already ordered your TF-100 test kit? You'll definitely need a good home test kit, and that's the best for residential use. Get the SpeedStir too, make testing so much easier and more fun.
 
I would make a quick call and spend a few bucks on a real estate attorney. You should have been told about the size of that easement and that your house was on it by the title insurance company--not sure how close you are to the actual pipeline but it would be good to know especially for any type of digging or development on the easement ---the pipeline company has rights to that easement but what those rights are would be good to know before spending a lot of $$. Good luck on it all!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
40,400 inground gunnite, max depth 10-ft with 1.5 hp single speed Pentair, DE filter, well water, only one skimmer working, TAYLOR TK-2006 TEST KIT COMP CHLORINE FAS-DPD, Chester County, PA--OLD pool, but a beauty.
 

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DF,

Assuming you get the easement thing figured out...

I too would opt for the Salt system and Variable Speed or 2-Speed pump. A saltwater pool is one of the easiest to maintain, and running at a low speed will save on the electrical bill.

Two pool returns are just not enough.. I would ask for four returns, one on each wall. Returns (eyeballs) help the water to circulate better which keeps the surface of the pool cleaner. To add two more returns should be a pretty cheap upgrade, as the actual cost is next to nothing.

I would get the swim-out bench and not the ladder. This gives you a place to sit in the pool as well as a place to get out. Normally placed at the opposite end from the steps.

When they say "Vacuum & cleaning equipment".. I assume this is a pole with a manual vacuum head and a hose. I would suggest you buy a Robot cleaner, but not from your pool builder.

I have a pebble finish, and like it, but even though it is the smoothest that my Pool Builder offered, it still has a sandpaper feel to it. You can't tell by the sample, you really need to go to a pool with this same finish and feel it in person.

Thanks for posting and good luck with your easement issue,

Jim R.
 
I just wanted to second the suggestion to fully understand and know exactly where you stand with your easement and property issues. Do the research yourself or hire an attorney, but do not accept a pool builder or contractor's response of "it shouldn't be a problem" or "it won't be a problem". The reality is, they're saying "It won't be MY problem". It very well be a non-issue, but a little extra time and effort at this stage could save you a LOT of money and hassle later on.

This coming from a person who's contractor on a garage addition said it'll be "no problem", even though the plan showed it would exceed the 16' property line easement by 2 feet. Well, getting the permit and variance WAS a problem and took close to 3 months to rectify.
 
Had the city engineer out and he said the easement was wrong on the survey and it was only 10' off each side between me and the neighbor. Funny but the house is only 9' off the easement so I highly doubt they are going to make me cut off 1' of our house. I asked for him to give me that in writing so we'd have a copy of that if ever needed.

Yes we are going for the Salt System. This particular PB gives his quotes like this so there is a basic package then ala carte for what you want to add so you can help control the price. I also agree adding at least one more light inside the pool. We also agree on not getting the ladder and using the swim out. We are on the fence about going with a robotic system vs having the cleaning system. PB says he is very comfortable with the cleaning system and has the same system in his own pool.

We've had a pool years ago and used the Pool School here to keep it sparkling clean so we are very familiar with that.

Now we are looking at glass tile for the waterline. Years ago I was in the tile wholesale business so I am very familiar with glass tile and what it takes for installation and how important using the correct thinnest is and how that process works. Much more time consuming for installation vs porcelain but man what a statement it makes. If you really want to see some exotic glass tiles look at a company called SICIS. They have some of the most beautiful mosaics you will ever see. http://www.sicis.com/catalog/SICIS-Pools/# Too rich for my pocket but still awesome to look at.
 
Sounds more like one of those things you either hate or really hate. A robotic cleaner would be more effective at cleaning, and like Maddie said, much easier to fix if any issues come up. Imagine something gets lodged in one of the pipes under the pool?
 
I would also recommend having more than one LED light. White light might be OK, but upgrading to color LEDs is worth it. Make sure the lights point away from the house or primary sitting area.
 

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