New 32'x20' Gunite Pool in South Alabama - Build Thread

[bamachem]

Back in October the wife and I pulled the trigger on a 32'x20' Gunite pool here in Fairhope, AL on the Gulf Coast. We've been in the house for 10 years and it used to have a 14'x22' wooden deck off the back porch. Even though the deck was treated wood, it rotted/deteriorated badly so we decided for a major upgrade instead of a new deck. The next few posts will be pics of the build process. We broke ground on Oct 31 with layout and excavation. Gunite was shot 4 days later. We had a few weeks of delay after that, then an issue with waterline tile and water feature tile that had to be demo'd out and reworked which led us to use stacked stone on the water feature instead.

We asked for quotes from 4 contractors and received bids from 3. The 4th would not meet with us unless we were both present. Easy for me to do since I work from home but not so easy for my wife who's in the medical field. We ended up going with Southern Poolscapes. So far, very happy with them. Not the cheapest, but they have been true to their word and offer great value - which is something totally different from just a cheap price.

Anyway, here's the specs from their bid:

GENERAL POOL SPECIFICATIONS:

• SIZE: 506 ft2
• SHAPE: Freeform (as per print)
• DEPTH: 4’- 6’ (water depth)
• STRUCTURAL WALL: Steel Reinforced Gunite with Bond Beam (12” centers)
• WATERLINE TILE: 6x6 Frost Proof (color of choice, $6 ft2 material allowance)
• INTERIOR FINISH: SGM Diamond Brite Cool Blue or Similar
• STEPS/BENCH/LEDGE: As Per Print

POOL EQUIPMENT SPECIFICATIONS:

• FILTER: Eco Select™ Clean & Clear Plus 320
• PUMP: Eco Select™ IntelliFlo (variable speed pump)
• MAIN DRAIN: MDX-R3 (to meet or exceed Virginia Graeme Baker Act)
• SKIMMER: 1 – Commercial Rated Skimmer
• RETURNS: 6 - Paramount EcoPool (3 floor, 3 wall, superior temperature and
• chemical distribution)
• CHLORINATOR: Eco Select™ EasyTouch with IntelliChlor IC40 (salt system)
• LIGHT(s): 2 - Eco Select™ GloBrite Multicolor LED’s
• AUTOMATIC CLEANER: Pentair Racer LS Complete Automatic Cleaner (head, hose, booster)
• AUTOFILL: ParaLevel (overflow included with appropriate elevation change)
• MAINTENANCE KIT: Standard Manual Cleaning Kit Included

PLUMBING SPECIFICATIONS:

• Pipe and fittings for circulation, skimmer, main drain, and filter equipment will be schedule 40 PVC
• with minimum 2” suction side plumbing. Pool will be plumbed for automatic pool cleaner.

STEEL SPECIFICATIONS:

• Any required steel will be configured by a professional structural engineer. Grade 60 rebar (commercial
• specifications) will be used in all installations.

INSURANCE:

• Southern Poolscapes, is fully licensed and insured swimming pool contractor. We carry general liability
• insurance, as well as Workmen’s Compensation. By request we will also furnish you with a certificate
• naming you as an additional insured prior to the commencement of construction.

SITE CLEANLINESS:

• Southern Poolscapes will be responsible for maintaining a clean and debris free work area. Material will
• be stored at the pool area in an orderly manner and all trash will be hauled away.

TURNOVER & CHECKOUT:

• Upon the completion of construction, Southern Poolscapes will provide you with a complete owner
• operations manual for the swimming pool. A member of the Southern Poolscapes staff will instruct you
• on the operation and chemical requirement for the pool and/or spa.

NOT INCLUDED IN BASE PACKAGE:

• 1) Landscaping & Irrigation (yard will be left with a contractors grade)
• 2) Electrical Connections (allowance in options)
• 3) De-watering (not to exceed 1,400)
• This contract includes engineering fees, permit fees, licenses and sales tax.
• • Owner to provide water and electrical during construction
• • Owner responsible for any landscaping, irrigation, retaining walls, fencing and/or lighting not
• indicated above
• • Owner responsible for damage, rerouting or replacing unmarked utilities, drains, downspouts,
• septic and drain field lines.
• • Unknown underground conditions such as water, rock or buried trash may be cause for additional
• charges
• • This proposal is based on the above listed information and drawings, any variations or additional
• specifications may result in additional charges

OPTIONS: Please circle the options selected.

• 1 ~694 ft2 Paver Decking (stock material, color of choice, limestone base with filter
• fabric, concrete bedding sand & locking polymeric finishing sand)
• 2 Paver/Brick/Travertine Coping (color of choice, tumbled or bullnose)
• 3 Raised Feature (cultured stone façade, 2 x 24” sheer descent)

Here's some renderings that match the above proposal:

 

[Jimrahbe]

B,

Welcome to TFP... A great place for your new pool build show and tell....

Nice looking pool... I look forward to watching your build...

You can't get a better way to chlorinate a pool than using a salt system...

Do you know the number of gallons your pool will hold? I only ask to make sure your IC40 SWCG will be big enough..

I'm not a fan of pressure side cleaners as you have to run two pumps just to make them work. I like the standalone robot pool cleaners. Technology wise, a pressure side cleaner is like the old Black Rotary Dial telephone, while a robot cleaner is more like today's cell phone.

Thanks for posting,

Jim R.

 

[bamachem]

A few after tearing out the deck (actually 2 of them) prior to excavation. This was mid-September:

Here's the start of excavation on Oct 31:

 

[bamachem]

Made a couple changes after we started forming for gunite. Decided to delete some of the walkway around the back side and just have the coping. Also deleted some of the other paver deck by the house, and upgraded from cast pavers to Travertine.

Here's the new renderings with the changes:

Here's the forming for the gunite on Nov 1 and 2:

- - - Updated - - -

More of the forming and rebar on Nov 3:

- - - Updated - - -

This is spray day for the gunite - still in the first week of construction on Nov 4!

- - - Updated - - -

After Gunite was sprayed, construction slowed down considerably. Something like how home construction seems to slow once the house has been framed and decked, but the rest is in the details, and details take time.

Here's some of the Travertine Decking going in:

Notice the house has been painted and the two pecan trees removed by this point. Also worth noting is the steps were uneven on rise, so two had to be chiseled out and refinished with grout before plaster was installed. The waterline tile in these pics was not level and when pointed out to them, they removed/reinstalled them. By this time, we had decided to do some hardscape on each side of the travertine deck, and the builder didn't have a problem with us swapping to a different tile and water feature façade to better match our hardscape plan. More to come....

 

[bamachem]

or the hardscape, I borrowed a friend's tractor with front end loader did some shaping of the grade, installed sand, followed by flagstone and gravel with a ledger stone border. 23,000-lbs of rock in total. One side will be a firepit ia 26" diameter 170 year old rendering cauldron with 4 chairs. Other side will be an angled pergola with swing and 2 side chairs, maybe another fire pit cauldron as well.

Pics:

After the steps were evened out and the waterline tile was replaced and the stone was installed on the water feature, the plaster FINALLY went in...

 

[bamachem]

Filled it with water on Jan 30/31. Finished up about 9pm on the 31st.

My two boys decided to do a Polar Bear Plunge on New Years Day. Air Temp was 26F with less than 10% humidity and water temp was 54F.

- - - Updated - - -

Today, they are finishing out the Travertine Cap on the Water Feature. This week the stucco should be applied to the back wall and the remaining punch list finished up.

Sod is planned for Saturday and finishing the Fence on Sunday. After that, I'm looking at the following weekend to build the Pergola.

- - - Updated - - -

B,

Welcome to TFP... A great place for your new pool build show and tell....

Nice looking pool... I look forward to watching your build...

You can't get a better way to chlorinate a pool than using a salt system...

Do you know the number of gallons your pool will hold? I only ask to make sure your IC40 SWCG will be big enough..

I'm not a fan of pressure side cleaners as you have to run two pumps just to make them work. I like the standalone robot pool cleaners. Technology wise, a pressure side cleaner is like the old Black Rotary Dial telephone, while a robot cleaner is more like today's cell phone.

Thanks for posting,

Jim R.

I've calculated it to about 21,000 gallons for volume. Good to know on the cleaner, and I may upgrade if this one is a pain or doesn't work well.

I'm already going to add the Pentair ScreenLogic2 to my EasyTouch controller for sure. Probably going to add some automation to the valves controlling the water feature, and planning to add a heating system - likely a NG heater coupled with a solar bundle.

 

[Jimrahbe]

b,

Makes me cold just looking at the pics...

Using ScreenLogic is 10 x easier and at least 2 x more fun than using the panel controls...

Thanks,

Jim R.

- - - Updated - - -

We always recommend a SWCG that is 2 x larger than the volume of your pool, so a 40K cell in a 21K pool should work just fine..

 

[HmnRcn]

We started our dig the same day as you! We are hoping that next week they finish our stone and then plaster. Our PB was off for a week for Thanksgiving and then 2 weeks now for the New Year. He has been busy all through Nov & Dec and already has 11 pools he is working on this month.

Your design and the finished product look great! Nice choices!

 

[bamachem]

Just dropping this here for future reference...

I found this awesome calculator. You can get your $/therm rate for NG from your local utility or by google search.

SWIMMING POOL ENERGY TEMPERATURE CALCULATOR | Neil Anderson

The cool thing about this calculator is that you can add solar heat, natural gas, heat pump, thermal blanket, etc. Lots of choices to see what each would do.

Here's a few calculations I did with the tool. I used Mobile, AL for location, 525sqft for pool size, and 78F for desired temperature.

In this one, I was looking at the swim season for a 78F pool water temp using 4 conditions:

1. Base Pool as installed
2. Base Pool with Thermal Cover Only
3. Base Pool with Thermal Cover and 80sqft of Solar Heater
4. Base Pool with Thermal Cover and 120sqft of Solar Heater

^ For me, this is the one that tells me where I need to spend my money first. In my location, a transparent pool cover ($100 worth of bubble wrap) is by far my best investment.



This one is the same pool and same desired temp, calculating the costs to heat it in March, April, and October via Natural Gas:

1. Base Pool with Natural Gas Heater Only
2. Base Pool with Natural Gas Heater and Thermal Cover
3. Base Pool with Natural Gas Heater, Thermal Cover and 80sqft of Solar Heater

^ This one also proves the value of a cover if there is any kind of heating at all to be used, even solar. Look at those annual costs drop when a $100 pool cover is utilized.



This one is the same pool and same desired temp, calculating the costs to heat it in March, April, and October via Natural Gas (runs 1, 2, & 3) in comparison to a Heat Pump (runs 4, 5, & 6):

1. Base Pool with Natural Gas Heater Only
2. Base Pool with Natural Gas Heater and Thermal Cover
3. Base Pool with Natural Gas Heater, Thermal Cover and 80sqft of Solar Heater
4. Base Pool with Heat Pump Only
5. Base Pool with Heat Pump and Thermal Cover
6. Base Pool with Heat Pump, Thermal Cover and 80sqft of Solar Heater

^ This one tells me that if I use a pool cover - already decided that with the two above - then a Heat Pump is only going to save me $100/year over Natural Gas heating, but the install expense is about $6k for a HP versus $2k for a NG heater system. It also tells me that if I do a base heater plus solar, the solar isn't going to save me much money at all in the long run and will have a payback of several years, so likely not worth it unless I wanted to use the solar panels as radiant coolers during August and September when the pool temps can soar here.

 

[b_veselka]

I love!!! lol, your oldest didn't take the full plunge...I see some dry hair!! Y'all are going to have a ton of fun this summer!

 

[Niksicle]

Your pool looks fantastic! It's nice to see someone local on here (we're across the bay in Saraland) and have some recommendations for the future.

 

[bamachem]

Sod was delivered Sat AM.

Started laying it about 730am. Done with 6 of the 7 pallets by 11:30. Last one will go down once the fence materials are out of the way.

Lucy approves...

 

[PoolGate]

I love sod great idea! Instant backyard! After laying some myself after my pool was done I don't think I'll mess with seed anymore.

 

[bamachem]

Sunday was a shopping day. New fire pit chairs, new loungers, all new cushions, outdoor rug, etc...

Didn't get to the fence this weekend. I guess I'll have to put that on the to-do list for next Saturday.

Also installed some zmodo day/night cameras and ordered a Bose Soundtouch 10 and Echo dot for a controller. The Pentair ScreenLogic2 will be synched with Alexa so the water feature and pool lights will be voice automated. Picked up some smart power socket controllers as well for controlling some string lights and a few other things we are adding. I'll get more pics of that stuff once it's installed.

 

[PoolGate]

Sunday was a shopping day. New fire pit chairs, new loungers, all new cushions, outdoor rug, etc...

Didn't get to the fence this weekend. I guess I'll have to put that on the to-do list for next Saturday.

Also installed some zmodo day/night cameras and ordered a Bose Soundtouch 10 and Echo dot for a controller. The Pentair ScreenLogic2 will be synched with Alexa so the water feature and pool lights will be voice automated. Picked up some smart power socket controllers as well for controlling some string lights and a few other things we are adding. I'll get more pics of that stuff once it's installed.

Now I'm jealous - is that a 1023/1025 in the background?

 

[bamachem]

It's actually a 3025E, but it belongs to a very generous friend who let me borrow it for a few weeks to do the heavy lifting.