Picked our PB, now to sign contract. Help requested to assure it's all compatable

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19grigg87

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Mar 3, 2015
5
Georgetown Texas
Finally narrowed the proposals down and are ready to sign a contract. First though, I wanted to ask for ya'll to check and see if we missed anything that will be a problem later. We went with a 15x30' custom freeform because it was $6300 cheaper than a 15'x30' retangular. 360sf, 78' linear, 31/2' x 6'x4'.

PLUMBING: Dual Main Drain, 2 surface skimmers, four adjustable returns, stub-out auto cleaner. all plumbing is 2"pvc schedule 40. Equip: 325S Hayward Cartridge filter, 1 1/2hp 2 speed Hayward pump, Chlorinator.

STRUCTURE: 3/8" REBAR 8"X8" centers 6"x 12" at stress points throughout pool. 3/8" rebar in bond beam. Gunite concrete min 8"-10" thick on walls and floor and up to 12"thick where out of the ground. #4 rebar @ 9" O.C.B.W.. dry gunite mix 4500-7k PSI minimum, exposed walls to be sponge finish stucco.

FINISH: 6" builders grade frost proof ceramic tile at waterline. limestone or similar coping around pool. 300 sq ft sun deck concrete deck around pool. white/ light grey plaster finish two coats of marcite plater with upgrade to mini pebble.

Would appreciate any structural or plumbing concerns with the above layout. The pool will be built on a 1 ft slope. We are in the Austin area so there is a lot of rock here.

Questions: 1.We were going to use the dirt from the dig to fill in low spots on our 3 acres but have been told by another builder that there will be a lot of rock shards and we probably didn't want to use it. The PB we selected said there wouldn't be.
2. PB is recommending the Polaris 360 automatic cleaner. I was researching and saw some sites that claim it doesn't do walls very well. Anybody have something that does. The pool we had 12 years ago did a good job of it but isn't avaliable anymore. We thought part of using a pool cleaner was not have to brush the sides. The robotic seems to be heavy and the suctions would require more cleaning of the pump filter. We are leaning toward a pressure cleaner that doesn't need an additional pump. Any ideas out there. The PB wants $600 for the Polaris 360 but i have found new ones online for around $400.


Thanks in advance for the feedback! I'm so glad we found this sight. Spending this much on a pool and hearing horror stories from some that have gone before us makes us second guess everything. The PB said he could dig next week if we can get the contract signed.
 
Congrats on the new pool! I would keep the 6300 bucks and do freeform too! Looks good so far.

1. No help on rocks or no rocks.

2. We have a pressure side cleaner and I'm pretty happy with it. Keeps the bottom pretty clean with snail shells and whatever sinks. It doesn't do great on the sides and doesn't do anything on benches. But, there isn't a lot of stuff on the sides anyway. Benches is another story, have to brush those off when they get dusty. I have no experience with a suction side cleaner. All the dust and stuff not caught in the cleaner bag is going to the filter anyway and the big stuff like leaves and snail shells will get caught in the leaf basket. So, I wouldn't think it would make a big difference either way on the filter.


Sign it and start digging! :)
 
My only suggestion would be about your payment schedule. I only found this site after I had already signed the contract with my pool builder. I did not know any better, and signed a payment schedule that basically paid the builder as each segment got started. So, it was something like..

1. $10K when they showed up to dig the hole,
2. Another $10K when they showed up to do the steel and plumbing,
3. Another $10K when they shot the gunite,
4. etc, etc..
5. The final payment got paid when they came to plaster the pool.

The problem with this type of payment schedule is that there is nothing in reserve to ensure that any problems are taken care of after the water is in the pool. Even though my pool builder made everything right, I still felt a little powerless as I had already made the final payment. If I had to do it all over again, I'd have held back about $5K until I was sure that any issues were resolved. I was not given that option.. they just stuck a pre-printed payment schedule in front of me to sign. I just assumed that was how it was done.

Jim R.
 
They broke it down to 8 pmts. with the last 5% due at completion of equip install. Didn't look unreasonable. Basically 10, 15, 20% due after completion of a portion of job.
Jimrahbe said:
My only suggestion would be about your payment schedule. I only found this site after I had already signed the contract with my pool builder. I did not know any better, and signed a payment schedule that basically paid the builder as each segment got started. So, it was something like..

1. $10K when they showed up to dig the hole,
2. Another $10K when they showed up to do the steel and plumbing,
3. Another $10K when they shot the gunite,
4. etc, etc..
5. The final payment got paid when they came to plaster the pool.

The problem with this type of payment schedule is that there is nothing in reserve to ensure that any problems are taken care of after the water is in the pool. Even though my pool builder made everything right, I still felt a little powerless as I had already made the final payment. If I had to do it all over again, I'd have held back about $5K until I was sure that any issues were resolved. I was not given that option.. they just stuck a pre-printed payment schedule in front of me to sign. I just assumed that was how it was done.

Jim R.
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