DFW Pool Build

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davis80

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Aug 7, 2011
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We're finally super close to pulling the trigger and getting under contract.

All I'm waiting for is a breakdown on the exact equipment we are getting but here is what I have so far. Anything stand out to anyone? I need to get it in writing but the builder has mentioned possibly doing an even swap from the booster pump and cleaner to a robot. Question I have is whether or not I'll need the booster pump anyways to be able to run the water feature.

How many jets should be put into an 8x8 spa?

99' perimeter
472 sq. ft.
2 skimmers and 5 returns
8' x 8' raised spa with spillway
large tanning ledge with 2 bubblers
oklahoma flagstone
rock salt finish deck
retaining walls
400k BTU heater
Silencer blower
DE 60ft2 filter
Intelliflow variable speed pump
Booster pump
Polaris 280 cleaner
2 LED lights in pool, 1 LED light in spa
Smart phone controls and automation
Raised beam water feature
Standard tile
Grey plaster


Enough with the boring stuff, on to the pics.






























 
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The booster pump is what makes the Polaris cleaner work. I agree with ditching both and going with a robot cleaner.

How do plan to chlorinate the pool? Now would be the time to decide it you want a Saltwater pool, which I highly recommend.

The EasyTouch automation and Intelliflow VS pump work very well together.

Jim R.
 
You don't need a booster pump to run water features. My suggestion would be that you put all of the water feature plumbing on a separate loop so that the main pool pump simply drives the pool filtering and the spa. If the spa plumbing is designed correctly (and not too far from the equipment pad) air boosters are not necessary. Many PBs who have been around a long time still use air boosters in their design even though they have been made obsolete by variable speed pumps. Or, they use air boosters because they don't design the plumbing properly. There's a lot written on TFP about air boosters but you may have a hard time convincing the PB they are not necessary. At the very least, you could do without it at first and then, if the spa jets just aren't powerful enough for you, you can add the air booster later.

Back to the water features - the reason why you want them on a separate loop is because (A) you DON'T want to turn them all the time and (B) too many water features will overwhelm your pool pump and force you to run it at very high speeds just to get the flow you need. You can probably get away with the bubbler hooked up to the main pump but the scuppers (or sheer descents, whatever you want to call them) are a different matter. Open water features like scuppers and sheer descents are what your might call low-head discharge features. That is to say, those types of water features require high volume water flow but not necessarily high pressure. So in those types of features you want to use a waterfall type pump which is designed to operate at high flow but low head (low pressure). The bubbler needs higher pressure but not necessarily lots of water volume so that is why I say it can probably remain on the main loop.

+1 for the SWG recommendation.

And, as is my personal opinion and a soap box I am always ready to stand on, you should get yourself a dedicated vacuum line for manual vacuuming. Dedicated vacuum lines are often used in conjunction with suction-side cleaners BUT even if you don't use a suction cleaner, having the port available for hooking up a vacuum hose and doing some manual vacuuming is really convenient. You will hear a lot of hype about how, once you own a robot, you will never have to vacuum manually again. While that might be true in certain pool layouts, your layout has a sufficient enough complexity that a robot is not always going to get every nook and cranny. As well, if you have a period of high debris (like fall leaves or some such time), then any automatic cleaner, be it pressure cleaner, robot or suction cleaner, will get easily overwhelmed. A dedicated vacuum line is cheap and easy to add to a design BEFORE your pool is built. It is impossible to add it later and, at that point, your only option is to use the skimmer for hooking up a manual vacuum.

And finally, I know it's just digital mock up BUT the last thing you ever want near your pool for landscaping is the Pampas grass (ornamental grass). It will mess your pool up. You want to keep the landscaping near you pool to things that have very slow growth, minimal flowering and definitely NOT deciduous. Otherwise, your pool will become the waste container for all the landscape debris that is generated each season....
 
JoyfulNoise said:
And, as is my personal opinion and a soap box I am always ready to stand on, you should get yourself a dedicated vacuum line for manual vacuuming. Dedicated vacuum lines are often used in conjunction with suction-side cleaners BUT even if you don't use a suction cleaner, having the port available for hooking up a vacuum hose and doing some manual vacuuming is really convenient. You will hear a lot of hype about how, once you own a robot, you will never have to vacuum manually again. While that might be true in certain pool layouts, your layout has a sufficient enough complexity that a robot is not always going to get every nook and cranny. As well, if you have a period of high debris (like fall leaves or some such time), then any automatic cleaner, be it pressure cleaner, robot or suction cleaner, will get easily overwhelmed. A dedicated vacuum line is cheap and easy to add to a design BEFORE your pool is built. It is impossible to add it later and, at that point, your only option is to use the skimmer for hooking up a manual vacuum.
Click to expand...

Matt-- I've seen your note re: dedicated vacuum line in other threads and have made note of it to go over with my PB. Do you recommend doing that even if we already are doing a suction-side cleaner?
 
darin.brown said:
Matt-- I've seen your note re: dedicated vacuum line in other threads and have made note of it to go over with my PB. Do you recommend doing that even if we already are doing a suction-side cleaner?
Click to expand...

If you already have a suction side cleaner in your build, then I would certainly add a dedicated vacuum port as opposed to hooking up to the skimmer. When you hook it up to the skimmer, you just make it so that you can only operate the suction cleaner or the skimmer, but not both. I believe there are adaptors out there that try to fix this problem by splitting the flow inside the skimmer so that you can have both going, but it's a kludge at best.

If you have a suction-side cleaner in your build plan, then I would always recommend a separate, dedicated vacuum port to run it from that home-run's right back to the equipment pad and uses a Jandy style shut-off valve to control the flow. DO NOT allow the PB to put a dedicated vacuum line in series with the skimmer or else you'll get lousy suction flow.
 
Plumbing and Steel started and finished April 9, 2016. One funny thing is that we caught one of the plumbers putting my propane tank back in the grill since theirs ran out. I will never forget his smile and insistence that it was OK. :D

Couple days later the pool builder brought me a nice refilled tank and apologized for it.

Here are the pics.


































It's kind of hard to see it in this photo but they left steel out of the corner since it's the way the bench was shown on the drawings apparently from a bug in the software. The builder and I caught it and the steel was continued in the corner by the spillway for the spa bench to wrap all the way around.



 
And after passing inspection, gunite was shot April 13, 2016. I had to water for a few days before the rains really hit DFW this weekend and we now have water up to the floor level of the table area.













































 
Wow! Love the design. At least with all the rain you don't have to worry about keeping the shell wet for the curing stage. This rain is killing me. It's been 11 days with 0 progress. At the decking and electrical stage. I'm just ready to get my backyard put back together.
 

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Electrical is happening today. Tile and coping guys are backed up with all the rain and I don't have a date for them yet.

How did they attach your table top to the pedestal in your pool? Ours will be a 42" square of 2" leuders and I'm nervous that if it ever lets loose someone could lose a toe in the pool.
 
Here's a shot of it with a bunch of rain water.




Electrical guys wrapped up last Friday and the tile and coping guys got started but aren't the fastest crew. They got the water line tile set in the pool and that was it Friday. Saturday was wasted since one of the guys was having a baby.





Here's the table top



- - - Updated - - -

And here's where they wrapped up last night. Hopefully they can finish all the coping today and get the spa tile work done.









 
kimkats said:
LOL on them not being the fastest workers BUT they are "artist with a big saw" so be glad they are taking their time to do a good job.

Kim:cat:
Click to expand...

Understand completely, they did an awesome job. Just made the comment since our last pool the tile and coping was all done in one day.

- - - Updated - - -

Yesterday was a busy day with a nice surprise when we got home.

Tile and coping was finished.



The spa came out fantastic. These pics were after dusk so I'll try and get a better pic tonight when I get home.



 
Big surprise was that the decking was all formed up.

There's some tweaks that need made since the forming crew screwed up but it should all be fixed today. Hoping for a pour first thing in the morning tomorrow.









 

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