Here we GO .. Help Me Build.. Long Island, NY

[SunnyP2000]

Hello ALL
Little Background. I joined TFP in 2013 when we first decided to build a pool but due to some financial issues we decided to wait.. 7 years later now my kids are 15 and 12 i know my kids are older and heading off to college soon but i think i can still get good use out of the pool ,my wife is a teacher and she is home all summer and i work from home 2-3 days out of the week. Unfortunately looks like everyone wants a pool this year. I live in a cul-de-sac and i have a pie shaped property. i am fortunate to have decent backyard and sideyard. Plan is to put the Pool in sideyard which gets full sun from about 8am to 5pm. I wanted to get the build done by end of the year and do pavers/coping following year. But not sure if thats possible. i have app schedule in 1 week with 3 pool companies. i want to go in with as much knowledge as possible. i have complied list of questions and what i think i should be asking for . please let me know your thoughts. i am very confused with design , not sure if i should do free form or rectangle.

Location : Long Island , NY
Pool type: In ground with vinyl liner
*** NO natural Gas on my block ** I will have no choice but to use heat pump.
- pool shape ? rectangular or free form? I am leaning towards Freeform
- concrete or steel walls? 3 builders i am getting quotes from are 1 does concrete and other 2 steel.
- bottom -vermiculite?
- 3 1/2 to 6ft-
- equipment pad setup? should i do it behind the waterfall or near my ac condesor? Please see pic
- install diverter valve with check valve before the pump suction
- 3 steps going in
- jets and return?
- 3 waterfalls
- Backfill around the pool with clean gravel
- size of plumbing pipe?

Equipment:
- pump - Jandy
- filter - Jandy (larger the better)
- heater - only option is heat pump
- SWCG - Jandy Aquapure
- lights - jandy or pentair
- automation, timers, and controls ?? jandy
- all valves should be Jandy diverter valves. No ball valves should be used.

I have included some images , last image is the pool design i am thinking.

Thanks,
SP

 

[ajw22]

• Pool type: In ground with vinyl liner
• pool shape ? rectangular or free form? I am leaning towards Freeform - can a vinyl liner be done in freeform the way you want?
• concrete or steel walls? 3 builders i am getting quotes from are 1 does concrete and other 2 steel. - you mean a gunite plaster pool?
• bottom -vermiculite? - that is what is done with steel walls and a liner
• 3 1/2 to 6ft - ok
• equipment pad setup? should i do it behind the waterfall or near my ac condesor? Please see pic - eitehr way will work. There are pros and cons to both locations.
• install diverter valve with check valve before the pump suction - you need valves to winterize pool
• 3 steps going in - ok
• jets and return? At least 3
• 3 waterfalls - how many GPM will waterfalls require? You probably need a separate waterfall pump and filter.
• Backfill around the pool with clean gravel - 3/4 gravel
• size of plumbing pipe? Minimum 2" suction, 2" plubming of equipment, 1 1/2" return

Equipment:

• pump - Jandy - model?
• filter - Jandy (larger the better) - type? model? large cartridge filter
• heater - only option is heat pump - ok
• SWCG - Jandy Aquapure - 1400?
• lights - jandy or pentair - get Jandy lights with Jandy automation
• automation, timers, and controls ?? jandy - Jandy RS
• all valves should be Jandy diverter valves. No ball valves should be used. - ok

 

[YippeeSkippy]

I love the way some builders up in your area use concrete walls for vinyl pools.
Here is a thread with some links to some in the past-

Poured cement wall pool w/ vinyl liner

In this thread Steel Wall Vinyl vs Cement Wall Liner, catanzaro has a nice pic of a poured wall vinyl liner pool. I have never seen or heard of one. Are these common? Anybody ever price on? It would seem to me to approach the cost of a gunite pool.

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[Newdude]

Have you checked your town codes ? In my LI town the pool has to be behind the imaginary line of the back of the house. I have tons of side yard on both sides and it was only allowed in the 10% or so of my yard behind the house.

it had to be 10ft from any structure (house or deck) and 13 ft from the property line.

 

[jamjam]

I believe the towns in Nassau have those restrictions- most of the Suffolk towns I think it is 5’ from prroperty line and side yard is good to go unless a corner property.

 

[jimmythegreek]

The advantage to the concrete wall pools is the base. In sandy areas amd rocky areas yiu can fudge the bottom and cheat it with concrete. Then bring grade up in pool amd contour vermiculite. With steel walls the digging has to be precise and careful. Most guys doing concrete walls build rectangle pools amd have 1 or 2 freeform they offer. Reasom being they own the forms for that shape and re use them over and over. Cost is almost the same because you can backfill with anything and compact against the concrete wall. I think its harder because of the fact every fastener is to concrete not sheetmetal

 

[SunnyP2000]

@ajw22 @YippeeSkippy @Newdude @jamjam @jimmythegreek Thank you for your input.

I am in nassau county (town of hempstead) all pool and i just found out equipment should be 4 ft away from property line and pool has to be 6ft away from equipment, so my initial design wont work .
I have 4 (2 concrete & 2 steel wall PB) meetings setup for estimates in next 2 weeks. I just wanted to go in with enough info . once i have all 4 bids i will report back with what they come back with.

 

[jamjam]

Does Hempstead require a drywell for water abatement?

 

[SunnyP2000]

Does Hempstead require a drywell for water abatement?

no they dont

 

[gingrbredman]

I do like the thinking of putting the pool, "more to the side", and still leaving space in the yard for the kids to play. We have a similar plan, have a "pie" shaped yard, and are putting our pool off to the side, and having a place in the other side for lots of room for the kids to play as well. We also have some restrictions we had to work with, offsets to property lines, "imaginary" easement lines, foundations, etc., but with a little planning, think it will work. Can't wait to see what you come up with after your meetings.

 

[SunnyP2000]

I do like the thinking of putting the pool, "more to the side", and still leaving space in the yard for the kids to play. We have a similar plan, have a "pie" shaped yard, and are putting our pool off to the side, and having a place in the other side for lots of room for the kids to play as well. We also have some restrictions we had to work with, offsets to property lines, "imaginary" easement lines, foundations, etc., but with a little planning, think it will work. Can't wait to see what you come up with after your meetings.

Thank you for your input . I am wondering my self what ideas they will have . I wanted to do rectangular pool ( mainly because I feel all decking and coping cost less for rectangular then Freeform) but I don’t thing it will look right. Let’s see right now I am trying to nail down on equipment and actual Requirements ( steps, bench waterfall) for the pool so when I talk to PB I can tell them this is what I want and how much. Last don’t want to add stuff later.

 

[mpiliero]

How have your meetings and quotes been going? We are on LI and in same process. Are you finding builders use vermiculite base or sand? The steel wall PBs I’ve spoken with use sand base.

 

[SunnyP2000]

How have your meetings and quotes been going? We are on LI and in same process. Are you finding builders use vermiculite base or sand? The steel wall PBs I’ve spoken with use sand base.

I had 3 quotes already and i can tell you cost wise probably the worst time to build the pool . Everyone wants a pool and all PB are charging 5-7k over what they would have charged last year or even if you have signed in like march. i am second guessing everything .I like one PB who is booked now till May. My biggest issue is if i would sign with him and we have more coivd shutdowns i could pushed into July and possibly loose another season. I got quote from steel wall guys and they are about the same price and use sand, i am not if i want to go that route. PM me we can discuss further.

 

[mpiliero]

I had 3 quotes already and i can tell you cost wise probably the worst time to build the pool . Everyone wants a pool and all PB are charging 5-7k over what they would have charged last year or even if you have signed in like march. i am second guessing everything .I like one PB who is booked now till May. My biggest issue is if i would sign with him and we have more coivd shutdowns i could pushed into July and possibly loose another season. I got quote from steel wall guys and they are about the same price and use sand, i am not if i want to go that route. PM me we can discuss further.

Thanks! Sending you PM.

 

[Twinglemom]

Another LI'er. You are further along than I am. Also looking at vinyl. I "think" vinyl is the norm here on LI. I don't think our short season justifies the expense of gunite for me. Sorry if this is a dumb question but if a PB uses concrete walls do they use foam or something to 'cushion' between the wall and the vinyl liner???? Couldn't a concrete wall tear a vinyl liner?? I am thinking of SWG so would that cause steel walls to rust so concrete would be the better choice??? Sorry for all the questions, I'm giving myself a headache lol.

 

[SunnyP2000]

Another LI'er. You are further along than I am. Also looking at vinyl. I "think" vinyl is the norm here on LI. I don't think our short season justifies the expense of gunite for me. Sorry if this is a dumb question but if a PB uses concrete walls do they use foam or something to 'cushion' between the wall and the vinyl liner???? Couldn't a concrete wall tear a vinyl liner?? I am thinking of SWG so would that cause steel walls to rust so concrete would be the better choice??? Sorry for all the questions, I'm giving myself a headache lol.

yes they do with foam over concrete. i am telling you know most concrete wall builders are already into mid may which means as long as we dont have any shut downs because of covid you can be swimming in a month from the day they start install. yes steel could rust bust essentially if they install everything right water never touches the steel. you can always PM me if you want more detail info on my quotes and builders.

 

[Twinglemom]

yes they do with foam over concrete. i am telling you know most concrete wall builders are already into mid may which means as long as we dont have any shut downs because of covid you can be swimming in a month from the day they start install. yes steel could rust bust essentially if they install everything right water never touches the steel. you can always PM me if you want more detail info on my quotes and builders.

Thank you I will !

 

[jamjam]

Another LI'er. You are further along than I am. Also looking at vinyl. I "think" vinyl is the norm here on LI. I don't think our short season justifies the expense of gunite for me. Sorry if this is a dumb question but if a PB uses concrete walls do they use foam or something to 'cushion' between the wall and the vinyl liner???? Couldn't a concrete wall tear a vinyl liner?? I am thinking of SWG so would that cause steel walls to rust so concrete would be the better choice??? Sorry for all the questions, I'm giving myself a headache lol.

I think I know just as many people with gunite as I do vinyl. Obviously the more affluent the area the more gunite pools you will find. Though most of the people I know with gunite pools have older pools. The pool water should not come in contact with the steel walls, that should not be an issue. SW pools also have an zinc anode that should alleviate galvanic corrosion elsewhere in the system.