Building a 25-yard pool?

[HermanTX]

Continuing to tweak… other than the extra 1,000 gallons (which is indeed going the wrong direction, but still under 45,000), I think I like this concept better. Any thoughts on this compared to the simple 60’x18’ rectangle?

I’m assuming this might be harder to cover, but not even sure how important that is.

I like this design better. Although, I would not protrude the shelf out into the main body of water. I think that could be an accident waiting to happen since it is submerged.

There are several items you need to define that will affect functionally & other components of the pool. Do you plan to close the pool in winter? Do you have a lot of trees in area that would add to debris in pool? Can you use a tarp type cover (attaches to hooks around perimeter of pool) vs. an automatic cover or roll type cover? Note - remember you will have a diving board on deep end to contend with. Were you planning to have a ladder in the deep end to facilitate exit? Do you plan to heat the pool? If so, just on shoulder months of summer or throughout all 4 seasons. Just some food for thought. I am sure there are other components to consider.

 

[ajw22]

If your intention is to have an automatic cover I would keep the shape a rectangle or talk with automatic cover manufacturers about they handle a bump out.

 

[drylo]

Do you plan to close the pool in winter?

Probably… but not sure. Open to suggestions in light of my other responses below.

Do you have a lot of trees in area that would add to debris in pool?

No, not really. There are some trees nearby, but likely none would be particularly close.

Can you use a tarp type cover (attaches to hooks around perimeter of pool) vs. an automatic cover or roll type cover? Note - remember you will have a diving board on deep end to contend with.

What do you mean by “can you…”? I’m open to suggestions on this also. I maybe don’t even need a cover? Really not sure.

Were you planning to have a ladder in the deep end to facilitate exit?

No, I was not planning to. Unless I have to.

Do you plan to heat the pool? If so, just on shoulder months of summer or throughout all 4 seasons.

I would like to be able to heat the pool, but likely just to extend the season from March- Nov, not try to heat through Dec-Feb.

 

[Newdude]

No, I was not planning to. Unless I have to

With little kids the first time we went with a traditional ladder. For pool #2 with teens we did an 8ft bench on the side wall of the deep end as a fancier exit if needed. (It would also shave another couple hundred gallons off )

 

[HermanTX]

I would like to be able to heat the pool, but likely just to extend the season from March- Nov, not try to heat through Dec-Feb.

Heating a 45k gal pool will have its challenges. Especially in the 8.5ft deep end. You will need to consider as a minimum a solar cover to retain some of the heat. Obviously, this is dependent on your weather conditions on the shoulder months where you wish to warm the pool. Maybe some others on the forum who live in your area can comment on how you can accomplish this in a cost effective way.

 

[drylo]

Construction of 25 Meter, two lane lap pool. 85K gallons.

Video here on your type of pool...Just click to watch on youtube...

Video is geared towards the pool construction enthusiast audience - might be a bit long-winded for the casual viewer - apologies.
Edit: For those viewers that are "pool nerds" like me - here are some fun specs on the pool.
Length: 82’
Width: Main pool area: 19’
Bench / Baja / Spa sections: 33’
Depth: Baja Shelf / back bench: ~22”
Around spa: 3’
Shallow end lap lanes: 4’
Centerline of pool: 4’6”
Deep end: 10’
Excavation: 600 cubic yards volume in ground 72 x 12-yard-trucks hauled off (3 work days - 5 guys)
Steel: ~18,000 LF #4 rebar (1.5 work days - 4 guys)
Plumbing: ~300 LF 3" PVC ~1,300 LF 2" PVC ~350 LF 1.5" PVC (6 work days - 3 guys)
Gunite: 190 cubic yards (probably more like 160 in place after rebound loss and shot compression) 10" walls top to bottom, 9" floors (1.5 work days ~ 18 guys)
1st clean-up: 30 cubic yards (0.5 work days - 4 guys)
Tile & Coping: 400 SF glass 220 SF split-face 330 LF 5cm coping (10 work days - 4 guys)
Flatwork: 32 cubic yards (3 work days ~12 guys)
Plaster: 7 cubic yards of Wet-Edge Southern Lights (0.75 work days ~30 guys)
Total Construction Time without flood would have likely landed between 4 and 6 months (depending on how much we hired out vs doing ourselves.) With the flood and rebuilding the house though, it stretched to about 3 years - with long breaks in-between phases of the pool project post-flood.

Equipment package:
2 x Pentair Intelliflo VS Pumps
2 x Pentair Quad DE 100 Filters
2 x Pentair MasterTemp 400K BTU Cupro-Nickel Heaters
1 x Pentair Intellitouch i10+3D
1 x Pentair Mobile-touch Wireless Control
1 x Pentair Screen Logic 2 Wireless Interface
5 x Pentair Intellivalve Actuator
1 x Pentair Intelliflo XF Booster Pump (Spa)
3 x Pentair Intellibrite 5g spa lights
4 x Pentair Intellibrite 5g pool lights
1 x QT 2HP Blower (Spa)
4 x Color Match Superflo 360 Drains
1 x Paramount ParaLevel Auto-Fill
4 x Paramount Venturi Skimmers
3 x 30 gal Stenner Chem tanks/pumps

From the description:

"A lot of folks are asking about price in the comments section It's easier for me to explain it here and it makes more sense to provide a range. (2017 dollars) That range is dependent on several variables including regional pricing for labor and materials, engineering requirements due to soil conditions, how much work is contracted out vs. done by the home owner, water features, deck equipment selection and the quality of the materials / equipment used.
Low-end: If engineering requirements were minimal, soil conditions were ideal, regional pricing was average, standard plaster (non-aggregate finish) were selected, less expensive tile were used, water features were minimal and the home owner built a lot of the non-technical parts of the project themselves (IE: landscaping), a project like this could reasonably run around $200K.

High end: If the engineering design called for additional structural components (thicker walls, piers under the shell, etc), regional pricing for labor and materials were higher than average, the property sat atop bedrock, premium selections on plaster, tile, equipment and water features were selected, and all aspects of the project were run through contractors, it could easily run up into the $300k-$400k range or more. This pool came in towards the lower end of the pricing spectrum due to favorable soil conditions (no rock for excavators, no engineering requirements for structural piers), favorable material and labor market and doing much of the non-technical work on our own.

Another question several people have asked in the comments section is what the monthly maintenance cost is. The short answer is that it varies quite a bit month to month. To get it to a stable monthly value, the annual cost /12 would probably be the easiest method. (These are approximate numbers)
Annual: (Updated for 2023 pricing)
200 gallons Sodium Hypochlorite 12.5%: $600
60 gallons Muriatic Acid 31.45%: $280
200# sodium bicarbonate: $100
110# boric acid: $240
150# tri-chlor: $600
60k gal water (evaporation assuming no rain): $390 (Surprisingly, this is less than half the amount of water it took to keep grass alive per year before the pool)
250 MMBTU natural gas: $3,000
Mechanical maintenance: $2,000
8,300 kWh Electricity: $1,162
There are some other random items like calcium chloride, diatomaceous earth, pool brushes, etc that come up periodically but they can probably be wrapped up in that $1k mechanical maintenance figure.

$8,372/ 12 = $698/mo We do the maintenance ourselves. Otherwise the labor would likely be the highest cost."

Just FYI for anybody interested- there is actually a build thread for this pool!

New Build in West Houston Area - PB

I've been reading through countless threads in this forum for a couple years, joining the forum almost a year ago to post a few questions. This site has been great and has helped me sort through what we want and do not want on our dream pool. It has also been entertaining to watch everyone's...

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[TimZ]

No, I was not planning to. Unless I have to.

I'm pretty sure you have to have either a ladder or bench/swim-out in the deep end.

 

[f3justusc]

Hi all, recently found this forum and want to give kudos to the pool vets who so generously share their wisdom here.

We’ve never had a pool, but looking to potentially build one in the next year or so. We would primarily build for our (currently young) kids and to take advantage of our outdoor space (we have a very nice suburban home on a 1.5+ acre lot), but if building a pool, we would ideally be able to use for fitness swimming also. I was a pretty serious (i.e. D1) swimmer, so “fitness swimming” for us means swimming at a pretty good pace, etc., and would really need a pretty good size pool — and of course the longer the (planned) pool gets, the harder it is to stop at anything short of 25 yards.

We wouldn’t be looking at including a spa, and probably not bubblers or anything like that, but would probably add a 9-12” tanning shelf.

So my question for all the pool gurus out there is- how ridiculous would it be to build a pool that was 17’x75’ (mostly 3.5-5’ deep, but with about 20-25’ of length that deepens enough for a diving board; approx 50k gallons in total)… or even wider (18’ or 19’)? By that, I mean, would those dimensions make sense for a pool mainly built to entertain/host kids, or would it just look like a lap pool? But also, would this pool be outrageously expensive (compared to, say, a 20’x40’ pool — can’t see us going any smaller)?

Another option could be 75’ long, but possibly a little narrower in the deep end (e.g. 15’) and a little wider in the shallow end (e.g. 21’). (Same questions about ridiculousness apply.)

Thanks in advance for your feedback!

I love reading your post! The reason is, I am a swimmer and have waited 22 years to finally build my dream pool! I do not have the space available that you are discussing but I can get a 15x30 in and that's what I am doing. I too have no desire for fountains and the like but am putting in a sun ledge, which will stop just short of my "swim lane". I want to be able to swim a decent length before I have to turn around. I swim slowly but consistently for an hour.

My initial plan was to have the far side of the pool extend out another 10 feet for a "lap lane" but I ran out of space/code requirements AND because I had time to "sit with the idea", I decided it would just be odd and well, wasted space when others were using the pool. One thing that worked in my favor is that my pool builder is building my pool as a "side job" so I had plenty of time to design and redesign my layout. I went through several iterations and knew that I had found it when I made the last set of changes and basically forgot about it.

I highly recommend that you design your pool just as you want it to be. If you think a swim lane is appropriate, go for it. For the price, build what you want because it's once and done My house is a 3/1 and it is just over 1000 sq ft in an average neighborhood. My house right now is the nicest in the neighborhood and this pool at 78K for everything including pavers - no screen, is going to price me well above the next closest valued property. I don't even care! I am 55 and I want this pool the way I want it at the house that I am not leaving. I know there are people who think what I am doing is ridiculous but this is my dream, my life.

Nothing is ridiculous when your happiness and wallet are on the line. If you want a 75-foot pool, have the space, and will use it, Do IT! I might forgo the swim lane - all the pool all the way! Also, I would consider getting a hot tub simply because you can turn off the heater when you don't use it but someday, that hot tub might ease the soreness of an injury, it's not going to increase the price significantly, and you don't want to wish you had!

I hope to follow your pool build journey at some point in the future!

 

[f3justusc]

Construction of 25 Meter, two lane lap pool. 85K gallons.

Video here on your type of pool...Just click to watch on youtube...

Video is geared towards the pool construction enthusiast audience - might be a bit long-winded for the casual viewer - apologies.
Edit: For those viewers that are "pool nerds" like me - here are some fun specs on the pool.
Length: 82’
Width: Main pool area: 19’
Bench / Baja / Spa sections: 33’
Depth: Baja Shelf / back bench: ~22”
Around spa: 3’
Shallow end lap lanes: 4’
Centerline of pool: 4’6”
Deep end: 10’
Excavation: 600 cubic yards volume in ground 72 x 12-yard-trucks hauled off (3 work days - 5 guys)
Steel: ~18,000 LF #4 rebar (1.5 work days - 4 guys)
Plumbing: ~300 LF 3" PVC ~1,300 LF 2" PVC ~350 LF 1.5" PVC (6 work days - 3 guys)
Gunite: 190 cubic yards (probably more like 160 in place after rebound loss and shot compression) 10" walls top to bottom, 9" floors (1.5 work days ~ 18 guys)
1st clean-up: 30 cubic yards (0.5 work days - 4 guys)
Tile & Coping: 400 SF glass 220 SF split-face 330 LF 5cm coping (10 work days - 4 guys)
Flatwork: 32 cubic yards (3 work days ~12 guys)
Plaster: 7 cubic yards of Wet-Edge Southern Lights (0.75 work days ~30 guys)
Total Construction Time without flood would have likely landed between 4 and 6 months (depending on how much we hired out vs doing ourselves.) With the flood and rebuilding the house though, it stretched to about 3 years - with long breaks in-between phases of the pool project post-flood.

Equipment package:
2 x Pentair Intelliflo VS Pumps
2 x Pentair Quad DE 100 Filters
2 x Pentair MasterTemp 400K BTU Cupro-Nickel Heaters
1 x Pentair Intellitouch i10+3D
1 x Pentair Mobile-touch Wireless Control
1 x Pentair Screen Logic 2 Wireless Interface
5 x Pentair Intellivalve Actuator
1 x Pentair Intelliflo XF Booster Pump (Spa)
3 x Pentair Intellibrite 5g spa lights
4 x Pentair Intellibrite 5g pool lights
1 x QT 2HP Blower (Spa)
4 x Color Match Superflo 360 Drains
1 x Paramount ParaLevel Auto-Fill
4 x Paramount Venturi Skimmers
3 x 30 gal Stenner Chem tanks/pumps

From the description:

"A lot of folks are asking about price in the comments section It's easier for me to explain it here and it makes more sense to provide a range. (2017 dollars) That range is dependent on several variables including regional pricing for labor and materials, engineering requirements due to soil conditions, how much work is contracted out vs. done by the home owner, water features, deck equipment selection and the quality of the materials / equipment used.
Low-end: If engineering requirements were minimal, soil conditions were ideal, regional pricing was average, standard plaster (non-aggregate finish) were selected, less expensive tile were used, water features were minimal and the home owner built a lot of the non-technical parts of the project themselves (IE: landscaping), a project like this could reasonably run around $200K.

High end: If the engineering design called for additional structural components (thicker walls, piers under the shell, etc), regional pricing for labor and materials were higher than average, the property sat atop bedrock, premium selections on plaster, tile, equipment and water features were selected, and all aspects of the project were run through contractors, it could easily run up into the $300k-$400k range or more. This pool came in towards the lower end of the pricing spectrum due to favorable soil conditions (no rock for excavators, no engineering requirements for structural piers), favorable material and labor market and doing much of the non-technical work on our own.

Another question several people have asked in the comments section is what the monthly maintenance cost is. The short answer is that it varies quite a bit month to month. To get it to a stable monthly value, the annual cost /12 would probably be the easiest method. (These are approximate numbers)
Annual: (Updated for 2023 pricing)
200 gallons Sodium Hypochlorite 12.5%: $600
60 gallons Muriatic Acid 31.45%: $280
200# sodium bicarbonate: $100
110# boric acid: $240
150# tri-chlor: $600
60k gal water (evaporation assuming no rain): $390 (Surprisingly, this is less than half the amount of water it took to keep grass alive per year before the pool)
250 MMBTU natural gas: $3,000
Mechanical maintenance: $2,000
8,300 kWh Electricity: $1,162
There are some other random items like calcium chloride, diatomaceous earth, pool brushes, etc that come up periodically but they can probably be wrapped up in that $1k mechanical maintenance figure.

$8,372/ 12 = $698/mo We do the maintenance ourselves. Otherwise the labor would likely be the highest cost."

There is another video of this build after a hurricane hit. I watched it long ago and still cannot get it out of my head. Both videos and their other videos are cool to watch! I watched just about every YouTube pool build video when my build started in November 22! Now, I just want it to finish - Feb 2023!

 

[Newdude]

So I'm always going to root for the biggest pool possible. 55....75...... 95.

But budgets, spaces, and the desire to manage that much water may not always allow the dream to happen. I was looking up pics for something and found a good one from my build showing just how big the 20x40 is. Once full of water all you see are their heads with no 3rd dimension. If you or anyone finding this thread down the road had to go this 'small', it's not so bad.

Here's 4 grown men in the shallow end. It's 12 ft from the wall behind them to the blue line in the dirt, 20 ft wide.

 

[surfaceofthesun]

Wow I would have LOVED to have a lap pool but just so cost prohibitive. We did a rectangular play pool instead with a rectangular piece that sticks out, as the baja /tanning ledge. The cost and upkeep on the giant pools was just too much to stomach. But this design could work for you, just scaled up?