New Pool Build in Miami

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jro33176

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LifeTime Supporter
Nov 30, 2013
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Miami, FL
Hello Everyone!

Finally chose a PB this week and updated my signature!

Here's a few before photos:

A nice empty yard
20140208_100555.jpg


Looking toward the house
20140208_100724.jpg


Our pool design
ATT_1391805223233_JENNIFER_ROGERS_11480_SW_96_TERR_005.jpg


- - - Updated - - -

And already a hiccup. Utility companies are marking the underground lines and so far electric and phone are located in pool area.

20140208_095526.jpg
 
Good news is utilities can be relocated, bad news is it isn't cheap.

It'll all be worth it (that's what I keep telling myself) :p
 
I should be getting the $$$ estimate for moving the utility lines this week. My fingers are crossed that it will go smoothly.

Nice to see a fellow South Floridian on here, NorthRider!

linen - we planned our alcove deliberately. Many friends of ours in Miami recommended against getting a spa because it is so rarely used and so expensive to heat and maintain. We really liked the idea of the separated space though, so we went with this alcove idea instead.
 
More complications developing ...

gas company marked the gas line and we have a main line running through our yard. Extremely frustrating as electrician wanted to reroute electric to this location. Now he's looking into moving right up against our property line to keep it out of the way.

furthermore, the underground transformer is located right beneath a tree that I must first have removed before they can begin.

And to add insult to injury, architect tells PB our lot has larger set-back requirements and pool must be shifted further away from property line. But, with pool shifted over, it blocks a screen door to our back patio. The whole thing looks funny and off. PB is going to brainstorm but I'm completely discouraged. Expenses are racking up and we haven't even started yet!

Is this common or what?
 

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Very nice design! So sorry to hear about the utility lines though. I hope it's not too much of a head ache!
 
jro33176 said:
More complications developing ...

gas company marked the gas line and we have a main line running through our yard. Extremely frustrating as electrician wanted to reroute electric to this location. Now he's looking into moving right up against our property line to keep it out of the way.

furthermore, the underground transformer is located right beneath a tree that I must first have removed before they can begin.

And to add insult to injury, architect tells PB our lot has larger set-back requirements and pool must be shifted further away from property line. But, with pool shifted over, it blocks a screen door to our back patio. The whole thing looks funny and off. PB is going to brainstorm but I'm completely discouraged. Expenses are racking up and we haven't even started yet!

Is this common or what?
Click to expand...

Sadly, yes it seems to be (it was the case for us.) We worked aka "paid ppl" for a solid 6months getting things done so we could get to the point where we could dig the hole for the pool. I wasn't kidding when I said repeat "It's all going to be worth it" over and over. We have a large backyard with a 6 ft CMU fence, we expected the fence guys would be able to work on the remainder of the fence (raising it to 8ft and closing off entrances) while the pool was being constructed. Fence guy said "nope, we will be in each others way. We will just wait until the pool guys are gone". This was discouraging to hear, but it's just a drop in the bucket.
 
jro33176 said:
Hello Everyone!

And already a hiccup. Utility companies are marking the underground lines and so far electric and phone are located in pool area.
Click to expand...
Congrats on getting started! I was lucky with my utilities (electric mainly) in that it wasn't in the way of the pool, but it also wasn't anywhere near where it was shown to be in the survey of my plot! Apparently the utility companies like to save money and take shortcuts on the route to save cable costs if they're not being watched closely!
 
I appreciate all the feedback. Most people seem to document their new builds with excavation. I was unprepared for all the issues that could arise before getting to that point!

cbink - you are right about those surveys being incomplete! Ours designates a 6 ft. utility easement that none of our utility lines are located in! :confused:

mrcarcrazy - you are not kidding with that mantra! I will repeat it regularly. I had a chuckle over your fence. We are going to take down the portion of fence by the house and rebuild it on the far side of our property and we get the same response -- "We can just wait until the pool is finished." They will be working nowhere near each other!

At any rate, we are redesigning with the given limitations. At first we considered simply shifting everything over, but the pool looked "crammed in" and when you walked out one of the doors, you were stepping directly in front of the pool. The tanning deck was just a few steps in front of the door! We decided to remove the tanning deck to get the extra distance from the house and instead put corner steps in. Also, we shortened the length of the pool from 35 to 32 and increased the width from 16 to 19. This moves the edge of pool away from that patio door. I think it's a better fit that way.

We'll probably have to add more decking behind where the chairs are currently located in the drawing.

Most current design:
JENNIFER_ROGERS_11480_SW_96_TERR_007.jpg



The section of pool closest to the house and patio door:
JENNIFER_ROGERS_11480_SW_96_TERR_003.jpg
 
Still more design tweaking today. We added more decking and adjusted the seating in the alcove area. Also, rounded out the steps and put in a mini tanning step.

Our PB is very patient, I must say! He came out to our house and sprayed the pool outline in the yard.

Northrider, we are on sewer. As for the tanning ledge, we're okay with eliminating the original version. Timing is everything and over the weekend, we swam in someone else's pool. They had stairs like we now have and it was perfect for the Youngest. He played on the steps, and it was plenty big enough.

As for the fence, it will be gone in the end. It actually divides our property in half! We are relocating it to the property line so we have full use of the yard. The half you cannot see in these pics will be the "play side."

Here's the tweaked design:
JENNIFER_ROGERS_11480_SW_96_TERR_0031.jpg


We gave the go-ahead to send this design back to the architect. Probably won't see anymore pool progress for a month or so (I'm guessing). But, in the meantime, I need to remove a tree and relocate some plants I want to save... Also, need to get those utilities relocated... <sigh> :tongue:
 

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