We went $2k over budget upgrading to Shellock pavers and our pool light. Landscaping was our bigger budget buster.
There is a gray area here in pool estimates where I think pool builders fall down. Many homes have the foundation slab put on fill dirt to raise the homes above base flood elevation, so the yards slope away from the home. We were told by all PB’s that we got estimates from, that we
likely didn’t need stem walls. They really don’t want to tell you you’ll need to pay $5k for something that isn’t sexy like other pool options. Extra deep footers were their answer and compacting the soil.
After our pool was in and the final grading done, the slope was steep. The ground is sand here and erodes easily. Our neighbors have an older pool and the deck is falling away from the pool on the backside. We knew going in we would likely put in a retaining wall. The county inspector who did the final inspection told us we would be glad we put it in.
In the end, we put a wall behind the pool and on one side, with the corner being several courses of rock for interest. We decided to extend the side retaining wall and level our side yard where the pool equipment is, which added onto the cost.
So whether a retaining wall is a PB job or a landscaping one, it doesn’t really matter, as long as it gets done and you know you are paying for it upfront with the PB or on the backside with the landscaper. Landscaping came in at $12k, with 5k for the basic retaining wall that we saw not as an option, but as a need. We have fined tuned the landscaping with trips to the big box stores and we haven’t added that onto the total cost. We also replaced an old fence, which needed replaced several years ago but we kept on life support knowing a pool was going in. We didn’t add that in to the cost either since a fence is not required with a pool cage.
