Need HELP choosing salt or ozone? And other questions related to building new IG poo

[Skater]

Hi there,
I am new to this sight and am going to sign a contact soon to build an inground pool. It's been one of the most daunting experiences besides purchasing a home.

I am very confused about many things. First of all, I am unsure whether to go with salt, ozone or both? So many different opinions out there.

I deal with migraines so smells (chorine) set off a migraine for me. I need something with no smell if possible. I have been told to go with ozone but after reading here, it may not sanitize the pool as needed, so I am second guessing. I have not been swimming in either.

I have had a difficult time finding a reputable , quality builder. I am thinking of using Stanley builders. My mom had an inground built Last year with Florida bonded and still has things incorrectly done that have not been fixed. So her experience did not go well at all and her pool still has issues.

If anyone could steer me in the right direction for sanitizing the water I could truly use the help.

If anyone lives in jax fl and could help with referring a quality builder I would really appreciate that as well.

I am also trying to decide on cage or no cage. ?? Cannot really afford cage but feel it may really be needed to keep bugs, critters and pine needles etc out of pool. ( many pine trees in back yard and in neighbors yards too). We were told we could put footers in and put up the cage later if needed.

I also really need shade for myself bc of the migraines. Has anyone worked with a builder putting in shade sails? Does anyone have them? Unsure what would be best for large area of shade over pool while still looking clean and modern. And not too pricey.

If anyone can help me out I would truly appreciate it. . Thanks.

 

[Patrick_B]

Welcome to the forum Skater.

A salt pool is still a Chlorine pool. As you have read, Ozone is not a sanitizer, it is actually just an oxidizer. Also, they can't oxidize anything in the bulk water until it passes through the unit.
In general Ozone does little good for anything in an outdoor pool.

Generally, a very "Chlorine smelling" pool is an improperly Chlorinated pool. Whether it comes from a Salt Water Generator, or from adding liquid Chlorine, a properly Chlorinated pool will have little smell. Chlorine is hands down the best sanitizer you can use in a pool, and can be managed correctly with very little time and effort once you get the hang of it.

If the "cage" is something you feel you'll really want, discuss it with your contractor for future installation.

I would suggest choosing a local builder with a good reputation and history in your area. Finding one will require some effort perhaps, but it will be well worth it.

As for shade sails, I'm not much help, but a reputable pool builder should be able to steer you in the right direction on that.

 

[linen]

Welcome to tfp, Skater

I second what Brushpup said about ozone and chlorine. Skip the ozone (and UV) since they are not needed in a typical outdoor residential pool. As for the "chlorine smell", if you "smell" it, that generally means you are not maintaining your pool chemistry correctly and shouldn't swim in it anyways. Many people have come on here saying the same things about chlorine that you are, but when they learn the methods taught on here, have no problems.

I really like my swg, basically it reversibly converts the salt in your pool to chlorine. It allows me to leave the pool unattended for a couple of days and also means I do not have to lug bleach/liquid chlorine to the pool regularly. Read up in pool school (link is always near the upper right of each forum page), this might be a good article to start with: http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/142-how-to-chlorinate-your-pool

 

[Skater]

Thanks a lot for your help

I read the article and now I believe salt is the way to go. Good to know there should never be a chorine smell.

Very strange that the builder we think we r choosing is recommending ozone for us. Could be bc we are trying to stay under 30k for project. They charge nothing for ozone but 1500$ for salt system.

Anyhow , would u guys know how to advise on decking ? Love the look of travertine. Price tag is too much. Love bluestone too. Our builder works with tremron pavers and we would get certain amount for price of pool. Although they will do anything we ask except concrete.

Any ideas on what I could go with to get a travertine look? A simulated stone maybe? Or something else anyone can recommend

I have seen pavers that look awful after 2 yrs bc of settling and weeds etc. is it possible to put concrete down first then pavers so they will not sink?

I also love the look of having no coping. When it looks seem less and decking runs seamlessly into the pool. I was told this could only be done with a real stone product. Is this true?

Pros and cons to getting a light color decking? ( love flagstone too but even more pricey)!

Would love some input. Thanks so much!
Skater

 

[martinspool]

Sails are to much hassle for us and very difficult to bring down and put back up in case of storms during the summer etc.

When we had our pool built we thought out how we were going to have shaded areas also. So what we did was when they poured the decking around the pool we had them put 4 umbrella pole holes in the decking with caps. These standard pole holes run about 10" deep or so into decking so you can just drop in an umbrella. The caps are for winter, so when you remove the umbrellas and store them, you just screw on caps to cover the hole. Now umbrellas can be expensive but what we chose to do here is we bought cheaper models from Garden Ridge. The ones they carry are imported from China and crank up and down and range from 4' to 7' diameter and we got 6 of them for about $350.00. Now granted they probably will only last 2 or 3 seasons but if that's the case who cares, we'll just go buy some new ones for that kinda of money. Most online stores want that much or more for one umbrella. Our experience with this set up is awesome. Down here in Texas we can have some violent storms pop up fairly quickly so when we know storms are on they way, I just drop down the umbrella and put a small bungie cord around them until the storm is over and then open them back up. Sails IMO are a big hassle with having all those tie down lines.

Decking color….darker gets hotter. We used Sundeck and love it. Wish we would of gone a little lighter though around the edge of the pool. When I repaint it I will do that.

See our umbrellas here:
http://www.alphaomegadesign.com/pool.jpg

 

[Isaac-1]

One thing to remember is salt from an SWG pool and erode soft stone, so if your going to have stone coping be aware that an SWG can cause problems.

As to your question about why the pool builder would make such a suggestion, based on many comment I have read here, I am of the opinion that many pool builders know NOTHING about maintaining pools. They give chemistry advice based on nothing but parroting the sales brochures and install plumbing, filters and pumps in such a way that you have to rip the whole thing out the first time a component fails because they saved a buck or two by not leaving stubs look enough to install a splice, or better yet put removable union fittings between each component. Worse yet many pride themselves on these ultra compact plumbing pad layouts, as they look much neater to the inexperienced pool owner.