Concrete Pier vs Helical vs Key Beam

[Cerealbars]

Hello All,

I'm about to close on a pool tomorrow. I have two bids that i will chose from, one of the them has concrete piers and the other has a Key Beam. I live in Garland Texas and my home backs up to Lake Ray Hubbard (see photos attached). The price of the concrete piers is 11K and the price of the Key Beam is 5K. Our pool will be 35x20 with 93 perimeter sq feet. Both company's will use #4 rebar and build walls that are 9" with 12" on the circular parts above ground. The ground is fill dirt that is 21 years old from when the home was built in 1999. Our home really hasn't moved, but that is because it has piers going down 40 feet. Has anyone else faced this delima and how did you deal with it?

Also one company say they will use 3,000 PSI for the shell and the other says 4,000 PSI - does that even matter? Thank you for your guidance TFP members!

 

[JamesW]

You really need a professional engineer to specify the requirements.

Are you going to do a vanishing edge?

You have a good location for a vanishing edge.

 

[Cerealbars]

Hello Everyone,

Here is the equipment list by the two vendors i will choose from. What are your thoughts and is there anything I should stay away from/swap out/updgrade to a different brand? All this is new to me so any help would be greatly appreciated. Both vendors are priced very well, i just don't know which to choose from. Vendor 1 will use a Key Beam ($5K) vs Vendor 2 ($10.5K) that will put in 12 concrete piers to hold the pool in place. I live on hill that was filled in with fill dirt to build the house so i definitely think it's smart to do so. I just don't know what's a better option. The perimeter of the pool will be approximately 93ft depths will be 3.6/5/4.6 and the sq footage will be 527 and gallons 12,373.

Vendor 1

Intellicenter Control for pool & Spa (pentair Best) PF1112T 1 2,769.00 $2,769.00
Mastertemp Heater 400k BTU Natural Gas 460736 1 2,929.88 $2,929.88
IntelliFlo Pump Variable Speed/Flow VSF O11056 1 1,532.89 $1,532.89
Clean & Clear Plus 420sf Cartrdge Filter CCP420 160301 1 1,088.53 $1,088.53
Pentair Racer Cleaner 1 705.49 $705.49
Pentair 3/4 hp Booster Pump LA01N 1 405.91 $405.91
Salt Cell R171096 1 2,200.00 $2,200.00
Pentair IntelliBrite 5G Color LED Pool 100' cord 601002 3 907.29 $2,721.88
Start up items: pole,test kit,net,brush 1 165.88 $165.88

Total 15,511.65


Vendor 2
JDY Purelink standard power center 6613AP JC49 1 915.94 $915.94
RS-PS6 Pool/Spa combo RS-PS6 JC78 1 1,619.95 $1,619.95
iAqualink for new pools IQ20-A JC103 1 451.62 $451.62
Jdy Heater 400 BTU JXI Natural Gas JXI400NK TL40JN 1 3,190.41 $3,190.41
Jandy E Pump 2.0HP Var. Speed VSSHP270AUT JD67 1 1,559.60 $1,559.60
Jandy 460 cartridge filter CV460 JD23 1 1,186.87 $1,186.87
Polaris 280 Vac Sweep w/pump White PLS280 1 1,243.14 $1,243.14
PureLink Cell Kit 14 blade PLC1400 AP15 1 921.01 $921.01
Jdy Color LED Spa light 100' cord CSHVLEDS100 LT333 2 779.77 $1,559.54
Jdy Color LED Pool light 100' cord CPHVLEDS100 LT334 1 1,009.29 $1,009.29
Polaris QT blower 1.5 HP 1-470-02 AZ24 1 347.28 $347.28
Case of Muratic Acid 00001-L 4012 1 35.11 $35.11
NuClo 25lb bucket of Chlorine Tabs 1267 1267 1 87.38 $87.38
Salt 40 lbs 8368 SALTT 10 11.83 $118.30
Start up itemsole,test kit,net,brush 1 177.05 $177.05
Total $14,422.50

 

[kimkats]

Hi there! That is a pretty house and yard you have there!

I am going to ping a couple of people that may have some input about the two methods of securing the pool in that yard.

@bdavis466 @jimmythegreek

 

[Texas Splash]

Vendor 1:
- Consider omitting the booster pump & cleaner to get your own robot cleaner. Those are the latest craze.
- That Salt Cell R171096? I'm not pulling it up on Google except under a Pentair Rainbow Chlorinator. Do you have any size info on the SWG?
Vendor 2:
- Like above, if you go robot, the Polaris cleaner is not required.
- Some serious mark-ups on the chemicals. I don't like when a vendor does that. A 2-pk of muriatic acid should be $15 or less; chlorine tabs not even required because you'll have a salt cell (manually chlorinate with bleach the first 30 days); salt you can get yourself as well much cheaper; and remember the test kits they provide are very basic. You'll still need your own TF-100 or Taylor K-2006C.

I can't answer the pier concerns because I'm not an engineering expert in that field. I had some foundation work done on our home. Five steel piers down to 40 ft or more at about $3K I believe. But your situation is much different. Maybe @bdavis466 can give you more to go on for piers.

Good luck!

 

[jimmythegreek]

Helicols are usually the cheapest. They all have their place and it's up to the engineer and soil analysis on what is best to use. Is the pool company just proposing at this point or did the engineer actually visit the site and make the call on specs? If you have 40ft of piling supporting the house the pool is gonna be tricky. You probably also have a very high water table and yucky native soil so that's gonna play a huge part on the specs and install. Be prepared for worst case scenarios as they start digging and building sounds like a tough site build

 

[Cerealbars]

You really need a professional engineer to specify the requirements.

Are you going to do a vanishing edge?

You have a good location for a vanishing edge.

the vanashing edge is out of my budget, unfortunately.

 

[Cerealbars]

Helicols are usually the cheapest. They all have their place and it's up to the engineer and soil analysis on what is best to use. Is the pool company just proposing at this point or did the engineer actually visit the site and make the call on specs? If you have 40ft of piling supporting the house the pool is gonna be tricky. You probably also have a very high water table and yucky native soil so that's gonna play a huge part on the specs and install. Be prepared for worst case scenarios as they start digging and building sounds like a tough site build

Yeah i think it's going to be an interesting build.

 

[JamesW]

the vanashing edge is out of my budget, unfortunately.

Ok, investing in the foundation is critical to preventing future problems. So, definitely get a good engineer to specify the requirements.

 

[jimmythegreek]

I would also speak directly with the engineer and over build it. Doesnt cost much more to build the whole shell at 10-12 inches and beef it all up. Make sure they make provisions for hydrostatic pressure and water evacuation

 

[Cerealbars]

I would also speak directly with the engineer and over build it. Doesnt cost much more to build the whole shell at 10-12 inches and beef it all up. Make sure they make provisions for hydrostatic pressure and water evacuation

this is an excellent suggestion, thank you.