DIY inground kits

[dawgs25]

First time poster here. To keep a long story short, wife and I bought a foreclosed house 3 years ago. The house has an inground pool made out of cinder block, of which was built sometime in the mid 70's and was in bad shape and severely neglected (not to mention built below grade and not in an ideal location). We decided to bite the bullet and attempt to revitalize it. We finally settled (after many failed attempts of getting anyone to even look at it) on having a family friend and acquaintance prep and paint it with epoxy paint. Needless to say, we weren't thrilled with his work to begin with, and it already has a huge crack in the joint of the top row.

Now we are right back to where we started. After some quick research and looking through my intheswim catalog, I realized that you can purchase IG pool kit. I've been in contact with poolproducts and poolwarehouse and have received quotes from both. I also have looked through royalswimmingpools website.

Several people have posted about their experiences with these kits and I've seen mixed reviews. I realize that it is quite the project to do on your own, however, I have a family member who can excavate the site and do the concrete work (they are subcontracted to do the concrete work for a local pool installer). I also have coworkers/friends who are electricians and plumbers.

Is the quality of these kits up to snuff with what you would purchase from a local pool dealer? I was warned to be very careful of online kits (by the local dealer). Is he trying to scare me because he isn't getting my business? They charge upwards of 30K for what I'm getting quotes for 5-7K. Am I being naïve to think that this seems to simple and easy to pass up with the help and cheap/free labor I have available? Does anyone have experience with the companies listed above?

sorry for such a long post, but my head is spinning 100 MPH.

 

[JasonLion]

Welcome to TFP!

Very little about this kind of project is "simple and easy". Building an in-ground pool is a huge project that will take a lot of work and require lots of learning along the way. That said, it does sound like you could be the kind of person who can take on this kind of project. It is lots of hard work, but you can save an amazing amount of money.

It is more difficult to know what you are getting on the Internet. There are some wonderful internet sellers and there are some scams. Check reviews and if at all possible get references and check them. As long as you go with reputable sellers you can save huge amounts of money compared to buying locally and often find the exact same product (or better). The only inherent problem is that when a part is missing, which happens often enough (locally and Internet), it may take a couple of days to get shipped, rather than just popping over to the store to pick it up. This kind of project often takes months anyway, so that isn't usually a big problem.

 

[ssgumby]

I did a DIY IG. I used poolproducts.com, they were good to work with and they provided me with top quality stuff. Ill be honest, my install is way more professional that the local professional installs. With the local guys, you get flex pvc, cheap liner, low end equipment. I got all high end stuff, put in 2" rigid pvc, hand picked custom liner, salt water cell, automation, color logic led lighting, and I was $15k cheaper total cost than local guys.

 

[Yev]

So i seriously considered putting in my own DIY kit, but ultimately opted for a PB to do it for me. I think that my PB basically ordered a kit just the same way that I would have, but just added extras for the things I wanted custom.

I ultimately decided against doing it myself for the sole reason that if I got stuck, I wasn't sure what I would do. I have built built a deck, finished a basement, worked on cars, and whenever I get stuck, I just head down to a local shop, and pick the brain of someone who really knew what to do. My worry was if I got to a place with the kit where I didn't know what to do, then what would be my resources to get unstuck?

After having my pool installed, I have a couple of additional thoughts.

First, related to my getting stuck worries, I was talking to various sub contractors who worked on my pool, and mentioned my story of thinking about doing it on my own. As they already had my money, I felt like there were giving honest feedback, and they all said the same basic thing. once every couple of years they get an email from someone who tried to go DIY but got stuck, and they refuse to touch the project, because it gets into a liability thing, where they don't want to work with stuff that you may have already broken or done wrong.

Second, and this might not be the case with all PBs, but my PB was willing to give me opinions on what works well, what doesn't, what looks good, what doesn't, etc. There is a lot of knowledge with experience, and you might save yourself some frustration if you get that.

 

[ssgumby]

So i seriously considered putting in my own DIY kit, but ultimately opted for a PB to do it for me. I think that my PB basically ordered a kit just the same way that I would have, but just added extras for the things I wanted custom.

I ultimately decided against doing it myself for the sole reason that if I got stuck, I wasn't sure what I would do. I have built built a deck, finished a basement, worked on cars, and whenever I get stuck, I just head down to a local shop, and pick the brain of someone who really knew what to do. My worry was if I got to a place with the kit where I didn't know what to do, then what would be my resources to get unstuck?

After having my pool installed, I have a couple of additional thoughts.

First, related to my getting stuck worries, I was talking to various sub contractors who worked on my pool, and mentioned my story of thinking about doing it on my own. As they already had my money, I felt like there were giving honest feedback, and they all said the same basic thing. once every couple of years they get an email from someone who tried to go DIY but got stuck, and they refuse to touch the project, because it gets into a liability thing, where they don't want to work with stuff that you may have already broken or done wrong.

Second, and this might not be the case with all PBs, but my PB was willing to give me opinions on what works well, what doesn't, what looks good, what doesn't, etc. There is a lot of knowledge with experience, and you might save yourself some frustration if you get that.

With regards to getting stuck, I had the same fears. Answers came from poolproducts.com, they were very quick and helpful. Answers came from here, TFP. I got stuck on places of "what the heck is this"? Answered right here.

I agree PB will offer possibly more insight with their knowledge, the issue is I think the PB's way over inflate prices.

dawgs25 - If you decide to DIY, I would be willing to help with answers. PM me and i can give you my email.