Building my own pool in North Jersey

[ksungela]

Thanks. Little water goes over the wall. The silver bar is there to block it. It sits right on top of the slanted wall. Be sure to get almost all of the water off the cover before fully retracting it, otherwise the excess water and leaves and junk will have no where to go and splash over the bar into your pool. You'll see...assuming you have trees like I do dropping Crud all the time.

Landscapers are here today. They finally hooked up the waterfall. I have 2 Pentair 3 HP Intelliflow XF pumps, top of the line variable speed. The display doesn't work on one of them, the other tried priming itself, then made a loud screeching sound and stopped. Removed the basket cover to have smoke bellowing out. When the smoke cleared there was black plastic bits underneath the strainer and a distinct smell of burn plastic. Now have to wait for a service call from the local pool company who's a Pentair service shop. If my landscaper hooked this think up a month ago like he was suppose to, all this could have been fixed already...but I'm not mad... :grrrr:

Fence is finally coming tomorrow. Might get a final inspection by the weekend.

 

[bobby1017]

Looking very nice!

Do you get much water escaping the pool over the dam wall now that the cover is installed? My cover is not in yet and a lot of water rolls up over and splashes into the cover pit. I expect the aluminum bar will rest on or close to top of the wall and stop much of it. Our bluestone coping over the cover will not go out as far as yours. At least 1/2 of the dam wall top will be exposed but it's on the deep end not the main entry side.

My pool sounds just like yours and even though the alum cover bar does stop some water, after a bunch of teenagers are jumping in, the level is usually a few inches low. That equates to approx. 1000 to 1500 gallons, if it is down 2" or 3".

 

[ksungela]

some pics of the landscaping. Fence guys showed up yesterday to get 1/2 done. Didn't show today... :grrrr:
The local Pentair warranty service company doesn't have any experience with the newer XF pumps, so waiting on another company to call me back. I think this is going to take a while.

 

[ksungela]

Well, I can say the pool is finally done. The fence contractor came back today to fix some shaky posts. It only took him 3 weeks to come back. Who knows how long it would have taken if I didn't owe him 1/2 the bill.
Its been hot here in the Northeast the last week, along with the cover closed at night, the pool temp. is up to a balmy 87 degrees :-D
I'll eventually add some landscape lighting and outdoor sound.
Overall, I"m pleased with the end result. The waterfalls were to add some background noise, but they are way overkill. One falls in the middle would have been plenty.
Here's a list of contractors I used:
Bill Finley - excavator
Garrett Trull - plumbing
New Century Gunite - Rebar and gunite
Landscaping - Landscape systems (nice work, but takes forever to get the job done, very unreliable)
Tile/Coping - Coping by Manny
Plaster - Raymond Brothers
Fence - Secure Fence (I would never use them again)
Pool Supply unlimited - pool equipment

I'll tally up the costs and post what everything cost in the next few days.

 

[ksungela]

more pics

 

[ksungela]

more pics

 

[GuinnessPhish]

great looking pool.....

but is it just me, or does the water look a bit cloudy?

 

[vinper]

Wow now thats some stone ... my brother in NY laughed when I told him we have to pay for stone down here in Texas. Most of his land he has to pay to haul it off

 

[ksungela]

You had me wondering about the cloudiness, but I opened the cover today and saw it pretty clear. Maybe the color or the waterfalls churning up the water makes it look cloudy.
All those rocks were brought in from PA, but yeah, plenty of rock up this way.
My dog loves the polaris and the whole pool...

 

[Flatlander]

Very impressive! Thanks for sharing all the details.
You and Bigdav160 are DIY inspirations. How did you find your subs? And know what was a fair price for the job? Did you have a step by step plan you were following? Thanks again for the info.
Enjoy your summer!!!

 

[Patrick_B]

Wow, just now caught up on this and that is quite an impressive build man. Really nice!

 

[crek31]

I do not know how I missed this build thread. Gorgeous pool and patio. Love it! And as for that neighbor that called the cops: that is just poor planning. She should have been bringing you lemonade and snacks during the build, in hopes of an invite to your beautiful oasis. Congrats on a project beautifully done!

 

[ksungela]

I added up all the costs:

actual costs
Engineering 710
Site plan 700
Permits 1305
Tree removal 3210
Excavation/dirt removal 4680
Framing 250
Rebar 3530
Gunite 11260
Electrical installation labor 855
Electirical equipment 2168
Plumbing mats./installation 3381
Pool Equipment 10500
Waterfall 22375
Boulder wall 3400
drainage, leveling, concrete pad 4000
firepit 750
coping/tile installation 1250
Coping material 2150
Tile 560
Bluestone patio 8500
Plastering/grates 6100
Auto cover 7700
Cover brackets 1109
Water 200
Fastlane Swim current 7375
Landscaping/sod 14000
Fence 7420
Total $129,438

 

[ksungela]

I added up all the costs:

actual costs
Engineering 710
Site plan 700
Permits 1305
Tree removal 3210
Excavation/dirt removal 4680
Framing 250
Rebar 3530
Gunite 11260
Electrical installation labor 855
Electirical equipment 2168
Plumbing mats./installation 3381
Pool Equipment 10500
Waterfall 22375
Boulder wall 3400
drainage, leveling, concrete pad 4000
firepit 750
coping/tile installation 1250
Coping material 2150
Tile 560
Bluestone patio 8500
Plastering/grates 6100
Auto cover 7700
Cover brackets 1109
Water 200
Fastlane Swim current 7375
Landscaping/sod 14000
Fence 7420
Total $129,438

 

[ksungela]

rats, hit the submit button too fast. Wanted to edit the list to make it easier to read. If I take the estimate a pool builder gave of $170K + the stuff he wasn't including (~$45K) That results in a savings of about $85K hiring the subs. directly and doing some of the work myself.

 

[Flatlander]

Thanks for the info, I have already adjusted my costs based on your post.
Do I have to get the Itellitouch i53S Personality Kit or can I omit and just push a few more buttons? Is there any need for a remote controller if you are using the ScreenLogic2?
Enjoy the summer!!

 

[ksungela]

Flatlander,
Sorry I didn't respond to your original post. I found the subs. by first searching for Gunite installers in my area, yellow pages, google search,(there won't be many) then calling them and telling them I'm building my own pool and asking for who they recommend for other trades, plumbing, elec. etc. Then call those guys and ask the same questions. I think you'll find its a very small community. Everyone knows everyone and you'll quickly see who's name keeps coming up for each trade.
Plan, I don't know, you can read my thread and see the sequence of the project, idea, plan, siteplan on paper, permits, excavation, rebar, rough plumbing, rough elec., gunite, tile, etc.
The only way you know its a fair price is to get multiple bids for each phase.

Its best to get contractors who "know" each other, it makes it go more smoothly and they know what the next contractor expects.
I live in a high cost of living area, so my prices above should be at the high end of the scale, although I did get some good prices for some of the work, (paid cash for some stuff, so less 10% of the regular price).

Let me know if you have anymore questions.

PS. My in-laws live in Atoka, OK. My kids just got back from a week of playing in the dirt down there. :-D

 

[Cowlvrtmom]

We're managing about 1 work day a week with the fickle weather. Everything is back filled ready for the patio. I passed the bonding inspection after potting the light niches and running a #8 bare wire (tied into the tails coming off the rebar on each side) around the perimeter 18-24" from the water's edge and 4-6" below the patio.

I’m looking for a contractor to quote and install a semi inground pool who are you using