Owner build in Peoria, AZ

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tnhell

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Aug 12, 2017
43
Peoria, AZ
Soooo...we are finally doing this pool thing! After months of research and hours of planning we have almost made it to shotcrete. I've been very thankful for this site as it's nice to find answers to questions in other posts. We had our dig last Monday(NO HARD DIG!!!) and have made it through electrical in less then two weeks(although it seems longer at this point!). Surprisingly the process hasn't been that hard up until now. I thought it would be much easier to get the pool build done from shotcrete on but the finishing work has been more of a headache for me then I had thought it would be. Finding a good company to put in our coping and a sub to install an enhance plaster has proved a challenge. I'm learning as I go and have found subs in this area to be helpful and reasonable. Anyway I thought I'd post a few pics to show an owner build is in fact possible and I haven't lost my mind...yet! :)

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Just when I thought everything was under control we have a drop in plumbing pressure. I suppose there is some kind of leak in our pipes somewhere and I'm hoping it's easy for them to find and fix since we obviously won't be able to pass our first inspection. Wish this wasn't stressing me out but it is driving my anxiety through the roof!
 
tnhell said:
Soooo...we are finally doing this pool thing! After months of research and hours of planning we have almost made it to shotcrete. I've been very thankful for this site as it's nice to find answers to questions in other posts. We had our dig last Monday(NO HARD DIG!!!) and have made it through electrical in less then two weeks(although it seems longer at this point!). Surprisingly the process hasn't been that hard up until now. I thought it would be much easier to get the pool build done from shotcrete on but the finishing work has been more of a headache for me then I had thought it would be. Finding a good company to put in our coping and a sub to install an enhance plaster has proved a challenge. I'm learning as I go and have found subs in this area to be helpful and reasonable. Anyway I thought I'd post a few pics to show an owner build is in fact possible and I haven't lost my mind...yet! :)

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Where are you at? I’m a fellow Peoria-ite.
 
Passed our inspection today, but not without drama. The inspector was saying our pool equipment was to close to the A/C unit and we would have to install another gate on that side of the house or move the equipment. Of course both options were rediculous so I called his supervisor to get things settled. If the city has specific distances it needs the equipment to be from the A/C they should specifically include measurements in their regulations. It just states must not obstruct the A/C unit. Plus our permit was approved showing the equipment right by the A/C. They should have said something then! So happy we got lucky but I'm guessing there are many others who won't fair as well as us. Thankful the inspectors were able to come up with a reasonable solution. Shotcrete on Wednesday and I couldnt be more in need of a week off working with pool subs!
 
We are at the same stage. Doing shotcrete today as well, might be pushed to tomorrow however. I am also having issues finding an affordable, cut out the middle man, finishing sub for coping/decking, tile, and water feature. I just recently had some success going on craigslist and talking with some crews directly, cutting out the profit man. I'll let you know what I find out, but so far I like what i've been hearing. I've eliminated porcelain (got talked out of it and its costly) tile as my option, and now going with a lighter (prefer grey or white) color, non-tan travertine.
 
We have a shell! Shotcrete was done early this morning so we have our pool shape complete. Now for the finishing work. Been watering the pool and dreading cleaning up the mess around it. So much dirt, concrete and rock to move which sound really awful right now. Oh well, we will be swimming next summer so it will all be worth it!
 

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Spent this last weekend filling in trenches and grading our yard and area around the pool. It makes such a difference not having to look outside and see piles of rock and dirt everywhere. Biggest downside is we just had the excavators take away a 4 ton pile of rock and now we have a new pile roughly the same size! Arizona "dirt" is awful! We will have our porcelain paver coping and decking installed in the next few weeks. I'm super excited to see it all done because it's next to impossible finding pools who have used the material around valley. We aren't exactly in a huge hurry to get everything done since we won't be swimming until next spring anyway. Good news is my stress level has gone way down because I've got us this far without any major problems...knock on wood!
 
Well we’ve had an eventful few days! Our coping and decking was suppose to be installed this next week but they got out early to do. I was planning on the whole weekend to get stuff ready but alas we had a few hours. Anyway it looks amazing! I know not many people have used porcelain pavers for their decking material around this area but it is great and it’s like bringing the indoors outside. I’m glad I stood my ground. Everyone we talked to wanted to push travertine on us and it just wasn’t what we were looking for. Doing an owner build is definitely extra work but you get what you want!
 
I am just now finding this build! Boy have I missed a fun one it looks like!

Got to love "planning" then "oh we will be there in ?? hours" :shock: Got to move fast to get everything ready!

I would love to see a pic of the pavers. I wonder about how slippery they might be with water on them. I have played with it to see if that will be a problem?

Kim:kim:
 
Had our waterline tile put in today. We’ve been on hold around the holiday and I’m tired of looking at this cement hole in the ground and I want it done. We graded our yard last weekend and are getting more dirt and 25 tons of landscape rock this weekend. It hurts my back just thinking of the work. We are so close to the finish line yet so far away at the same time! I added a couple photos to my album of the waterline install today. It’s part of the album in the link above.
 
It looks great so far! I really like the porcelain coping. We are in Buckeye and planning a build soon. Did you get prices from pool builders? So far in the project, would you say you have saved a substantial amount over going with the local PBs?
 
It’s hard to really judge. Most pool companies didn’t even want to quote us for the porcelain pavers because they are newer to the area. I didn’t want to just give up so we decided to do it ourselves. It has been stressful at times and rather simple at other times. I like having the control and ability to change things on the fly. We changed from originally doing quartz plaster to Pebblesheen which would have cost us a bunch. We picked our subs so I know I’ve got great work. It’s been a long road but we will save money and it will be done the way we wanted. It’s work though. This first time through taught me a lot. If we were to do another pool build it would be way easier. The process of subbing it out yourself the first time has a learning curve for sure. No matter how much research I did I still found things after the fact and had to deal with things on the fly. If I did it again it would be way easier. There are good pool builders in the valley. Unfortunately our last pool build we had a bad experience and it left a sour taste in my mouth. If you have the time you can save money, especially if you are doing anything besides their base options. If you want ease owner build isn’t for you.
 
Well we moved 23 tons of landscape rock this weekend. So happy that’s behind us! Had the plummets our yesterday to set the collars for our infloor heads. Our final inspection is tomorrow. Hopefully everything is good to go. After that it’s a jog to the finish line!
 

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