What are the must have pool upgrades?

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Prosperguy

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Jan 12, 2015
5
Prosper
We are building a new house, and with it, a new pool. I know when I head to the sales office of the pool builder, I'll be overwhelmed with 100's of options/upgrades. I'm wondering from all you pool experts, what are the must haves? Which ones do you wish you had added or are really enjoying now?

Which upgrades do I avoid? Or maybe add on later cheaper?

Thanks in advance!
 
Welcome! :wave:

I wish my pool was plumbed for solar heating. It would lengthen the swim season by about a month on each end.

You cannot have too many electrical outlets around the deck. Lighting, fans, stereos, TVs, refrigerator, sump pump, vacuum cleaner - who knows what all you'll want out there in the next twenty years? It's real easy to add conduit when the trenches are open and there's no concrete.

You ought to search through the Under Construction forum for more threads regarding design considerations and advice based on hindsight.
 
:wave: Welcome to TFP!!!

Likely not what you are asking, but:
#1 The TF-100 test kit
#2 A SpeedStir

The only "must haves" are a waterproof shell, some water, a pump and a filter. :mrgreen:
Everything else are options which vary from person to person as to what they value.

You need to make sure you build the pool the YOU want, not what the pool builder wants to build. Have seen often that the subcontractors can get in a rut where they always build the same type of pool regardless when the owner may have wanted.

Get ALL changes and options in writing!!! If it is not written down, it did not happen.
 
I really like having the option to set my sand filter to any setting I want: backwash, recirculate, rinse, etc.

I also love that I have shut-offs on all my features so I can open/close them independently.

Guests love our slide.

A fountain or other water feature is pretty, sounds great, and helps if you ever have to aerate to adjust TA.

We enjoy outside speakers for music with controls in the house.

We installed a powder room in the garage so swimmers can pee without going into the air-conditioned house... I really love that one!

A large deck for parties is really nice.

I wish I could by-pass my heater during the hot season. Even though we don't use it during the hot summer, the chemicals constantly running through it makes me feel like I am shortening its life expectancy.
 
First, welcome to TFP! :wave:

I second Jason on the test kit. Do that without fail.

I'm not sure what you are choosing in terms of "plaster" but go with a Top of the line Quartz finish or aggregate such as pebble.
Long term, this is one of the best upgrades you can do. A good finish will last a long, long time. Put some time in deciding what you want the water color to be.

Also, go with a top of the line Robot cleaner as opposed to a suction or pressure cleaner. Its about the same money as the latter, and this might be the very best
option we chose to substitute for our build. I am so glad we did not go with the initial pressure cleaner setup our builder suggested.
 
Color LED lights over standard. Unbelievable change in atmosphere. And the Speed Stir!
 
Top quality plaster or quartz as Brushpup suggests
Top quality robot, again as brushpup suggests
A few electric outlets spread around
Two Speed or Variable speed pump-must have for sake of the electric bill (I prefer the VS)
LED lighting - easy upgrade later with a retrofit bulb.
Must have - Landscape lighting . Cant be beat for ambience after sunset. Easy enough DIY job if you're handy.
Nice Deck finish - upgrade from broom finish to Exposed Aggregate or Limestone Tiles or something else you like.
 
Don't forget plans for summer kitchen, plumbing, water and electric. You can never have too many outlets, believe me. And also the largest deck possible, you will be surprised how much space chairs, tables and lounges take up and leaves no room for dancing...We have aprox 1600sqft of pavers and we easily run out of space.
 
Divin Dave said:
Top quality plaster or quartz as Brushpup suggests
Top quality robot, again as brushpup suggests
A few electric outlets spread around
Two Speed or Variable speed pump-must have for sake of the electric bill (I prefer the VS)
LED lighting - easy upgrade later with a retrofit bulb.
Must have - Landscape lighting . Cant be beat for ambience after sunset. Easy enough DIY job if you're handy.
Nice Deck finish - upgrade from broom finish to Exposed Aggregate or Limestone Tiles or something else you like.
Click to expand...

Good suggestions, and I don't know how I forgot it, but I second the VS pump with great enthusiasm.

I was discouraged by many on this, including the PB. Most everyone said don't do it, it isn't worth the extra money unless you can re-coup the electrical savings quickly.

Having one in place, I couldn't disagree more, and absolutely love having the option to adjust speeds to whatever I want them to be. When you consider
the cost of the build, the upgrade price to VS is nothing and I like having the best/most options I can afford. Even if you don't have much automation, you can have four speeds with my pump and it's nice to have the flexibility, especially compared to having just one where the pump runs full out all the time. I put in minimal automation, and that enables me to adjust my pump in incremements of 10 RPM from 750-3150. It's just nice to have, and I encourage anyone doing a new build to put one in if at all feasible.
 

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Against the common opinion of most of the people here I would recommend to you the installation of a UV bactericidal lamp in series with the pool filter. This cannot be considered a viable sanitation system since it cannot sterilize anything that do not pass through the lamp, but is a great thing to have if you are not there to service the pool. If you have a SWG system, than this pool can be left unattended for about one week, but if you have longer holidays, than a UV lamp will keep the water free of algae and you will have to clean only the pool walls. Great backup.
 
Tepelus said:
Against the common opinion of most of the people here I would recommend to you the installation of a UV bactericidal lamp in series with the pool filter. This cannot be considered a viable sanitation system since it cannot sterilize anything that do not pass through the lamp, but is a great thing to have if you are not there to service the pool. If you have a SWG system, than this pool can be left unattended for about one week, but if you have longer holidays, than a UV lamp will keep the water free of algae and you will have to clean only the pool walls. Great backup.
Click to expand...

I totally disagree. The UV lamp will increase chlorine usage and require the SWG to produce more to maintain adequate FC levels. And you can leave a SWG pool for much longer than a week without a problem.

The UV systems are just an added cost which add virtually no value to an outdoor low-use residential pool.
 
If you plan on having any water features, heated spa, multiple pumps (or VS pump), or lighting features, I highly recommend an automated control system with remote capability so you can operate the various elements from inside your house. It might sound like a frivolous upgrade, but it's quite nice to NOT have to go out to the equipment pad to make all adjustments.

I'm also big on Salt Water Generators, which greatly reduce the quantity of pool maintenance activities throughout the swim season. You'll still need to adjust the usual parameters (pH, hardness, alkalinity, etc), but you won't have to be adding bleach every other day. No matter what type of sanitation mode you go with, please stay away from chlorine pucks.

Now if you have extra monies to banter about and really like convenience, I recommend an in-floor cleaning system. I have the Paramount PCC2000 and I cannot say enough good things about it. It really works as advertised, and I don't have to worry about taking my Polaris out of the pool every time the kids want to swim. Nothing is more convenient than being able to empty the dirt from the bottom of my pool via a skimmer-type basket in my pool decking. There are also secondary advantages of having most of my water returned to the pool through floor jets, which really enhances chemical dispersion and speeds up the time required for heater to raise water temperature.
 
I just put in a fairly high dollar pool setup last summer (most of the equipment is in my signature). My absolutes from my build would be the SWG, heat pump, Kreepy Krawler Robot, and Auto Cover.

SWG....easy no hassle Chlorine
Cover opens and closes in seconds and keeps all debris out and chlorine consumption to next to nothing. (especially if you have tress nearby that will blow leaves and junk in)
Heat pump both heat and cools the pool, so whatever temp you set pool at it stays there full time. It is also very efficient. Important with an auto cover because water heats up under it in summer!
Kreepy Krawler is just a plug in robot that you toss in the pool, let it clean, pull out and hose off screen. No pool ports, hoses, pumps to deal with. Cleans very well, even gets rocks and nuts.

My setup works so well that I don't have to do anything. SWG is only set at about 3%. I check ph and chlorine every couple days, but it very rarely moves. check other readings every week or two, but hardly ever have to add much unless Im running water features a lot. I toss robot in once a week or so. Only have to brush every 4-6 weeks, maybe. I emphasize that I am extremely picking about everything including my pool, and my water is crystal clear.

The rest of my equipment is very nice, but also a lot of money for the nicer stuff. I will say I love the screenlogic and being able to control pool from iPhone (if you do this only use the wired connection and not the wireless because it is spotty and always needs reset. Hard wired has zero issues). I prefer the Cartridge Filters for super filtering they provide and I like to see how dirty it is and I just pull it out and clean it or swap it out. Pentair Magic Laminars Jets are really cool (and great for adjusting TA) of which I have 3, but a pricey upgrade.
 
Yeah forgot the autocover. That was the only real absolute for us besides water. No autocover, no pool.

And an oft overlooked one, a personal umbrella insurance policy!
 
Divin Dave said:
LED lighting - easy upgrade later with a retrofit bulb..
Click to expand...

Are these as functional as installing them originally? Do you get all the light shows & synchronization? - Love them light shows. Doesn't affect me but just trying make sure the comparison is apples to apples. But if the OP doesn't like apples then it doesn't matter.

And not directly pool related but skin cancer protection (i.e. shade).
 
Brushpup, I agree with you 100%. I love me VS pump! The thing is downright fun!

Brushpup said:
Good suggestions, and I don't know how I forgot it, but I second the VS pump with great enthusiasm.

I was discouraged by many on this, including the PB. Most everyone said don't do it, it isn't worth the extra money unless you can re-coup the electrical savings quickly.

Having one in place, I couldn't disagree more, and absolutely love having the option to adjust speeds to whatever I want them to be. When you consider
the cost of the build, the upgrade price to VS is nothing and I like having the best/most options I can afford. Even if you don't have much automation, you can have four speeds with my pump and it's nice to have the flexibility, especially compared to having just one where the pump runs full out all the time. I put in minimal automation, and that enables me to adjust my pump in incremements of 10 RPM from 750-3150. It's just nice to have, and I encourage anyone doing a new build to put one in if at all feasible.
Click to expand...
 
I put in a LED retrofit bulb, and yes, there are light shows 5 or 6 of them I think. Just flip the switch off an back on and it goes from one show to the next. Or you can stop it and have the light just remain whichever color you want it to be. The one I call the Disco Show is WILD!
:party::punkrock::party:
haha

I dont have a spa, so I dont know if you can synch up a pool retrofit bulb with a spa retrofit bulb or not.

I think the biggest difference in teh retrofit bulb and the 'original' LED system, is you cannot control the retrofit to change shows via remote control.

bmoreswim said:
Are these as functional as installing them originally? Do you get all the light shows & synchronization? - Love them light shows. Doesn't affect me but just trying make sure the comparison is apples to apples. But if the OP doesn't like apples then it doesn't matter.

And not directly pool related but skin cancer protection (i.e. shade).
Click to expand...
 

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