Houston Texas (Montgomery Texas) - Owner Builder

[luckyc1423]

Houston Texas Owner Building. Actually location is Montgomery Texas Just Northwest of Houston.



We have decided to undergo the pool build on our own. It has been difficult to get/find Gunite and get on any gunite schedule in Houston Texas but we are finally on a schedule and set for May 5th!!



My hope is this thread can offer some guidance for other potential owner builders. I am somewhat detailed and ask a lot of questions on this forum so I will try to provide/share some of the information I have learned as well ask additional questions on this thread!!.



Details:

44’ x 26’ for a total of 1,090 SF

45-50k Gallon Geometric pool with a spa

Waterfall/slide

Tanning ledge

Bar area with table





Equipment list coming on the next post….

 

[luckyc1423]

Equipment List:

Intellicenter I8PS

3 - Intelliflo VSF pumps
1 for pool/spa
1 for waterfall (left side of slide and right side of slide)
1 for slide/2 bubblers

Triton II TR-140 Sand Filter

Mastertemp 400k BTU heater

2HP Silencer Air Blower for spa jets

Online Rainbow chemical Feeder - i know the consensus is SWG but Chlorine is what i am use to and comfortable with.


9 Total Globrite LED's with 2 of those being in the LED bubblers. - i took the advice of alot of people on this forum and that was to put more Globrites in the pool to even out the light as opposed to larger lights and less of them. I looked at the microLED's but fror the width of my pool i dont think they will project enough light as i want to avoid any lights on the far side of the pool facing the house for glare.

 

[luckyc1423]

Rough plumbing diagram. any feedback is appreciated.

 

[JJ_Tex]

Good luck with your build. Care to share your logic in determining your filter type (sand) and also the 3 pumps? That may help other people in a similar situation make their decisions on sand vs DE vs cartridge, and pump types for their spa and/or features.

 

[luckyc1423]

Good luck with your build. Care to share your logic in determining your filter type (sand) and also the 3 pumps? That may help other people in a similar situation make their decisions on sand vs DE vs cartridge, and pump types for their spa and/or features.

It really boils down to comfort on what i have had in the past. since i am doing owner builder i am trying to keep with what i know + adding more technology like intellicenter.

I chose sand filter because of ease of operation. I have had a cartridge filter and a sand filter in the past and cleaning cartridge filters can be a pain. With sand i would backwash once or twice a week and that is it. very easy to operate.

I chose variable speed pumps for the obvious reasons around having the flexibility to run at low or high RPM's. I think some people get stuck on having a single speed water feature pump and i really like the flexibility variable speed brings to the table. I have a very large water feature and if i get the HP wrong on a single speed motor i am stuck. however with variable speed it removes the guesswork and allows me to adjust RPM's (flow) rather easily until i fine tune the GPM's i want.

I chose three pumps vs. 1 or 2 as i want complete flexibility in the system. The waterfall is pretty large so it needed to be on its own pump. i want to be able to turn bubblers/slide on independently while not draining power from the pool pump.

 

[pjt]

With a pool that big, I think you would really value having a SWG. You'll be using a lot of chlorine, so you may as well generate it yourself.

It's your pool and money, but the simplicity and convenience of a SWG will make operating and maintaining your pool much easier.

 

[luckyc1423]

With a pool that big, I think you would really value having a SWG. You'll be using a lot of chlorine, so you may as well generate it yourself.

It's your pool and money, but the simplicity and convenience of a SWG will make operating and maintaining your pool much easier.

PJT. thank you for the feedback. The few pools I have swam in with SWG i can slightly taste the salt and it irritates my eyes which i didnt like at all. as well seemed to be corrosive on some of their gunite made boulders. I understand the CYA issues with chlorine however the salt taste i cannot get over. Having animals worries me to.

All my previous pools have been chlorine so pretty comfortable with that system. Have not had great swim experiences with SWG

 

[pjt]

PJT. thank you for the feedback. The few pools I have swam in with SWG i can slightly taste the salt and it irritates my eyes which i didnt like at all. as well seemed to be corrosive on some of their gunite made boulders. I understand the CYA issues with chlorine however the salt taste i cannot get over. Having animals worries me to.

All my previous pools have been chlorine so pretty comfortable with that system. Have not had great swim experiences with SWG

It probably wasn't the salt that was irritating you or corroding gunite, but instead CC and poor pH control. The salt taste might be a deal breaker for you though. Good luck with your build, it looks great. I really like your outdoor living area.

 

[luckyc1423]

Any feedback on overflow? I just started thinking about overflow. previous pool i think i had a drain just below coping.

Question here is do i have to install some type of piping before gunite, or do you have the gunite create cut a space (like a skimmer but smaller) for the drain?

this was my last pool

 

[luckyc1423]

Bump for overflow questions .

also any help in how the table will need to be built in the pool? I want A permanent structure.

is there some type of mold that i need To buy to give to the gunite crew for the leg of the table? What about the round table how do they shoot it out of gunite? Is there a mold for that?
I’ll be filing the top of the table...

 

[Smalone]

We have a pipe for the over flow if I'm not mistaken. If you search on Amazon for "inground pool overflow topincn "you will see what I am talking about.

 

[luckyc1423]

We have a pipe for the over flow if I'm not mistaken. If you search on Amazon for "inground pool overflow topincn "you will see what I am talking about.

thank you.

many feedback on how the table needs to be built?

 

[luckyc1423]

We have a pipe for the over flow if I'm not mistaken. If you search on Amazon for "inground pool overflow topincn "you will see what I am talking about.

i have the drain ordered but curious how the install goes. Do you have the gunite crew cut out a area where coping will go or do you stub it out or how was it actually installed?

 

[Smalone]

I thin

i have the drain ordered but curious how the install goes. Do you have the gunite crew cut out a area where coping will go or do you stub it out or how was it actually installing

I think it's stubbed like the rest of your pipes. I will ask my pool builder today if I see him.

 

[Fletch94]

Houston Texas Owner Building. Actually location is Montgomery Texas Just Northwest of Houston.



We have decided to undergo the pool build on our own. It has been difficult to get/find Gunite and get on any gunite schedule in Houston Texas but we are finally on a schedule and set for May 5th!!



My hope is this thread can offer some guidance for other potential owner builders. I am somewhat detailed and ask a lot of questions on this forum so I will try to provide/share some of the information I have learned as well ask additional questions on this thread!!.



Details:

44’ x 26’ for a total of 1,090 SF

45-50k Gallon Geometric pool with a spa

Waterfall/slide

Tanning ledge

Bar area with table





Equipment list coming on the next post….

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View attachment 319287

I plan on building my own pool on the west side of Houston. I have a connection for gunite but am having an issue finding an excavator. Who did you end up using? Were you able to get several quotes?