Hi All,
Our budget is $35-40K (just a reminder)
Checking in here. We have our first conference with a custom PB this Sunday. We are excited. I can't say enough about how much this website is helping us in our decision making process and how much we appreciate all the work here. I'm spending hours every day reading the construction forum. Luckily I'm off work for the summer and have the time to spend here finding the perfect solutions for our pool dream. I'm realizing that pools are unique works of art and I know with help from this site we will be able to make ours fit the landscape and enhance the home.
I'm making a list of all the detail items we want as far as equipment goes. So far I've decided on the Pentaire Intellilite 5g color LED's. We want two of those. I'll be asking for everyone's input on filter, pump, and etc. as we go. We want the functionality to be as right as we can afford.
The PB we are interviewing on Sunday only does gunite. We were thinking vinyl for cost efficiency, but this guy says he will work with us to get what we want in gunite within our budget...so we will see about that. He says the gunite pool will hold more value and that vinyl does not hold up well or work well with our area (Oklahoma City) but I know many of the pools here are vinyl. I know he has to sell what he does, but I do agree that gunite is nicer if we can make it fit the budget. I got the recommendation for this guy from a work colleague and the PB's wife actually used to work with me but left to be a full time mom...so he must be doing well enough to accommodate that. I did not know that her husband builds pools. He sounded encouraging in our phone conversation and very customer oriented, so we will see. They live only two miles away from us and across the street from my work...so he's easy to find...which I figure is a huge plus. He is meeting us in the back yard of the new house and bringing his design software. He sounded knowledgeable about working with the existing landscape and customizing and says he does adds like benches at no additional cost.
I've gone to two different pool store locations here. At the first one the owner was not in so I left my number but he never called me back, so I emailed his website requesting information and he still has not called...not feeling too good about that. His company is very popular here and has been around for probably 30 years, but I don't want to have to chase him down any further. I need a little give to feel right about the level of customer care...so far not impressed.
The other place is a huge franchise and I was able to get a brochure and pricing guide from the desk girl there...they build a standard 15 X 32 vinyl with 3 ft concrete deck all around and absolutely bare bones minimum everything...not even any steps...only a ladder...for $32K base price. Every little thing you add cost more. Steps $2000. Bench $2000. LED light $800. The atmosphere there feels like a Walmart.
Spoke on phone with a family owned company that has been here 30 plus years. Very nice man and one of the builders...they only do gunite and start at $42K base. He recommends Sundek. Does anyone have experience with or knowledge of Sundek? I'd like to know how durable this type of finish is. We will probably just have to go with brushed concrete. We want pavers, but he says pavers would more than double the cost. So he gave me the number of a guy they recommend for vinyl pools. I called him and he was down in a pool dig...said he'd call me back...but has not. Onward and upward...
Talked to a newer company about vinyl. His base price is $28K. We might interview with him. That would be a good starting point and would allow us a few adds. But it did not sound like he has been around that long. He does have a very nice website though.
Argh....we really do not want to mess this up. Looks like planning and finding the right builder is gonna be a long process.
Later!
Paul & Crystal
