Happy New Year. Phoenix, AZ build

[FinallySavedUp]

Hi all,

After years of set backs, we have finally taken the plunge and began our build.

Doing an owner/builder with a subcontractor managing the build.

Here are our specs:

Specs:
Freeform pool
29’6” x 23’6” with 6’ Baja Step and Therapy Jets
11,500 Gallons
Depth: 3.5’ x 5’ x 3.5’

Acrylic Decking
Pebble Sheen finish

Equipment:
Pentair Intelliflo VSF Pump
Pentair Quad 60 DE Filter
Pentair Intellibrite 5G LED Color Changing Pool Light
Pentair Intellibrite 5G LED Color Changing Spa Light
Zodiac Barracuda MX-8 cleaner
Pentair EasyTouch PSL4
Pentair Screenlogic2
Aquacal Heat/Cool pump (found a used one for steal, but will have installed post build since wasn’t a part of plan)

Timeline:
November 21: Received approved permit!

December 13: Pre-grading begins. Removing flagstone walk path, bushes and gravel

December 14: Layout sprayed

December 17th: excavation begins!

20 minutes after this picture when we left for
work, our hearts immediately sank. We get a call from our project manager that they hit a hard dig at 2’11” and would want more than double the cost to complete.

My wife and I discussed what we could do to minimize the cost increase with our project manager and we agreed that since the hardest part was in the back area of the pool that was originally slated to be the the deep end of our originally planned 3 x 4 x 5 to change it to 3.5 x 5 x 3.5. Excavation ended up taking 2 more days than scheduled so ended up paying an additional $2K. Which ended being half of what they originally slated on day 1 but still hurt...a lot

December 21: 1st phase of plumbing and rebar complete.

December 24: Electrical roughed in and easytouch panel mounted

December 26: Pre-gunite inspection passed!

Shotcrete was originally scheduled for 12/27 but the cement plant that the shotcrete company works with decided to shut down for the rest of the year

January 3: Shotcrete day!

I began watering but it is so awful cold in the desert!

We are now deciding on tiles and finishes

So here we are so far. Meant to post earlier but the little kiddos have had us busy since the holiday season began.

 

[HouseFullOfBoys]

Yay! You need to give me my just due for introducing you to Trouble Free, though.

Love,
Your Wife

 

[Flying Tivo]

The only thing that jumps out is the PSL version "Light" of the EasyTouch, if you can have the PB exchange it for the new intellicenter it is much more flexible. They also come package with a SWG system (IntelliCenter System Load Center i5P, IC40, Common Load Center (w/ Salt) -- Model Code: 5PIC40).

 

[GregInClaremont]

I have a couple of your options above in my own pool. I can get you a photo a little later if you like.

 

[FinallySavedUp]

I have a couple of your options above in my own pool. I can get you a photo a little later if you like.

Yes i would love to see that. Thank you!

 

[FinallySavedUp]

The only thing that jumps out is the PSL version "Light" of the EasyTouch, if you can have the PB exchange it for the new intellicenter it is much more flexible. They also come package with a SWG system (IntelliCenter System Load Center i5P, IC40, Common Load Center (w/ Salt) -- Model Code: 5PIC40).

I bought all of our equipment. I did my research and the PSL4 seemed to have enough of what we needed in terms of features for the price. If we want to do more down the line, I’ll definitely look to upgrade.

 

[FinallySavedUp]

Yay! You need to give me my just due for introducing you to Trouble Free, though.

Love,
Your Wife

Thank you queen

 

[Phx_Jay]

That is looking great! We are about to start our pool in Buckeye. I'm worried about it being a hard dig and costing extra money as well. I wanted to go the OB route as well but in the end decided on a PB. Has it been pretty smooth using a subcontractor to manage everything? Does it seem like the saving are going to be substantial over using a PB? We are going with the blue surf pebble tec and a tile pretty similar to the oceans 6 X 6 you have the picture of above. Keep posting the updates...we can't wait to see the finish pool!

 

[kimkats]

Yay! You need to give me my just due for introducing you to Trouble Free, though.

Love,
Your Wife

Thank you queen

LOVE IT!!! :queen:

I will talk to you about the finishes:

-plaster-I would go with the lightest plaster for a couple of reasons:
-less chance of streaking or such with the lighter colors
-may stay cooler longer in your area

-spray decking-I like the upper right and the bottom two. I don't like the upper left.

-waterline tile-BLING all of the way!!!!! I LOVE that blingy tile!!! If you do pick one of the not blingy then make sure to dig through the boxes when they get there to pick out the ugly ones to hide them so they don't get used LOL

Kim

 

[GregInClaremont]

Sorry for the delay, we went with the "Aquacool" as we wanted the closest effect of natural plaster that we could get and this color uses a white plaster base. Consider adding abalone for a nice sparkle effect in the sun. We only did half the typical amount because we were worried we wouldn't like it but we now wish we had more. The waterline tile we decided on was the "oceans blue" in your photo above. Mainly because I had some stacked rock on the raised bond beam and spa spillover and this tile had some of the brown in it. We also liked that it was a matte finish and with it's color variations, would hide scale better. After a year, we don't really have any scale to speak of so it's been a non issue.

 

[FinallySavedUp]

That is looking great! We are about to start our pool in Buckeye. I'm worried about it being a hard dig and costing extra money as well. I wanted to go the OB route as well but in the end decided on a PB. Has it been pretty smooth using a subcontractor to manage everything? Does it seem like the saving are going to be substantial over using a PB? We are going with the blue surf pebble tec and a tile pretty similar to the oceans 6 X 6 you have the picture of above. Keep posting the updates...we can't wait to see the finish pool!

Best of luck!! Yes, we weren’t expecting a hard dig since the surface looked so sandy, until they got to the 2 feet point and it got clay like. We live in the base of south Mountain and when talking to a neighbor he said he had a hard dig as well early into excavation. However there are houses that are right next to the mountain and didn’t have a hard dig at all so it’s a crapshoot but definitely have my fingers crossed for a smooth dig for your build!

With the exception of the hard dig and the excavation company being a little weird, everything has been very smooth. Our sub has gone above and beyond to make sure things stay on track even if a snag comes along. I didn’t even know plumbing and rebar we’re going to be done the same day and saw everything all set when we got back from work that day. The shotcrete going in a week later was out of anyone’s control since the cement plant decided to shut it down for the year earlier than planned (totally understandable) but they got to the house so early on Thursday to get us to the next step.

In terms of savings, definitely saving roughly 30-40% even with the hard dig surprise and fee the sub takes for managing the project. We have gotten quotes from PB’s since 2012 for much smaller pools and ended up holding off but even today, the expected price of our pool still is less. We went to BYOP a few years ago when we decided to go O/B and got our design and started getting quotes. Financing fell through and decided to save the last couple years and thought about going with a PB now that we saved enough with the design we had and the price was mind boggling. When we were recommended this sub, he has a team of contractors and the prices for each part were amazing compared to the quotes we got on our own. The only thing we could save on was equipment. Thanks to TFP, I was able to pick the equipment that worked best for us and saved about 3k from what was on our quote and sprung for the automation and Screenlogic2 with the extra savings.

 

[Phx_Jay]

Thanks for the reply! I’m really glad your OB is working well. I’m sure if I had found a good sub-contractor to help with everything I would have gone that route. I’m sure it is a great way to save money. It does seem like pool prices have gone up quite a bit. I can’t wait to see your finished pool. We are at the base of the white tanks so there are some hard digs and some are not.

 

[HouseFullOfBoys]

LOVE IT!!! :queen:

I will talk to you about the finishes:

-plaster-I would go with the lightest plaster for a couple of reasons:
-less chance of streaking or such with the lighter colors
-may stay cooler longer in your area

-spray decking-I like the upper right and the bottom two. I don't like the upper left.

-waterline tile-BLING all of the way!!!!! I LOVE that blingy tile!!! If you do pick one of the not blingy then make sure to dig through the boxes when they get there to pick out the ugly ones to hide them so they don't get used LOL

Kim

KimKats, you’re like a TFP legend. I’m totally nerding out from your reply.

 

[FinallySavedUp]

LOVE IT!!! :queen:

I will talk to you about the finishes:

-plaster-I would go with the lightest plaster for a couple of reasons:
-less chance of streaking or such with the lighter colors
-may stay cooler longer in your area

-spray decking-I like the upper right and the bottom two. I don't like the upper left.

-waterline tile-BLING all of the way!!!!! I LOVE that blingy tile!!! If you do pick one of the not blingy then make sure to dig through the boxes when they get there to pick out the ugly ones to hide them so they don't get used LOL

Kim

Thank you! We ended up picking the one on the bottom right for the spray decking. Unfortunately we found out the blingy tile was only for accents pieces to go the Bajas.

For the pool finish, we went with the white with blue beads pebble sheen.

 

[kimkats]

Who said the BLING tile is ONLY for accents??? and why??? I have a sad That will make the BLING tile stand out as a show piece for sure then!

Which water line tile did you pick out? They are all pretty so you can't go wrong. You know you will have to pick through the boxes to find the really pretty ones for the places where the eye falls and the ugly ones to hide so they will not use them.

Kim