Am I getting screwed by my construction company?

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Gunmetal21

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Jul 22, 2018
3
Las Vegas, NV
New member and first time poster.

My wife and I just has our very first pool built in our first home. I am a bit suspicious that I may be getting shafted by my pool builder. Based on advice from friends and research we decided to ask for a variable speed pump. In our final quote they listed a Jandy Variable speed 2HP pump. The contract just lists Jandy 2HP pump but I didn't expect it to have to be listed as variable speed.

In the end our pool has been finished for about 2 weeks. It's not officially complete as they still have to install our Ozone generator and yard lights.

I definitely noticed the pump is only a single speed and confimed it on Jandy's website. Before I confront the builder I wanted to find out what the general cost difference is between a Jandy 2HP single speed vs the variable speed. It would help immensly when arguing it with the builder if they try to snake out of the issue. Any help is greatly appreciated.
 

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Welcome to the forum! :handshake:

A VS pump will be ~$600 more than a single speed. The VS pump will be 2.7 hp I believe.

If you can, get a refund on the Ozone thing. Not worth it. We get plenty of sunshine here in southern Nevada.

If you are interested in learning more about TFPC, I suggest you read Pool School - ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry and consider reviewing the entire Trouble Free Pool School book.
 
Welcome to TFP.

Pretty easy to lookup prices on the net. I see prices for your pump in the $600 - $900 range. Looks like Jandy 2HP VS pumps run about twice that amount - $1,100 - $1,500.

What your PB may charge you is a different story.
 
GM,

They are not trying to screw you, they most likely do not like or install VS pumps unless the buyer asks for one.

You can expect the pool builder to at least double the internet cost on any piece of equipment.. Just the way it is for almost all of them. A lot of times you can buy the pump cheaper than the pool builder can from his distributor. He is not going to give you the pump at cost and will certainly mark it up and charge you for installation.

Let them keep their Ozone and UV and get them to apply the credit to a VS pump.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
It is true the cost will be higher than what you can buy off the internet, since the builder is also installing the pump and associated plumbing and power and he has to pay his guys to do all that. The Amazon links are just for comparison of the difference in price between the two pumps.
 
The single speed pump is going to cost a fortune to run and it's going to be loud.

You clearly asked for a variable speed pump and it's what was quoted.

The builder's cost difference isn't that much for the single speed pump vs. the variable speed pump. And installation is the same either way.

Get the variable speed pump.
 
Thanks all for the info. I know the builder charges more with their up charges for anything, that's how they make profit. Unfortunately they didn't provide an item by item price in the final quote or contract but I do remember discussing prices for various items when during the design phase when we were choosing options. I know the price for the VS is more but based on what I saw but some were 200 more and others were twice the price of the one installed. I just wanted to see if anyone knew of a pretty close estimate for the Jandy 2HP VS pump as that's what they were supposed to give me. One thing I am also wondering with a VS is if a remote control would be used at all as that was also something in the quote. There is nothing that is currently installed that would use a remote but I didn't know if that would be something the VS would use. It's just more ammo to use when I confront them about it this week.

I also figured the ozone was a but of a scam but they have already mounted the box, they just have to hook up to plumbing. They certainly won't be refunding for that.
 
Welcome to TFP...

Hopefully you have something in writing. Installers could have made a mistake as the wrong equipment gets delivered or coordination fails. If your relationship with PB has been good he will fix without issues.

How owe do you plan to care for your pool? Did you get a test kit?

Test Kits Compared
 
As a part of the new build they included a "starter kit" which has a test kit in it. We will very likely be hiring a maintenance company to at least keep the chemicals in line but I may give it a shot myself. Thanks for the info again, I wish I would have asked more questions before starting the process but besides the pump issue, we're pretty happy with the product we have so far. I'll be sure to give an update after we talk to the builder.
 

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You want the VS pump. Ask them what the final price to you is of both units (the single speed they installed and the VS pump you want).

Compare that to the Amazon prices, and you can use that to figure out what the markup + labor comes out to be.


But the VS pump will pay for itself in no time... running that pump at 70% capacity consumes a fraction of the power as compared to running
the same pump at 100%. The energy curve ramps up big time as you approach 100% capacity. You can run a VS pump 24/7 at 3/4 speed for
less than running the same pump for just a few hours each day at full speed.

The savings get even better if your paying higher prices for electric.
 
Whatever you save/spend on pumps will pale in comparison to what you could save by foregoing the maintenance guy and taking care of the pool yourself. It is actually very easy, and no one (pro or otherwise) will take care of your pool as well as you will. As you can! While construction is going on, start studying Pool School, and read some "newbie" threads here, and see if using TFP methods is for you. You could save in the first year alone enough to pay for your VS pump!
 
Gunmetal21 said:
As a part of the new build they included a "starter kit" which has a test kit in it. We will very likely be hiring a maintenance company to at least keep the chemicals in line but I may give it a shot myself. Thanks for the info again, I wish I would have asked more questions before starting the process but besides the pump issue, we're pretty happy with the product we have so far. I'll be sure to give an update after we talk to the builder.
Click to expand...

Get your own test kit. Either the TF-100 Test Kit or the Taylor K-2006-C. Do your own testing in parallel with your maintenance company. Pay attention to the chemicals they are adding. If they are doing a good job then you don't have to step in, but you are prepared to do so if necessary.

The issue that I see is pools need attention more than weekly to find small problems and keep them from becoming big problems. Weekly pool service just can't give a problem pool the attention it needs. So they dump a bunch of chemicals in and come back in a week and hope for the best. Monitoring FC and PH regularly, which is more often than once a week, is needed for a trouble free pool.
 
Gunmetal21 said:
As a part of the new build they included a "starter kit" which has a test kit in it. We will very likely be hiring a maintenance company to at least keep the chemicals in line but I may give it a shot myself. Thanks for the info again, I wish I would have asked more questions before starting the process but besides the pump issue, we're pretty happy with the product we have so far. I'll be sure to give an update after we talk to the builder.
Click to expand...

Can you add a signature? At least get it started? See Pool School - Read This BEFORE You Post

How do you plan to chlorinate your pool water?
 
New here, so I won't claim real knowledge, but we're getting a Pentair variable speed pump. Pentair CLAIMS on their website that the variable speed pump reduces electric usage by 90%. If that's half true, it might be worth it. We have an electric provider that charges a fee plus the wholesale rate for electricity, which varies every 15 minutes and goes sky high at times, so a 50% reduction in kwh from the pump is worth something. Noise reduction might also be a plus. We already have a natural gas standby generator that does a test run for 30 minutes each Sunday, and it makes a bit of a racket (air cooled engine!) The pool equipment is on the same side of the house as the generator. Right now the lot next door is empty, but it will have a house on it soon. I don't want to be a bad neighbor.

As to ozone, we almost went with a builder who uses an ozone system that he claims--and customers confirm--that it reduces chlorine usage by 90%. He says the key is how it's delivered to the pool. His is force fed to the bottom of the pool. Apparently he's been doing it for 20 years, as a customer from 1999 still swears by his ozone pool. As I mentioned, we almost went with him. The mfr of the ozone equipment only claims 60% chlorine reduction, and the equipment is not that expensive. However, as I mentioned, we're new to swimming pools. Indeed, it is actually my wife's pool. I favored taking the money and just having ten great vacation trips instead of the pool, then one more great trip with what we save on electricity and maintenance. I lost. Coping, tile, and electrical this week. Plaster next week.
 
Also check with your utility on rebates for variable speed pumps. Mine gave me a $400 rebate which negated the extra I was charged over a regular pump meaning it was basically a free upgrade.
 
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