We recently moved to our new property for the sole purpose of getting a pool. We chose a relatively flat, corner, 1/3 acre lot in a subdivision. We would've loved to get out of a subdivision, but our choices were limited.
Pool Specs:
Inground, Fiberglass
Leisure Pools USA, Riviera 34' (14.5 x 34)
11,300 Gallons
Overflow System
3 Deck Jets, 2 LED Lights, 1 Skimmer
Travertine Coping, Broom-finish Concrete Decking (~900 sq ft, maybe)
Hayward MaxFlo VS 500 1.65hp Pump
Hayward C4030 Cartridge Filter (425 sqft)
Hayward TurboCell 940 T-15 inline chlorinator
Hayward OmniPL Automation
Aquavac 650
Cost: 55k
Full Image Album Below
Additional, we purchased a Hot Springs Hot Spot Rhythm Spa, roughly ~330 gallon, 7 person, chlorinated (Cost = 8k)
Ask me anything if you're curious about the build!
First, I worked with 3 builders originally on getting quotes in the summer of 2020. Nobody needed our business, as the COVID boom was fully in effect. 2 of the builders wouldn't even come do a site survey for a couple months. The 3rd builder worked with me a bit, but finally said the initial site survey would require me to sign a contract and give 25% down payment. I was not willing to do that.
So I drove to my preferred builder, one of the 2 that wouldn't do a visit for 2+ months, and talked my way into bringing them out earlier than expected (easy flat, corner lot, cash). We met with them a few times, made our selections, had them out on our property, and finally put the $1000 down and we were put on the waiting list.
In the meantime, we also debated back and forth on getting a pool heating
5 months later, on January 18th, our build began. They said to expect a 2-4 week build time, but rain delayed us multiple times throughout the project. We're nearing 6 weeks, and we're still waiting on the electrician and initial pool water balance. Luckily, the delivery of hot tub worked well with this schedule. Our hot tub will be located on the cured concrete decking on Tuesday, just in time for the electrician to hook up the pool and hot tub.
Landscapers came in after concrete was poured and did a fantastic job. New irrigation, grading, drainage, new sod (3k sqft), windmill palm trees (2) and rock beds (4 tons)....all in 2 days and under $7k.
So I'm still waiting on the electrician, water balance, and "handing over the keys", so-to-speak. I'll update after that, with the final pics (maybe in the spring with green grass!).
Some notes:
- I was really underwhelmed with the communication from my PB. They literally gave me almost nothing as far as a parts list goes. They kept saying "don't worry, we'll take care of you", but I'm not the type of customer that wants that kind of reassurance. However, because they appeared to not be cutting any corners in other areas of the project and because my contract never required them to provide me a parts list, I trusted them. I'm content with the fact they oversized my chlorinator, filter, and pump and I have the latest Hayward has to offer in automation.
- As previous TFP posters have noticed, there's a discrepancy between what Leisure Pools says my pool volume is, depending on what source you're looking at. A few internet sites and my PB say 16k gallons, but my water meter showed about 11k gallons (plus or minus a bit once you account for the rain we had while filling). I reached out directly to Leisure Pools USA and they emailed me back with "11,363" gallons. Pretty big difference from 16k. I'll use the 11k figure for my PoolMath, see how it goes and adjust from there.
- I was/am very nervous about the concrete decking and read for HOURS on rebar, fiber mesh, and wire reinforcement. My concrete team assured me we didn't need any of that stuff, and I'm still uncertain. However, I've seen pictures of the pools they built 7-10 years ago, and everything still looks great. Maybe its my climate? Maybe our soil type? I have no idea, but even our driveways in this city are rarely built with rebar or wire reinforcements.
- I also am still uneasy about the lack of an expansion/isolation joint between our travertine coping and concrete decking. Again, our PB assured us that wasn't necessary because "concrete in our area won't shift enough to mess with the travertine". The coping guy said he hasn't had any coping crack in the last 2-3 years since they changed their method of adhesion to the concrete collar/bond beam (not sure which name is correct).
- My wife and I went back and forth on the placement of our hot tub. I wanted it in the area by our house and back patio, but she fell in love with the view of the pool outside the triple-window from inside the home. So the view stayed, and the hot tub placement was changed to in front of the covered patio, as opposed to beside it. That area was made level instead of the typical .25" per ft drop-off for drainage.
- We had to either put a pool fence up, or make our shadowbox fence "board on board" to meet Georgia pool codes; we went with "board on board". Our 3 kids (7-9) have been swimming their whole lives and have multiple years of swim lessons under their belts, so we opted against the most intrusive and less-aesthetic "pool fence". I hope we never regret that decision.
- All of our drainage runs outside of our fence. Our landscaper tied the deck drain, 2 of our downspouts, and our pool overflow into one large pop-up emitter on the edge of our property.
Again, an album of all the images can be seen here:
Thanks for reading/looking/sharing!
Pool Specs:
Inground, Fiberglass
Leisure Pools USA, Riviera 34' (14.5 x 34)
11,300 Gallons
Overflow System
3 Deck Jets, 2 LED Lights, 1 Skimmer
Travertine Coping, Broom-finish Concrete Decking (~900 sq ft, maybe)
Hayward MaxFlo VS 500 1.65hp Pump
Hayward C4030 Cartridge Filter (425 sqft)
Hayward TurboCell 940 T-15 inline chlorinator
Hayward OmniPL Automation
Aquavac 650
Cost: 55k
Full Image Album Below
Additional, we purchased a Hot Springs Hot Spot Rhythm Spa, roughly ~330 gallon, 7 person, chlorinated (Cost = 8k)
Ask me anything if you're curious about the build!
First, I worked with 3 builders originally on getting quotes in the summer of 2020. Nobody needed our business, as the COVID boom was fully in effect. 2 of the builders wouldn't even come do a site survey for a couple months. The 3rd builder worked with me a bit, but finally said the initial site survey would require me to sign a contract and give 25% down payment. I was not willing to do that.
So I drove to my preferred builder, one of the 2 that wouldn't do a visit for 2+ months, and talked my way into bringing them out earlier than expected (easy flat, corner lot, cash). We met with them a few times, made our selections, had them out on our property, and finally put the $1000 down and we were put on the waiting list.
In the meantime, we also debated back and forth on getting a pool heating
5 months later, on January 18th, our build began. They said to expect a 2-4 week build time, but rain delayed us multiple times throughout the project. We're nearing 6 weeks, and we're still waiting on the electrician and initial pool water balance. Luckily, the delivery of hot tub worked well with this schedule. Our hot tub will be located on the cured concrete decking on Tuesday, just in time for the electrician to hook up the pool and hot tub.
Landscapers came in after concrete was poured and did a fantastic job. New irrigation, grading, drainage, new sod (3k sqft), windmill palm trees (2) and rock beds (4 tons)....all in 2 days and under $7k.
So I'm still waiting on the electrician, water balance, and "handing over the keys", so-to-speak. I'll update after that, with the final pics (maybe in the spring with green grass!).
Some notes:
- I was really underwhelmed with the communication from my PB. They literally gave me almost nothing as far as a parts list goes. They kept saying "don't worry, we'll take care of you", but I'm not the type of customer that wants that kind of reassurance. However, because they appeared to not be cutting any corners in other areas of the project and because my contract never required them to provide me a parts list, I trusted them. I'm content with the fact they oversized my chlorinator, filter, and pump and I have the latest Hayward has to offer in automation.
- As previous TFP posters have noticed, there's a discrepancy between what Leisure Pools says my pool volume is, depending on what source you're looking at. A few internet sites and my PB say 16k gallons, but my water meter showed about 11k gallons (plus or minus a bit once you account for the rain we had while filling). I reached out directly to Leisure Pools USA and they emailed me back with "11,363" gallons. Pretty big difference from 16k. I'll use the 11k figure for my PoolMath, see how it goes and adjust from there.
- I was/am very nervous about the concrete decking and read for HOURS on rebar, fiber mesh, and wire reinforcement. My concrete team assured me we didn't need any of that stuff, and I'm still uncertain. However, I've seen pictures of the pools they built 7-10 years ago, and everything still looks great. Maybe its my climate? Maybe our soil type? I have no idea, but even our driveways in this city are rarely built with rebar or wire reinforcements.
- I also am still uneasy about the lack of an expansion/isolation joint between our travertine coping and concrete decking. Again, our PB assured us that wasn't necessary because "concrete in our area won't shift enough to mess with the travertine". The coping guy said he hasn't had any coping crack in the last 2-3 years since they changed their method of adhesion to the concrete collar/bond beam (not sure which name is correct).
- My wife and I went back and forth on the placement of our hot tub. I wanted it in the area by our house and back patio, but she fell in love with the view of the pool outside the triple-window from inside the home. So the view stayed, and the hot tub placement was changed to in front of the covered patio, as opposed to beside it. That area was made level instead of the typical .25" per ft drop-off for drainage.
- We had to either put a pool fence up, or make our shadowbox fence "board on board" to meet Georgia pool codes; we went with "board on board". Our 3 kids (7-9) have been swimming their whole lives and have multiple years of swim lessons under their belts, so we opted against the most intrusive and less-aesthetic "pool fence". I hope we never regret that decision.
- All of our drainage runs outside of our fence. Our landscaper tied the deck drain, 2 of our downspouts, and our pool overflow into one large pop-up emitter on the edge of our property.
Again, an album of all the images can be seen here:
Thanks for reading/looking/sharing!
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