Central Florida Build need some help picking options

[Joshwl2003]

So we have been meeting with pool builders like crazy and think we have settled and design and want some feedback on upgrades and finishes we have selected.

The specs 34x16 pool with spa and screen enclosed. 1230 feet of concrete decking plus we have another 225 sqft of covered patio space already. We are extending the roof 8 feet with the hopes of one day having an out door kitchen in our space.

The fun stuff:

1. Massive over flow on the spa like 8 feet
2. Raised bond beam across the back by the spa
3. Travertine Cooping for the pool and spa.
   1. How slippery can we expect this to be?
   2. How much fading can we expect over time? We know Florida Sun will do a number of flagstone wondering what peoples experience is with travertine. If its going to fade or look terrible in a few years not so sure it worth the $$$$ over concrete
4. 2 water falls or possibly bowls
   1. Thinking about possibly asking about fire bowls. How do those work? Does each one need its own propane tank? Could they be lite via the automation system.
   2. How much ambiance can we expect this type of feature to add
   3. How much extra work will this make keeping the tiles clean
5. Sun shelf because it seems like a good idea. Its only 50sq feet is this large enough for some loungers?

The mechnaicals

1. Jandy tru clear salt system
2. Jandy JE2500 heater
3. Water feature pump
4. Jandy Pump
5. CS Cartridge filter
6. Iaqualink RS 8 automation
   1. We asked for this upgrade from a RS 4 what should we be able to control?
7. Coloring changing spectrum 360 light
8. Spa and sun shelf light

 

[Joshwl2003]

Bump

 

[NCMike]

Im new to this also but I have done a lot of research so I will try to answer some questions or give you my opinion in bold below.


So we have been meeting with pool builders like crazy and think we have settled and design and want some feedback on upgrades and finishes we have selected.

The specs 34x16 pool with spa and screen enclosed. 1230 feet of concrete decking plus we have another 225 sqft of covered patio space already. We are extending the roof 8 feet with the hopes of one day having an out door kitchen in our space.

The fun stuff:

1. Massive over flow on the spa like 8 feet
2. Raised bond beam across the back by the spa
3. Travertine Cooping for the pool and spa.
   1. How slippery can we expect this to be? Any surface will be "slippery" when wet. I find my travertine to be less slippery than stamped concrete. I wouldnt expect to slip just stepping in and out of the pool and spa.
   2. How much fading can we expect over time? We know Florida Sun will do a number of flagstone wondering what peoples experience is with travertine. If its going to fade or look terrible in a few years not so sure it worth the $$$$ over concrete. Can't say with this. Most people on here say flagstone is a softer matieral than travertine but I don't recall anyone talking about fading. My travertine is actaully darker now than when installed due to staining during the build from dirt and mud.
4. 2 water falls or possibly bowls
   1. Thinking about possibly asking about fire bowls. How do those work? Does each one need its own propane tank? Could they be lite via the automation system. Depends on how your builder installs them. Mine will be linked to my Jandy Aqualink and can be turned on through the app. Each of my bowls are run off the same 300 gallon propane tank I have buried in my yard. That same tank runs my hot water heater and gas cooktop.
   2. How much ambiance can we expect this type of feature to add. Fire bowls? I hope a lot. My build should be wrapping up soon so hopefully I will get to use mine in the next few weeks. Most comments on the forums seem to say that they are a neat party trick and most don't use them much after the newness wears off. I would probably do without them if I could go back in time.
   3. How much extra work will this make keeping the tiles clean. Im not sure what you think would cause extra cleaning on tiles. Water falls and fire bowls shouldn't add anything extra to cleaning if your water is balanced properly. My brother in law has calcium build up on his tiles under his waterfall but this is due to him not properly maintaining his pool and paying a pool company to do it.
5. Sun shelf because it seems like a good idea. Its only 50sq feet is this large enough for some loungers? Your pictures from the design software should all be to scale. Looking at the size of the lounge chairs in the pictures and the size of your sun shelf I would say NO, you cannot fit a lounger on it. You just need to confirm the dimensions of it with the designer and see if you have room.

The mechnaicals

1. Jandy tru clear salt system
2. Jandy JE2500 heater
3. Water feature pump
4. Jandy Pump
5. CS Cartridge filter Get the largest cartridge filter availible if you can afford it.
6. Iaqualink RS 8 automation
   1. We asked for this upgrade from a RS 4 what should we be able to control? You should be able to control everything with it. Ask your builder this question, its up to them to wire everything up. All pumps, spas, pool lights, and heater, fire bowls, and waterfalls should work with it. You can even add landscape lighting to it and Polaris robots can be controlled from the aqualink app.
7. Coloring changing spectrum 360 light
8. Spa and sun shelf light

 

[SchubeyDew]

Bump.

In the same boat here about a year later in Central Florida. Curious what you went with for fire bowls and water features.

 

[Joshwl2003]

Bump.

In the same boat here about a year later in Central Florida. Curious what you went with for fire bowls and water features.

We are just about to start the build process. Some work stuff delayed us. We are going with color changing waterfalls. Fire Bowls sounded fantastic but each one, with out water was $2500 plus gas hookup and the need for a propane tank. If we wanted water they were $5000 each. Far too expensive for a small bit of gain.

 

[SchubeyDew]

We are just about to start the build process. Some work stuff delayed us. We are going with color changing waterfalls. Fire Bowls sounded fantastic but each one, with out water was $2500 plus gas hookup and the need for a propane tank. If we wanted water they were $5000 each. Far too expensive for a small bit of gain.

Thanks for the update. I’m still in the shopping phase and have had most PB tell me that fire bowls were very expensive so I had almost ruled them out. Then today, a PB told me he can do them for $600/ea so it’s back on the table. Fortunately I have have natural gas. Also still consider the Pentair Magic Bowls. Are you doing something like that or more of a color changing sheer waterfall?

 

[Joshwl2003]

I think color changing sheers. We considered Magic bowls but were a bit worried kids might try and do some crazy stuff with them sitting on deck level.