Unfortunately the plans are not very detailed. I will try to take pics tomorrow. We will be trying to figure out point a to point B this next week to make sense of the plumbing. We have also been in touch with the guy who actually did the plumbing and he said he would come out to help us figure it out.
Incomplete pool project
- Thread starter jvisaac1977
- Start date
That is great news! If there is any other work you need to sub out pick his brain for who he would have do the work. They all tend to know each other and who does good or not so good work!
Kim
Kim
We are looking at ways to cut out some of the costs for the remainder of the pool build. Any recommendations on cost savings? For example: Plaster vs pebble tec, Salt Chlorine vs std chlorine? Will these be insignificant cost differences? Again, thanks in advance for your input.
- May 23, 2015
- 24,447
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
You may want to check carefully with the City of Irvine. We lived there for a short period of time but it is a highly regulated city in California (an oxymoron, I know....) as it is a masterplan controlled city. My guess is, if you MUST discharge a DE filter into the sewer, there is very likely a requirement that you also plumb in a separation tank as well to capture the spent DE (which you then have to dispose of it according to rules because Cali considers it a carcinogen). If that is the case, I would skip the DE filter and just use a cartridge style filter. You'll still get decent filtration performance but without any requirements to wear a Level 4 BioHazard suit when dealing with DE recharging.
Sorry to hear about you getting abandoned. That's terrible! We enjoyed our short time in Irvine and miss a lot of the great little communities there. Having parks for the kids to play at on practically every corner of every street and supermarkets & shops within walking distance in most areas made it a very easy place to live in....cost of all that high-end living was a killer though....
Sorry to hear about you getting abandoned. That's terrible! We enjoyed our short time in Irvine and miss a lot of the great little communities there. Having parks for the kids to play at on practically every corner of every street and supermarkets & shops within walking distance in most areas made it a very easy place to live in....cost of all that high-end living was a killer though....
If we go the DE filter route it needs to be tied into the house sewer line so there is a little cost associated with the tie in. So Cal is very nice but you are right about the cost. We were fortunate enough to get in early.
Plain plaster is the cheapest of all and it is oh so smooth to the touch! It also makes for a pretty light blue color.
Kim
Kim
- Jan 4, 2016
- 5,288
- Pool Size
- 44000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
Good point about plaster from Kim. While it may not be the current style, it sure looks great. I'm not sure about price over there, but that would have been around $2K on ours.
Leaving out the salt water chlorinator might save about $1K, but it will be more work adding chlorinating liquid, and you'll pay the same amount of $ over the next 5 or so years. If you get an SWC, be sure it's the largest one in the brand you're planning.
With 14 jets in the spa, I would leave the spa jet booster pump in. You could switch to a single 3HP variable speed, but then you'll also want automation to run everything, so there wouldn't be short term cost savings. If automation is already included, then that might be an option. For your main circulation pump, definitely get a two speed as mentioned.
The heater could be left for later, but that would mean no hot tub for the time being.
You can leave the slide out for now, and just have your plumbing ready for the future.
A big dollar item might be your surrounding deck. There's lower cost and good looking finish options, or you might be able to leave a section for later. I don't know the rules for safety fencing there, but there's a wide price range for that as well.
Perhaps the most effective way to get a good price for finishing it is to provide a complete and specific, written, description of what you want done, and somehow explain what limited warranty you're able to live with. If I was a contractor, I'd be worried about unknowns, such as what happens if the pipes leak, what happens if if if, how easy you are to work with, all that sort of thing. For pool builders, they're figuring that stuff out as they're making the initial sale, but now it's in the middle. I would also express a willingness to be fit in over the winter, i.e. "I know you're busy and this is different for you, so I'm happy to be flexible with respect to your schedule, make sure your guys can get in and out easily, or anything else he thinks I can do to smooth the way. I'd also make sure he knows the permits won't cause him any hassle, and show him whatever is needed so he knows that's all OK.
What a lousy situation for you geez. :shaking: I hope you have some sort of efficient claims system there, or can sue the sunofagun. If it's blood from a stone, hopefully there's a way to at least scare the pants off him!
Leaving out the salt water chlorinator might save about $1K, but it will be more work adding chlorinating liquid, and you'll pay the same amount of $ over the next 5 or so years. If you get an SWC, be sure it's the largest one in the brand you're planning.
With 14 jets in the spa, I would leave the spa jet booster pump in. You could switch to a single 3HP variable speed, but then you'll also want automation to run everything, so there wouldn't be short term cost savings. If automation is already included, then that might be an option. For your main circulation pump, definitely get a two speed as mentioned.
The heater could be left for later, but that would mean no hot tub for the time being.
You can leave the slide out for now, and just have your plumbing ready for the future.
A big dollar item might be your surrounding deck. There's lower cost and good looking finish options, or you might be able to leave a section for later. I don't know the rules for safety fencing there, but there's a wide price range for that as well.
Perhaps the most effective way to get a good price for finishing it is to provide a complete and specific, written, description of what you want done, and somehow explain what limited warranty you're able to live with. If I was a contractor, I'd be worried about unknowns, such as what happens if the pipes leak, what happens if if if, how easy you are to work with, all that sort of thing. For pool builders, they're figuring that stuff out as they're making the initial sale, but now it's in the middle. I would also express a willingness to be fit in over the winter, i.e. "I know you're busy and this is different for you, so I'm happy to be flexible with respect to your schedule, make sure your guys can get in and out easily, or anything else he thinks I can do to smooth the way. I'd also make sure he knows the permits won't cause him any hassle, and show him whatever is needed so he knows that's all OK.
What a lousy situation for you geez. :shaking: I hope you have some sort of efficient claims system there, or can sue the sunofagun. If it's blood from a stone, hopefully there's a way to at least scare the pants off him!
Last night my wife and I went through the process of identifying what pipe near the equipment feeds what pipe in the pool and jacuzzi. We covered each pipe with aluminum foil then blew compressed air through the pipe near the equipment. If it blew the foil off we labeled it. Sometimes we had to put our hand over a couple pipes on the same feed as we didn't have enough pressure to blow off on all of them at once. Luckily we were able to identify and label everything. Now, at least we have an idea of the plumbing layout. I will try to post a diagram as I am looking for input with regards to equipment.
Needsajet: Thanks for the input. We are considering plaster and have decided to put off the slide for now. The other big expense for us is the decking, which you pointed out. We may have to compromise what our original vision was for this and go with a concrete deck to save some $$$.
As far as claims system...we could sue but unfortunately it would cost us quite a bit of money to do it right and there is no guarantee that we would be able to collect. We would have to pay somebody to do an asset search and if he actually does have any assets then we could go after those (for example a house or a car,etc). I know he doesn't own a house so we wouldn't be fully reimbursed with just his car. We will definitely be filing a complaint with the license board and whatever else we can do but that will be after we are done. No sense stressing about 2 different things right now. I would rather put my efforts in getting our backyard done ASAP.
Again, I appreciate the input.
As others have said the majority of the hard work is done, having contact with the plumber is a great help as he can help you get things setup correctly. Get plaster bids, they may vary widely, hopefully most companies are like they are in Northern Cali, they go by the sq footage of the pool? Don't forget a deck, they will need to put drainage in, concrete would probably be one of the cheaper options? can always to gravel under t-rex deck or something like that?
Drain lines are already underground. We are looking at concrete as this would save us a lot of $ vs the pavers we picked out. I never thought of the t-rex over gravel. I will have to look into that. Thanks for the tip.
I’m not going to plow through this thread... but the first photo shows a dedicated vacuum line?? In this day & age, that makes me wonder where in the inspection process this job was??
As a parent & contractor, I would turn that vac line into a return.
As a parent & contractor, I would turn that vac line into a return.
- May 23, 2015
- 24,447
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
I use my dedicated vacuum line all the time on my 4 year old pool and appreciate its presence as it means I don't have to fool around with a skimmer plate when I want to manually vacuum my pool
I did subject matter work for a high profile tragedy in CT about 10 yrs ago & to this day I think about the incident & the family daily , if I’m working or not. I just can’t shake it. ... just get rid of those things..
I don’t quite understand. What is the problem with the vacuum on the side of the pool?
It is a suction. If someone were to stand in front of it with the pump on it could suck on them and hold them in that area is my guess.
If that's for a Polaris vacuum it would be a positive water flow from a dedicated pump. That may have been the case...I hope?
- May 23, 2015
- 24,447
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
The suction port is about the same depth as a standard return, 18”. All suction ports should have a self-sealing hose adapter on them (a spring loaded door). Typically one puts a manual 3-way adjustable valve at the pump intake on the suction port line so that it is not possible to pull full vacuum on the line. In case of a blockage caused by a body part, the suction flow would be equalized back to the other line.
Pool injuries and deaths are terrible, terrible tragedies. But, tens of thousands of people use suction side cleaners every day without incident. Let’s not let a low frequency event drive us away from using common sense.
Pool injuries and deaths are terrible, terrible tragedies. But, tens of thousands of people use suction side cleaners every day without incident. Let’s not let a low frequency event drive us away from using common sense.
I delivered the expert testimony for a child drowning case. The youngster’s arm was trapped to the shoulder in a single wall suction, surrounded by family, they could not pull the child free.
The vac port “cover” was on the premises, not in the wall & the valves permitted entrapment.
Anybody can forget to put a cover back, spring loaded or not, fail to return valves to normal operating position, or have an actuator fail.. perfect storms are out there..
I’m from the school of eliminate risk vs manage it, whenever possible.
The stakes are too high for a stainless steel spring or “common sense.”
That’s just my .02 cents & free advice.
The vac port “cover” was on the premises, not in the wall & the valves permitted entrapment.
Anybody can forget to put a cover back, spring loaded or not, fail to return valves to normal operating position, or have an actuator fail.. perfect storms are out there..
I’m from the school of eliminate risk vs manage it, whenever possible.
The stakes are too high for a stainless steel spring or “common sense.”
That’s just my .02 cents & free advice.
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Here is the equipment list that has been recommended for our pool.
Filter - CCP420 - Pentair Clean & Clear Plus Cartridge filter Flow Rate 150 GPM Res. [Turnover Capacity=72,000]
Heater - 460736 - Pentair Matertemp Heater - 400K BTU Natural Gas
Pump - 011056 - Intelliflo VSF Variable Speed pump
Jet pump for spa - 011515 - Pentair Whisperflo 2-speed 2HP pump
Filter - CCP420 - Pentair Clean & Clear Plus Cartridge filter Flow Rate 150 GPM Res. [Turnover Capacity=72,000]
Heater - 460736 - Pentair Matertemp Heater - 400K BTU Natural Gas
Pump - 011056 - Intelliflo VSF Variable Speed pump
Jet pump for spa - 011515 - Pentair Whisperflo 2-speed 2HP pump