Florida Build - Final Critiques Welcome!!

[spd500]

Ours is supposed to be 30 days from excavation! I couldn't imagine it taking until Christmas, I would go crazy with our yard torn up for that long

 

[matthewsunshineflorida]

Ours is supposed to be 30 days from excavation! I couldn't imagine it taking until Christmas, I would go crazy with our yard torn up for that long

That's awesome!! In Tampa, the market for pools has absolutely exploded so the 4 companies on our short list all said realistically they're expecting 4-5 or even as late as 6 months from signing to swimming. The bottleneck right now is supposedly permitting, excavation, plumbing, and finish applicators (for Wet Edge or Pebble Tec) - apparently there's hardly any backup for pavers/screen/gunite/electric/equipment. So I'm not really sure what to expect. Once we actually dig, the contract allows them to take up to 90 working days (4.5 months), but they expect it to take more like 8-12 weeks.

Most importantly, I don't want them to hire one off crews just to meet demand - that's what makes me the most nervous. I want the work to be done well even if I have to wait. Fortunately, I work from home and will have cameras set up for timelapse and accountability - and one of the project managers is a mutual friend so I'm hoping they'll make especially sure it's done correctly... but I'll be double checking lol

 

[spd500]

Here in Houston you can't swing a stick without hitting a pool builder!! We have tons of them, but they are all backed up too. We have been waiting our turn to get started for about 6 weeks, but once they start we are supposed to have all of the different crews scheduled to be here one after another for each step. The one thing that we all have to consider is hurricane season, we are getting a tropical storm over the weekend and our builder told me today that will push me to the week of 8/3 to start digging.

 

[spd500]

My wife and I also both work from home and we will be watching the cameras to make sure they are doing what they need to be doing. I may move my office to the outdoor kitchen so I can keep an eye on progress, lol.

 

[kimkats]

What you do is make a list of "jobs" instead of a time line. That way you are not disappointed when it takes longer.

I will be here the whole way!!! You are fun to work with!

 

[spd500]

What you do is make a list of "jobs" instead of a time line. That way you are not disappointed when it takes longer.

I will be here the whole way!!! You are fun to work with!

Lol, my wife and I are both in Project Management, we know how to break it down into steps and plan the critical path as well as anyone. My wife said she feels bad for the PB having to deal with building a pool for me , lol.

 

[bmoreswim]

Lol, my wife and I are both in Project Management, we know how to break it down into steps and plan the critical path as well as anyone. My wife said she feels bad for the PB having to deal with building a pool for me , lol.

Yes, but you’ll also save them money in all likelihood by finding issues quickly. So he’ll thank you later. Mind did.

 

[Rattus Suffocatus]

Lol, my wife and I are both in Project Management

I am so sorry. I do feel for you. There is a reason I stuck with technical work despite being top of my class when I did my MBA/Honors (in Florida even): I make many exceptions, but as a rule I hate people.

I might consider treating adults like children again after I get rid of my teenagers, though. I might have to.

Good luck on managing people that make children look good, IMHO. Contractors....

 

[matthewsunshineflorida]

I make many exceptions, but as a rule I hate people.

Funniest thing I've read today, I think we can all relate sometimes lol

 

[spd500]

I make many exceptions, but as a rule I hate people.

That is one of the main reasons we are building a pool in our own backyard!! We could use one of the HOA run pools, or one of the pools at the health club, but they all have people in them. We really don't like people and would prefer to spend our relaxing time alone with our dogs

 

[matthewsunshineflorida]

We are supposed to dig in about a month and have been very fortunate to have an excellent August/September that gives us more financial flexibility to make any changes that we think would be valuable long term - so I wanted to see if any of the experts have any suggestions while we're still at a place where we can upgrade without any fees. Here's our latest render but keep in mind we have different materials/furniture and we slightly sized up the deck on the side and the spillover, but the shape is accurate:

Here's what we're thinking for the back wall: A 6” (single) row of Mastertile MASISOSAR MOS1X2 for then a row of Mastertile MASISOSAR 6 with 3 evenly spaced decorative tiles MASISOSAR DECO then another 6 inches of the Mastertile MASISOSAR MOS1X2


Here's our 2d layout with where/how we want to place furniture:


Here's our equipment list:

• Signature Matrix Cadet Blue
• IntelliCenter IC40
• Pentair 3hp Intelliflo
• Pentair MasterTemp 400k natural gas heater
• Clean and Clear Plus 420sqft four cartridge filter
• 1hp Spa Blower for a 6.5x7 spa with 6 jets
• 2x Microbrites at the bump outs facing away from the house, 1 in spa
• 10' half moon sunshelf 10-12" deep with bubbler and umbrella sleeve
• Umbrella sleeve on the middle bench and spa bench
• 1325sqft of Flagstone Panorama Demi in Cream/Beige/Charcoal with Cream coping
• Screen enclosure, 10ft walls, mansard, 18x14 as all our neighbors have had no bug issues with theirs
• Grey fittings inside, beige outside
• Sport pool, 3.5' by stairs to 5.5' middle, 4' right side
• Channel main drains
• NDS Mini Drain, larger drain with removable top for cleaning
• Banding tile on all benches, stairs, sunshelf, spa via the Mastertile MASISOSAR MOS1X2
• Auto fill and overflow

Things I'm doing before/during/after:

• Areca privacy palms with small plants all the way down the side and back of fence (we have a 4' gap between the screen and the fence)
• Landscape lighting and irrigation throughout, with pot sprayers for potted plants in the corners inside the enclosure
• Rock speakers in the back right and left of the pool as well as in the front ceiling under the patio roof
• LED strip lights in a diffuser channel down each vertical enclosure support
• Bar with storage and mini fridges on the left, matching cabinet granite bar top with seating in the middle
• Sectional with fire table on the right
• Dedicated GFCI outlets where the columns are for vacuum, above the TVs, and for two mini fridges at the bar

Other things that have occurred to me to look into:
1) LED Bubbler on the sunshelf - I just see SO many problems that these leak in 2 years and are expensive to replace. Also larger and less comfortable to walk over?
2) Dedicated 3hp spa pump - So we can run the pool/waterfall/bubbler at the same time as spa. This is $2k to add though, and I see it for under $1k which means $1k for labor but a 3/4hp is $750 out of which only $350 is labor so this feels like a rip off. Easy to add later?
3) Pentair IntelliValve - So we can turn off the waterfall/bubbler to prevent the PH from rising when not in use. They want $400 so a $200 markup - worth it or simple enough to do myself later?
4) Faux stone back wall instead of the tile - Concern is it seems to always get deposits on it that are hard to clean, also wonder if it would look more bland blending into the pavers vs something that pops
5) Glass tile - I just see so many problems with these popping out and cracking in friends pools and online. So beautiful though, but seems like a true gamble especially in scorching sun florida with 40 degree swings a few times a year.
6) Epoxy grout? Worth it even if we have porcelain?
7) Bigger sunshelf? Less space to walk around to the fire pit though.
8) Taller enclosure? 10ft walls should give us 16ft or so, good enough?
9) Natural gas line to the gas fire by the sectional - would cost a couple grand though, probably just refill propane?
10) Three 2ft back waterfalls instead of the one 3ft fall? Two fountains/scuppers on the sides with the waterfall in the middle? Would require a dedicated feature pump, but then we wouldn't need the spa pump.
11) Smoother finish than the signature matrix, particularly in the spa, only a couple thousand to go to Primera Stone. However, I prefer the look and logical longevity of the fully exposed aggregate vs having so much plaster exposed. I'm thinking the large/small rocks of the signature matrix provide much more strength (like how concrete is made), and wouldn't be nearly as hard as the larger pebble tecs. Felt the sample and seemed totally fine.


Just got off a really busy work time, so now I'm feeling pretty antsy and want to see this sucker get done and get done as well as we possibly can make it!! Thanks all!

 

[poolnoobgrandma]

We've lived with our Tampa Bay (Pinellas side) pool for 15 months now. Trouble free, not maintenance free... But what's made it low maintenance is the screen enclosure, SWCG, and robot. I would add sleeves for handrails even if you don't need the handrails now. We're going to be adding those pretty soon. I like your layout, but it's worked out for us to have the spa right next to the sun shelf. A lot of times we have folks sitting on the sun shelf with their feet in the water and sitting in the spa, and conversations going on between them. You seem to have gotten a great price for your design. Ours was about $7,000 higher for just about the same stuff, and the contract was written in 2018.
We have different height seats in our spa, and different height jets as well. We really like that and are glad we did it.
It looks like your sitting ledge is opposite the spa and sun shelf. Again I like having various places where people can be sitting and doing different things but still chatting. Ours is a pretty much social pool along with some sports when the grown sons come over and a lot of swimming with our little grandson
All that said, all that matters is that YOU love it!
Good luck with your build. Take lots of pictures, and keep those webcams running!

 

[matthewsunshineflorida]

First of all I love that tile - seems similar to the one we picked!

But what's made it low maintenance is the screen enclosure, SWCG, and robot.

That's encouraging to hear! What robot did you get?

I like your layout, but it's worked out for us to have the spa right next to the sun shelf. A lot of times we have folks sitting on the sun shelf with their feet in the water and sitting in the spa, and conversations going on between them.

We actually separated the spaces intentionally to create "pockets" of hangout so that, for instance, kids could be in the sunshelf with adults in the spa, another group at the sectional, people watching TV at the bar, while feeling separated... but I could definitely see how having them next to each other would create a nice open feel too whereas we will have to yell over a wall from the spa to the sunshelf lol

You seem to have gotten a great price for your design. Ours was about $7,000 higher for just about the same stuff, and the contract was written in 2018.
We have different height seats in our spa, and different height jets as well. We really like that and are glad we did it.

Yea we came in right at $80k and obviously that's before our furniture, landscaping, lighting, electrical, granite bar, and the two fire pits which I think I can DIY for $6k to $10k depending on some variables. We got tons of quotes from $75k to $97k and went with the company where we have a connection to the owner through a friend. Looks like you have travertine though which might make some of that difference too - looks great!!

It looks like your sitting ledge is opposite the spa and sun shelf. Again I like having various places where people can be sitting and doing different things but still chatting. Ours is a pretty much social pool along with some sports

That was actually a code requirement apparently. We had to have a bench in the deep end which is the center for ours - I'm not thrilled that it might feel natural for a kid to jump into the water there but supposedly the government believes it is safer *eye roll*. But we put tile banding on it and I'm sure once kids are acquainted with the pool they'll know to jump in at the bump outs.

Anything you'd do differently if you could do it again? Or anything that was a "must" other than the seating that you haven't seen in our setup yet? How many jets did you do in your spa? We only have 6 "therapy" (spinning or something) jets for a 6.5x7 oval, basically one per person is probably how it will end up.

 

[poolnoobgrandma]

First of all I love that tile - seems similar to the one we picked!


That's encouraging to hear! What robot did you get?


We actually separated the spaces intentionally to create "pockets" of hangout so that, for instance, kids could be in the sunshelf with adults in the spa, another group at the sectional, people watching TV at the bar, while feeling separated... but I could definitely see how having them next to each other would create a nice open feel too whereas we will have to yell over a wall from the spa to the sunshelf lol


Yea we came in right at $80k and obviously that's before our furniture, landscaping, lighting, electrical, granite bar, and the two fire pits which I think I can DIY for $6k to $10k depending on some variables. We got tons of quotes from $75k to $97k and went with the company where we have a connection to the owner through a friend.


That was actually a code requirement apparently. We had to have a bench in the deep end which is the center for ours - I'm not thrilled that it might feel natural for a kid to jump into the water there but supposedly the government believes it is safer *eye roll*. But we put tile banding on it and I'm sure once kids are acquainted with the pool they'll know to jump in at the bump outs. Same goal as you though - I'm thinking the two shallow ends will split up hangout spots sort of like the spa/sunshelf and the bench might be a spot for kids to play off of or maybe for a couple adults to sit I guess.

Anything you'd do differently if you could do it again? Or anything that was a "must" other than the seating that you haven't seen in our setup yet? How many jets did you do in your spa? We only have 6 "therapy" (spinning or something) jets for a 6.5x7 oval, basically one per person is probably how it will end up.

Thanks! We like the tile, too! we got the Dolphin S200 from Marina's.

We have a short ledge in the deep end for the required swim out, and an L shaped ledge along the spa/sunshelf and one side of the shallow end.

We added 2 jets for 8 total. Our spa is just under 8x8.

We forgot to plumb for a future potential slide. Right now we just use a little tykes.
I wish we had more electrical outlets.
If you go with pebble, make sure you ask what they do to make it as smooth as possible. Ours is rough on some edges. I was traveling for much of the late stages of the build, and couldn't check it out.

There was something else that flitted through my mind, but it's gone. If it flits back in I'll let you know.

I remembered!! I wish we had an auto drain! Auto fill is less important.. we've only had to add water a few times, but oh, the rain!

 

[matthewsunshineflorida]

We added 2 jets for 8 total. Our spa is just under 8x8.

If you go with pebble, make sure you ask what they do to make it as smooth as possible. Ours is rough on some edges. I was traveling for much of the late stages of the build, and couldn't check it out.

Was that a good number of jets for you? They definitely charge a bit for each jet so I don't want to do it for no reason if each person can only realistically be under one jet, but if you have a particular layout like one high and one low for certain seats - could be interesting!

So that's the other thing I'm worried about is the pebble surface. We stuck with the Signature Matrix in Cadet Blue more for the look and less exposed plaster of unpolished aggregate (hopefully more long term chemical resistance and less risk of mottling) - and we both felt like the small/large blend will keep it from feeling too harsh *fingers crossed*. My main concern is sitting in the spa for long periods of time and hoping you don't get little rock bumps on your rear end. I have considered going to the Primera Stone (where they grind it down and polish it) - it's a couple grand more but my main concern is the longevity of having so much less aggregate exposed and the loss of the visual depth of the pebbles.

Signature Matrix seemed similar feeling to Pebblesheen to me when we tested them - you feel like it's overall too raw or just certain corners could have been smoothed out better?