New Build in Austin, Texas

[mlane226]

Hi all! We are very excited to be building our first in ground pool in the suburbs of Austin. We’re waiting on city approval and hopefully starting the dig early next month. We signed the contract but have not finalized design selections. We are able to make other changes (free of penalty) up until the work has started/materials ordered.

My husband recently handed the entire project over to me. And though I trust our pool builder I would also appreciate third party insight. My time to research is fairly limited these days.

Below are the specs, renderings and blueprints. We had a ton of iterations on the design so the included pictures are pieced together.

The biggest back and forth has been over the jumping ledge (raised beam). We are a family of five with a 9, 6 and 1 year old. My older kids love to jump so we added the ledge and widened the spa coping. With the jumping ledge in front of 4’ to 6’ water I’m not sure how long they can safely use it. I do, however, like the added elevation and water cannons.

We built this house as our “forever home” and want the pool to age well with our kids. So any design input is also appreciated.

Pool Size: 16’ x 42’ rectangle
Depth: 4’ to 7’
Filter Pump: Jandy 2.7 E Pump
Features Pump: Jandy 2.7 E Pump
Filter: Jandy Cartridge 850
Gas Heater: 400k Gas
Chlorine: Jandy Salt
Cleaner: Polaris Robot 9650i
Skimmers: 2
Inlets: 3
Main Drains: Pool & spa have dual safety anti-vortex drains, hydrostatic values
Autofill w/ Backflow Preventer: Poolmiser
Automation: iAqualink R/S6 Wireless
Pool Lights: 4 LED Color

Spa: 6’ x 6’ with spillway
Spa Jets: 6
Air Blower: Jandy 1.5
Spa Lights: 1 LED Color

 

[Texas Splash]

Welcome to TFP! A few things you should try to clarify and post back for us would be:
- Double check the model number of the filter. I'm not seeing an "850" on the Jandy site.
- What size Jandy salt water generator?
- Inlets? Do you mean pool return jets? If so, 3 seems low to me. I'd ask for at least 4, maybe even 5. I have six in our 16x40.

I'm sure you'll get more feedback as well. Thanks for posting.

 

[spd500]

I agree, 3 returns will not be enough unless you plan to leave the spillway from the spa on all the time. Also, I highly recommend putting in writing exactly what you expect the automation to be able to control. I told my builder that my wife wanted to be able to control the water features and lights with the automation system, now we are redoing the automation to allow her to be able to control "each" water feature individually and upgrading the control system to the OmniDirect system that has more colors and a ton more features. My builder thought he had met the requirement stated because we could turn the pump on and off and all the water features came on, and we could turn the lights on and off.

 

[mlane226]

SLAM Process

Welcome to TFP! A few things you should try to clarify and post back for us would be:
- Double check the model number of the filter. I'm not seeing an "850" on the Jandy site.
- What size Jandy salt water generator?
- Inlets? Do you mean pool return jets? If so, 3 seems low to me. I'd ask for at least 4, maybe even 5. I have six in our 16x40.

I'm sure you'll get more feedback as well. Thanks for posting.

Thanks for replying. I am clueless when it comes to pools. I’ll be sure to ask the PB for clarification on everything you listed.

 

[mlane226]

I agree, 3 returns will not be enough unless you plan to leave the spillway from the spa on all the time. Also, I highly recommend putting in writing exactly what you expect the automation to be able to control. I told my builder that my wife wanted to be able to control the water features and lights with the automation system, now we are redoing the automation to allow her to be able to control "each" water feature individually and upgrading the control system to the OmniDirect system that has more colors and a ton more features. My builder thought he had met the requirement stated because we could turn the pump on and off and all the water features came on, and we could turn the lights on and off.

I would not have thought about this!! Thank you for posting! I know the spa spillway is on one pump and the bubblers & water cannons on another. I assumed automation was all inclusive. I’ll definitely clarify with the Pb.

 

[spd500]

I would not have thought about this!! Thank you for posting! I know the spa spillway is on one pump and the bubblers & water cannons on another. I assumed automation was all inclusive. I’ll definitely clarify with the Pb.

Mine is the same and when we discussed the automation the build said I needed 3 actuators to control everything. I told him I thought we needed more because we wanted to control the bubbler, the waterfalls, or both, plus we wanted to have a pool mode, a spa mode, and a spillway mode. Everyone here told me that I would need more than the three actuators that he had planned, and they were all smarter than my builder. Turns out that I will need 5 actuators total to control all of these things. I am in the process of making the builder make the needed changes at his own expense, but only because I made him accept final payment upon completion instead of prior to completion like he originally planned in his initial contract. So, that is another thing to consider as well, make sure the draw schedule covers you in the event there are any issues.