And we're off in SE Houston

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brentkhack

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Nov 20, 2017
105
TX
We live in the Houston area and we are looking at getting a pool. We currently have had four PB here over the past three weeks. I have read that the PB in this area do not advise to getting a salt water pool and all four downplayed a salt pool. Anyway we are still getting everything together but here is where we are at:

PB1: Main office is right down the road and 20 years in the business. Pool looks good, just need to relocate the spa. It has a 99' perimeter and just under 16k gallons. Here is the list...FILTER: 60Sq. Ft. Pentair DE Filter - Multiport valve - Backwash line to P-trap
POOL PUMP: Pentair Intellflo Variable Speed Pump
FEATURE PUMP: Pentair Whisper-flo 1.5 HP
VALVES: Never Lube Valves
SKIMMERS: 2- Tan Skimmers
POOL LIGHTS: (2) -Pentair LED Color Intelibrite - GFCI Protected Light
MAIN DRAINS: Dual Anti-Vortex
RETURNS: 6 ea. (5 in Pool and 1 in spa)
CLEANER: Pentair Racer LS with 3/4 HP Booster Pump
AUTOMATION: Pentair Easytouch 8 W/Screenlogic
CHLORINATOR: Rainbow 320 Inline Chlorinator
SANITIZER: Pentair IC-40 Salt Generator and Power Pack
HEATER: Pentair 400,000 BTU Heater (Requires a larger gas meter)
AIR BLOWER: Silencer 2 HP Air Blower
SPA LIGHT: (1) Pentair LED Color Intelibrite - GFCI Protected Light
SPA JETS: 6- Paramount Par-A-Jets Jets
This is about $10k above our price we wanted to stay within. But looks to be salt water and the nice looking plaster.

PB2: Another local builder with 15 years experience who did our next door neighbors pool. This build was our favorite from the beginning. I emailed the owner to basically change the color of the wall. Never heard back from them.

PB3: National company and the salesman was great to work with. He came to our house and showed us some of the differences between their equipment (Jandy) and other quality build differences. This was a 93' pool and the design would really work for us. He didn't get into exact model of the equipment, but knew it was have at least a VS pump with robot cleaner. This was a chlorine pool, basic plaster and was $13k above what we wanted.

PB4: Texas company and is a top builder. They just came out this past Sunday and the salesman was very nice and informative. We have an appointment this Friday to view the design and get pricing.

I just can't believe how expensive these pools are. We purposely waited until this time to get that "savings", but IDK. Maybe we have to bump our budget :rambo:
 
Re: And we're off in SE Houston

HI and THANKS! We need another pool build to get us through the winter! LOL

Wonder why PB 2 did not even email back? Might be worth it to call and make sure they got the email.

When you get all of the designs and quotes make sure you have model numbers for all of the equipment so we are working with apples and apples.

We will work to see if we can get the price down some by playing PB against PB.

Kim:kim:
 
Re: And we're off in SE Houston

I am in the Houston area and my PB does almost exclusively salt water pools. It's strange many others in Houston have issue with the PB wanting to do salt water pool. Good luck with the build. Just remember it's a long journey, don't get too frustrated. It's also a man made product and won't necessarily be perfect.
 
Re: And we're off in SE Houston

Brent,

Looking at the equipment list for PB#1..

I would dump the Cleaner and Booster pump.. this is 1960's technology and a large waste of electricity. Just go with a robot...

The EasyTouch 8 and IC40 should come as a package and includes an internal "Power Pack" for the IC40.. There should not be two separate charges and you do not need the external power supply..

ScreenLogic is great and makes using and programming the ET8 very easy to do. You will love it, and you will love you new saltwater pool.

With a SWCG, there is really no reason to get the Rainbow 320 chlorinator..

Thanks for posting,

Jim R.
 
Re: And we're off in SE Houston

Whatever price you come to, add 20% or so to that total for what you will spend when all is said and done (we were quoted ~$62k but came in at ~$80k). Also I highly suggest you have railing mounts installed in your deck when it is poured (if going a poured deck). We really regret this now and have been quoted $1200 to add a single railing at this point (we need it for elderly relatives). As others said, make sure to get all of the equipment listed with exact model numbers of every single piece you will be getting. We got so screwed on equipment for not doing this. Forget about a cleaning port on the pool, go robot 100%.

FYI: My 400k btu heater also required a meter upgrade. They were able to use the same meter but needed to add a high pressure port to it to service the heater. They replaced the meter anyway just because mine was beat up a bit. No charge at all from the utility but an extra around $1500 to run the gas line. Easy peasy!
 
Re: And we're off in SE Houston

kimkats said:
When you get all of the designs and quotes make sure you have model numbers for all of the equipment so we are working with apples and apples.

We will work to see if we can get the price down some by playing PB against PB.

Kim:kim:
Click to expand...
Yes for sure I will get exactly what is proposed.

shingles said:
I am in the Houston area and my PB does almost exclusively salt water pools. It's strange many others in Houston have issue with the PB wanting to do salt water pool. Good luck with the build. Just remember it's a long journey, don't get too frustrated. It's also a man made product and won't necessarily be perfect.
Click to expand...
I know that it will be frustrating, I just want this step to be done. The build can take its time due to the season.

Jimrahbe said:
Brent,

Looking at the equipment list for PB#1..

I would dump the Cleaner and Booster pump.. this is 1960's technology and a large waste of electricity. Just go with a robot...

The EasyTouch 8 and IC40 should come as a package and includes an internal "Power Pack" for the IC40.. There should not be two separate charges and you do not need the external power supply..

ScreenLogic is great and makes using and programming the ET8 very easy to do. You will love it, and you will love you new saltwater pool.

With a SWCG, there is really no reason to get the Rainbow 320 chlorinator..

Thanks for posting,

Jim R.
Click to expand...
I was telling my wife about to see if we can get rid of their cleaning system and use a robot. The Easytouch 8 with screen logic is a $2536 charge and the IC40 with power pack is a $1500 charge. I will have to ask about the power pack. I was wondering about the Rainbow equipment since it is a salt water pool.

PoolGate said:
Whatever price you come to, add 20% or so to that total for what you will spend when all is said and done (we were quoted ~$62k but came in at ~$80k). Also I highly suggest you have railing mounts installed in your deck when it is poured (if going a poured deck). We really regret this now and have been quoted $1200 to add a single railing at this point (we need it for elderly relatives). As others said, make sure to get all of the equipment listed with exact model numbers of every single piece you will be getting. We got so screwed on equipment for not doing this. Forget about a cleaning port on the pool, go robot 100%.

FYI: My 400k btu heater also required a meter upgrade. They were able to use the same meter but needed to add a high pressure port to it to service the heater. They replaced the meter anyway just because mine was beat up a bit. No charge at all from the utility but an extra around $1500 to run the gas line. Easy peasy!
Click to expand...
What was the reason for the price increase? We will have to run an additional meter since the current one is on the other side of the house, so I will have two total on the property.
 
Re: And we're off in SE Houston

Brent,

Here is a link to an EasyTouch 8, with built in SWCG power supply, plus the SWCG (salt cell) and two actuators. Pentair Easy Touch Control System 520545. EasyTouch 8SC-IC40 Control System. Pentair 520545.

ScreenLogic is an additional $375.. for a total of $2,075... You can't expect your pool builder to not add his fees plus installation, so his $4K is in the ball park..

My point was to make sure you get the EasyTouch with the built in SWCG power supply even if the cost is the same.. Just one less unit to hang on the wall. Also, I suspect that the $1500 includes the external power supply which you don't need and should not be paying for....

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
Re: And we're off in SE Houston

Update:
PB2: Went by office and spoke to a lady (wife???) there and explained I haven't heard back from owner. She took my name and number. I hope it was the wife because neighbor said they spoke to her to get things done.

PB4: Went to their office to get the design zeroed in. This pool is 116' with VS pump using Handy equipment. It was 19k more than we wanted to spend but is a bigger pool but still just under 16k gallons.

While at PB4 office they ran the VS pump and was loud compared to the VS Pentair PB1 had us listen to in that office.
 
Re: And we're off in SE Houston

Brent,

VS pumps at full rpm are just about a noisy as a single speed pump...

But, when running at a low rpm, like 1000 or 1200 they are almost noise less.

Most of the time, I run my IntelliFlo at 1200 rpm. When I first got the pump I would often feel it, just to make sure it was still running... :p

Thanks,

Jim R.
 

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Re: And we're off in SE Houston

We were pretty picky about builders. We had a few people that we called that looked good on paper but when they did not respond to calls or e-mails promptly we dropped them from our list. We figured that if they are unresponsive before contracting that it will be impossible to get a response after the sale. We also took that as a sign that they were not managing their business well. If you can’t manage your sales, methinks your business is not going to be around very long.
 
Re: And we're off in SE Houston

I feel the same way if there is a communication problem. I contacted our home builders "preferred" pool builder first after then sent out a standard new home buyer email and got not response. I tried calling them a few times and always voicemail...no one ever answers the phone.

The second PB came back with a very high estimate but I told them my budget was way lower and they found a way to work with the budget and have been very responsive.

Third PB came out to the house, said they would be ready within a couple days and then didn't hear from them for a week and a half. They finally called and I'm interested in seeing their design and estimate but the communication issues thing is a killer.

Good luck with the build. I'm sure its going to look great!
 
Re: And we're off in SE Houston

We are basically at 100% sure we will be going with PB1. They have listened to what we want and have been very fair with the price. There are just some minor things needing updating to make it complete. Note we are not getting the building structure at this time, it is only for reference. This is actually on the side of the house since the backyard wouldn't work. I have to have them add a light by the equipment, one GFCI behind the rear wall for if I put a projector on that wall pointing to the house, where else should I put more, asking for price of the double doors too, and straighten the spa more so that it doesn't curve in.rev 1130_016.jpgView attachment 71313View attachment 71315
 
Re: And we're off in SE Houston

Just one observation: That pool is quite close to your house. Minimum rule of thumb is that you get 1ft of distance per 1ft of water depth. I believe the city of Houston requires an engineer to design the pool structure when you are closer than 5' to the house.

That being said, I have seen some reputable foundation engineers that print on all their new home plans for slab on grade foundations that pools should be a minimum of 15' from the home foundation. I believe they are trying to make sure that any potential future leaks will not be affecting the soil moisture under the house foundation which can cause soil movement in the Houston expansive clay soils.

If you can afford to move the pool out a bit further, I would do it.
 
Re: And we're off in SE Houston

kimkats said:
SWEET!!! Details please :angel:

Kim:kim:
Click to expand...

  • Pool Size: 34’0” X 20’0 Perimeter: 96, Depth: 3’6” x 5’6” x 6', Area: 522 SF, Shape: Freeform
    Pool Gallons: 14,766 Spa Size: 7’ ID Spa Perimeter: 28’ , Spa Depth: 3’6” , Spa Seating: Multi Depth
    • FILTER: 60Sq. Ft. Pentair DE Filter - Multiport valve - Backwash line to P-trap
      POOL PUMP: Pentair Intellflo Variable Speed Pump
      FEATURE PUMP: Pentair Whisper-flo 1.0 HP
      VALVES: Never Lube Valves
      SKIMMERS: 2- Tan Skimmers
      POOL LIGHTS: (2) -Pentair LED Color Intelibrite - GFCI Protected Light

      MAIN DRAINS: Dual Anti-Vortex
      RETURNS: 7 ea. (5 in Pool and 2 in spa)
      CLEANER: Pentair 820 Robotic Prowler
      AUTOMATION: Pentair Easytouch 8 W/Screenlogic
      CHLORINATOR: Rainbow 320 Inline Chlorinator
      SANITIZER: Pentair IC-40 Salt Generator
      HEATER: Pentair 400,000 BTU Heater (Requires a larger gas meter)
      AIR BLOWER: Silencer 2 HP Air Blower
      SPA LIGHT: (1) Pentair LED Color Intelibrite - GFCI Protected Light
      SPA JETS: 6- Paramount Par-A-Jets Jets
      • POOL COPING: Tuscany Rustic Travertine
        SPA COPING: Travertine W/Rolled Edge Glass Tile
        SPA SPILLWAY: 5’ Glass Std. Spill
        SPA EXTERIOR: Split Face Stackstone (Raised 12”)

        WATERLINE TILE: Standard Waterline Tile
        RAISED WALL FACE: Travertine Split Face Stack stone
        INTERIOR PLASTER FINISH: Cobalt Blue Wet Edge 15yr Warranty
        TRIM TILE ON STEPS & BENCHES: Included
        • Benches: 20’
          Tanning Ledge: (1) 97 SF W/(3) Bubblers 6” Deep
          Pentair Glo-Brite light in Tanning Ledge

          Raised Wall: 14’ of 12”” Raised Wall, 12’ of 18” Raised Wall , (4) 24” Raised Columns
          (1) 48” Sheer
          (2) Fire & Water Bowls W/Glass Rock
          (1) Pallet of Sod for Excavation entrance
          (1) GFCI Plug behind pool
          (1) GFCI at Equipment Pad.
          (1) Water Stub Out at Equipment Pad
          Move existing wood fence forward to accommodate equipment
          (2) Ledge Loungers (Color TBD)












 
Re: And we're off in SE Houston

Looks very complete.

You really do not need the Rainbow chlorinator, only in Texas do they insist on installing those with a SWCG.

I would think with only 6 spa jets that you really do not need the blower. If the spa system is properly installed you should be able to draw sufficient air for the jets.

Good luck -- have fun!
 

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