New Pool Build - Tucson, AZ

[orovalleypool]

I am new to this thread but want to become an educated consumer on the purchase of our first pool. I recently purchased a house and am going to put a pull into it. We are just starting a family and plan on having more to come. With those expectations, we have added some luxury items to our pool that we figure will come into use fairly often by us. I went to get an estimate by a PB and thought the estimate was quite high for what we wanted. Maybe some of you can guide me in what is needed and/or how my money can be better utilized for some just as efficient but less expensive. I have itemized the info below with the final quoted price. NOTE: After reading some of these threads I am already thinking of replacing the in-floor. I figure I could save thousands by just having wall returns for a sweeper and still have the money for solar which would offset the cost of heating the pool/Jacuzzi. Is this correct? Thanks.

The pool is currently around 34 x 18 (freeform).

The max depth for the deep end is 7 ft. with 4 1/2 for the middle area and shallow for the lagoon. An 8 ft Jacuzzi will come attached to the pool.

(ALL APPROX NUMBERS)
They are charging $20,100 for the pool package.
Permits: $400.00

Pool Size and Depth ( Over the covered package): $3,900
*17 ft charge over 80 ft for perimeter; 86 sq ft over 400 sq ft; 7 ft max depth

Excavation: $2,100
*750 pre-grade / sq ft; 186 sq ft over 350 sq ft allowance; deep end ramp; over size top or second step

Excavation Surcharge for Mini III: $3,250

Plumbing (Incl. Q-360 In-Floor, Eclipse Drain System, VS3050 Pump w/ 420 Filter, 3/4 or 1 HP Booster, and 25 Booster Suctions) : $7,400

Electrical & Controllers: $3,000
*90 ft over allowance of 50 ft for 1/2 in rigid conduit; 1 EasyTouch 4Pool Panel w/ IC40 Salt Cell; 1 Pool Light; 20 ft over 15 ft allowance for pool light conduit; 1 EasyTouch Wireless Remote; Upgrade to IntelliBright LED Light

Pool Decking: $ 1,700
*14 sq ft Acrylic Lace or Brick Paver Decking over allowance of 180 sq ft; (12) 18 inch raised bond beam

Water Features & Rock Work: $ 9,500
*Grotto & Slide 12 x 7 x 5; 5 Artifical Rocks to Hide equipment

Interior Finish: $ 2,700
*300 sq ft over allowance of Premium Plus Plaster; Lifetime Warranty upgrade for Pebble Radiance

Tile: $ 200.00
*1 step tile insert

Spa & Pool: $ 8,200
* 8 ft spa w/ upgrade EZ touch 4 Pool/Spa panel; 2 actuator valves, light; 30 ft over allowance for spa plumbing; (1) 18 inch high sit/spin spa; 37 ft over allowance for spa conduit; upgrade to 1 Spa Light IntelliBright LED; Upgrade Spa Interior to Pebble Radiance

Heating Gas & Chilling: $ 4,700
* (1) 400,000 BTU Heater (natural or propane); 106 ft over allowance for gas line

Discounts: (-6,000)
Total: 65 K

 

[spanky99l]

I'm in tucson as well. Who was this quote from?

I'm looking at doing a pool as well and the most expensive quote I got was from Presidential. I'm going to owner/build route personally

Will

 

[doobs41378]

Am I reading this right as they are giving you 180 sq ft of decking total? If so that is super tiny, we have 800 and that is tiny once its laid out and furniture etc is on it. I do agree that those numbers look high...Different regions reflect different prices though...

 

[chiefwej]

My numbers will be a bit dated. I'm also in Tucson but the pool was built 6 years ago. It was still in the building boom so prices were high, they came down a bit after I built. Maybe they are back up.

18x36 rectangle with an additional 7x7 x18 inch deep sun shelf, and a 7x7 spa. Pebbletec finish. A&A in floor cleaning. Separate plumbing from skimmers and main drain (highly recommended). Separate pumps for spa and pool (also recommended). My pool is a play pool 3.5 to 5 ft to 4 ft depth. Holds 19,500 gal. Package included 2,000 square ft of deck acrylic lace finish cantilevered at pool (no coping). All Hayward equipment including DE-60 filter and 300k BTU NG heater. Total cost for finished pool was $45k which included $2,500 limited access premium. I have no water features except a fountain in the spa) and its designed as a salt pool, so no stone anywhere. I love the SWG system.

Things I would do different. Eliminate the in floor cleaning system. My previous pool had a booster pump and a Polaris cleaner. It did a better job and cleaned the pool in a couple hours, and didn't matter if the main pump was running. Downside is putting it in and taking it out of the pool. But I would rather use that money for a solar system, which I added after the fact ($5k). Multi speed or variable speed pump, at least for the main pump. Spa pump doesn't matter. I hid my equipment behind a wall which was a continuation of a retention wall I had to build.

Your price does seem high based on what I got for my money.

 

[orovalleypool]

Spanky99l -

Owner/build? What does that encompass? It seems like it is quite the workload. Do you basically hire the independent contractors to do each portion of the pool? How difficult is it? Is there a go-by for that? How much does it actually cut the cost from the PB himself doing it? Seems like you are taking a bigger risk...

doobs41378 -

They are giving me 180 of a total 320 SF of decking for the pool. I see you point after looking at your decking. BTW, you have a great looking pool. Congrats! Thank you for the suggestion.

chiefwej -

Who did your pool? Was it a PB or owner/build? Anyone you would recommend? I definitely like your price for what looks like a similar build we are looking for. We are beginning to go the direction of no in-floor and using those monies for a solar system. Any advice on the better end of solar systems for a pool to drive a spa/pool with a grotto and slide? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Do you have any pics of your pool by the way for a comparison to what we are trying to build? Thanks.

 

[cbink]

The price doesn't seem that out of keeping to me.

I'm awaiting construction on mine which is a little bigger, though not by much but has similar features in that it will have waterfall/cave/slide that's 5ft high. The price for the grotto/slide seems pretty competitive to me. Mine is adding $10,300 to the cost of my pool.