Hi,
Michael and Michelle here, we just moved into a brand new house in Odessa, FL... north of Tampa, in the Asturia development. We built the house from scratch and customized a lot of the design to build our dream home. Well, as close to the dream home as we can reasonably afford without a lottery jackpot anyway. I am an IT consultant, my wife is a realtor, and we have 3 dogs and 3 kids. The kids are all moved out and onto college, so this is our empty nest home, and its pretty perfect for our needs and wants. We did not get the pool with the house, the builder recommended waiting, said it costs too much when you have them do it. Though sometimes I regret that decision!
I am not a big pool fan. I would rather have a big hot tub. But ever since we met, my wife has wanted a pool, we have owned a few houses and never got one. We have rented homes with pools before, so we have a pretty good idea of how we would use one, and of course that we would use it enough to justify the considerable expense! She has been saving for years to pay for the pool, so who am I to argue? Not like I'd win anyway.
The general contractor for our house recommended this website, said its great for information, and it has been for sure. I was toying around with the idea of doing the pool myself, acting as the GC and managing the subs. That same home GC is planning to do the same, but of course he has a lot more experience in that area than I do. I have been reading about the process, and it does seem fairly complicated. Our biggest concern is by doing it ourselves, we have no real warranty recourse if something goes wrong down the road. Plus, seeing how "challenging" it was dealing with the various sub-contractors for our house, and getting them to do quality work is a big concern. We have had endless little issues with this house that have to be fixed repeatedly, it just seems like they all try to get the work done as fast as possible without regard to quality, they just get so sloppy. I dont want to deal with that when building a pool where I have literally no idea if something is done right or wrong. At least with carpentry or tile work, I know enough to see when some things aren't right.
That being said... is it worth it? I mean, do you really save enough to justify doing your own pool vs hiring a builder? To me, it would have to save me 30% or so to really make a difference.
And as a followup, if anyone has any recommendations to which pool builders in the area are good, please reply here or PM me. I've got a pretty good list going, but so far the quotes have been really high... $65-75k for a 14x28 pool, 7x7 spillover spa, 40x25 paver decking, salt system and gas heater. No screen enclosure, no fancy water features, no fancy lights. Am I just way off on price? Any opinions are appreciated! Thanks!
Michael and Michelle here, we just moved into a brand new house in Odessa, FL... north of Tampa, in the Asturia development. We built the house from scratch and customized a lot of the design to build our dream home. Well, as close to the dream home as we can reasonably afford without a lottery jackpot anyway. I am an IT consultant, my wife is a realtor, and we have 3 dogs and 3 kids. The kids are all moved out and onto college, so this is our empty nest home, and its pretty perfect for our needs and wants. We did not get the pool with the house, the builder recommended waiting, said it costs too much when you have them do it. Though sometimes I regret that decision!
I am not a big pool fan. I would rather have a big hot tub. But ever since we met, my wife has wanted a pool, we have owned a few houses and never got one. We have rented homes with pools before, so we have a pretty good idea of how we would use one, and of course that we would use it enough to justify the considerable expense! She has been saving for years to pay for the pool, so who am I to argue? Not like I'd win anyway.
The general contractor for our house recommended this website, said its great for information, and it has been for sure. I was toying around with the idea of doing the pool myself, acting as the GC and managing the subs. That same home GC is planning to do the same, but of course he has a lot more experience in that area than I do. I have been reading about the process, and it does seem fairly complicated. Our biggest concern is by doing it ourselves, we have no real warranty recourse if something goes wrong down the road. Plus, seeing how "challenging" it was dealing with the various sub-contractors for our house, and getting them to do quality work is a big concern. We have had endless little issues with this house that have to be fixed repeatedly, it just seems like they all try to get the work done as fast as possible without regard to quality, they just get so sloppy. I dont want to deal with that when building a pool where I have literally no idea if something is done right or wrong. At least with carpentry or tile work, I know enough to see when some things aren't right.
That being said... is it worth it? I mean, do you really save enough to justify doing your own pool vs hiring a builder? To me, it would have to save me 30% or so to really make a difference.
And as a followup, if anyone has any recommendations to which pool builders in the area are good, please reply here or PM me. I've got a pretty good list going, but so far the quotes have been really high... $65-75k for a 14x28 pool, 7x7 spillover spa, 40x25 paver decking, salt system and gas heater. No screen enclosure, no fancy water features, no fancy lights. Am I just way off on price? Any opinions are appreciated! Thanks!
