Good evening.
I have been on this forum for quite a while now. I have spent many hours reading and learning about all the various issues related to pool building and ownership. The information here has provided tremendous value to me and my wife. I am thankful that I found this place. Thank you all so much!!!
After exhaustive research, we have decided to move forward with our pool build. We are still very early in the process (we have done homework only). We have some sketches of what we would like and I have a pretty detailed cost breakdown of the features we’d like.
ryan-california reached out to me and offered some great advice as well and has been a valuable resource.
I wanted to post our concept project on here to get some critiques and advice before we move any further. Please feel free to comment on anything and everything.
Below is the current sketch that I will be using to get some pricing and advice from the two PB that I have short listed.
Family profile:
My wife and I are in our early 40’s. We have 5 kids (4 daughters and a son) girls’ ages 13, 12, 10, & 8; and my boy is almost 3. All of girls are active in sports. They always want me to play catch, volleyball, basketball, or jump on the trampoline. I love this and want to fan the flame of their enjoyment of sports and outdoor activity.
We live in Manteca, California (60 miles south of Sacramento and 40 miles east of the SF bay area). The weather is nice year round, but quite hot in the summer. We currently play outside in the spring and fall, but in the summer, we only play outside in the late evenings (just too darn hot during the day).
I believe in the “Cost-Influence Curve of Construction.” If you are not familiar with the term, google it.
The pool is part of our backyard master plan that we have been working on for a number of years. We are excited to start implementing it!
Project Goals:
1) Create a backyard that can be utilized year-round to keep our family active. Spring/Summer/Fall is swimming. Fall/Winter/Spring basketball and volleyball.
2) Create a backyard atmosphere that will draw us outside.
3) Create ‘hang out’ areas in both the pool and other areas of the yard for us and our guests to enjoy more intimate conversations and connecting.
4) The space should be as low maintenance as possible as both my wife and I are very busy. I am not a yardwork kind of guy. So I will likely farm out as much maintenance as I can. With that said, I read all the sticky notes on the pool maintenance forum, so I know that I will have to do some work (daily testing, sweeping, etc.)
5) The pool should be beautiful, but not at the expense of reducing quality.
6) The design and construction process should minimize the collateral damage between my wife and I. Spending this much money is stressful. So far we are managing it well. I want to set us up for success as much as possible which means lots of open communication.
Here are the current specs, let me know these any of these do not align with our goals or if you have recommendations in the areas where I have not yet selected anything:
1) Hire a quality Pool Builder who is willing to get down into the nuts and bolts of all of the details in this process. Thought about OB for a while, but decided on the PB route per Goal 6 above.
2) Size: 38’-6” x 20’ +/- free form, 104 LF and 608 sf
3) Depth: 3’-6” to 6’-6”
4) Tanning Shelf: split level, upper is 4’x8’ @ 3” to 4” water depth (room for two chairs), the lower level is 8’x7’ @ 10” to 12” water depth (room for two more chairs); (2) umbrella sleeves. I have not seen a split level tanning shelf and would love some feedback. This solves the problem of “what depth to make the tanning shelf” per Goal 6
5) Spa: 8’ Diameter Circular – Raised 18” with 24” Spillway
6) Plaster: WetEdge Premera: I would like a different color on the tanning shelf than the rest of the pool. One of the PB’s I talked to said that it would require a cold joint between the colors and that he advised against it. Would love some feedback on this.
7) Waterline: 6” Tile
8) Coping: Stone or Paver
9) Pool/Spa Heating: We desire 85 to 90 degrees in the pool for as much of the year as possible for my 5 women (wife and 4 daughters). Gas heating and solar heating – no product selected. I have a 6’x20’ area for solar collectors. Is this enough? I could try to stretch the area to 6’x30’ but then I start to conflict with Goal 6 above.
10) Cover: need some input. Heat retention is important to me.
11) Pumps: not selected
12) Valves/Controls: not selected
13) Filter: not selected
14) Lighting: no idea…
15) Cleaning system: In pool cleaning: PV3 or equivalent. I like the low maintenance aspect if it works properly. Read several posts were customers had trouble. So still not sure about this.
16) Additional Cleaning: Paramount O3 and UV Sanitizer: I like the idea of this. Anyone use it?
17) Slide – Looking at Paradise Slides – PS17 or PS27 (Residential Water Slides for In Ground Swimming Pools) or the Dolphin Slides equivalent. Would love some feedback on this. We will incorporate a rock or water feature. I will attach a photo or two of what we are thinking.
18) Decking: Pavers around the pool, then stamped and stained concrete around the rest of the yard.
19) Grass – Would love artificial turf, but just too costly. I got 2 quotes at $12.50/sf. We will likely do natural grass.
20) Other elements:
a. Basketball court will be either painted/striped concrete or possibly sports court tiles.
b. Volleyball court is half on the concrete and half in the grass. Not sure if this will work or not.
c. Deck around the spa will have a fire pit and TV.
I have been on this forum for quite a while now. I have spent many hours reading and learning about all the various issues related to pool building and ownership. The information here has provided tremendous value to me and my wife. I am thankful that I found this place. Thank you all so much!!!
After exhaustive research, we have decided to move forward with our pool build. We are still very early in the process (we have done homework only). We have some sketches of what we would like and I have a pretty detailed cost breakdown of the features we’d like.
ryan-california reached out to me and offered some great advice as well and has been a valuable resource.
I wanted to post our concept project on here to get some critiques and advice before we move any further. Please feel free to comment on anything and everything.
Below is the current sketch that I will be using to get some pricing and advice from the two PB that I have short listed.
Family profile:
My wife and I are in our early 40’s. We have 5 kids (4 daughters and a son) girls’ ages 13, 12, 10, & 8; and my boy is almost 3. All of girls are active in sports. They always want me to play catch, volleyball, basketball, or jump on the trampoline. I love this and want to fan the flame of their enjoyment of sports and outdoor activity.
We live in Manteca, California (60 miles south of Sacramento and 40 miles east of the SF bay area). The weather is nice year round, but quite hot in the summer. We currently play outside in the spring and fall, but in the summer, we only play outside in the late evenings (just too darn hot during the day).
I believe in the “Cost-Influence Curve of Construction.” If you are not familiar with the term, google it.
The pool is part of our backyard master plan that we have been working on for a number of years. We are excited to start implementing it!
Project Goals:
1) Create a backyard that can be utilized year-round to keep our family active. Spring/Summer/Fall is swimming. Fall/Winter/Spring basketball and volleyball.
2) Create a backyard atmosphere that will draw us outside.
3) Create ‘hang out’ areas in both the pool and other areas of the yard for us and our guests to enjoy more intimate conversations and connecting.
4) The space should be as low maintenance as possible as both my wife and I are very busy. I am not a yardwork kind of guy. So I will likely farm out as much maintenance as I can. With that said, I read all the sticky notes on the pool maintenance forum, so I know that I will have to do some work (daily testing, sweeping, etc.)
5) The pool should be beautiful, but not at the expense of reducing quality.
6) The design and construction process should minimize the collateral damage between my wife and I. Spending this much money is stressful. So far we are managing it well. I want to set us up for success as much as possible which means lots of open communication.
Here are the current specs, let me know these any of these do not align with our goals or if you have recommendations in the areas where I have not yet selected anything:
1) Hire a quality Pool Builder who is willing to get down into the nuts and bolts of all of the details in this process. Thought about OB for a while, but decided on the PB route per Goal 6 above.
2) Size: 38’-6” x 20’ +/- free form, 104 LF and 608 sf
3) Depth: 3’-6” to 6’-6”
4) Tanning Shelf: split level, upper is 4’x8’ @ 3” to 4” water depth (room for two chairs), the lower level is 8’x7’ @ 10” to 12” water depth (room for two more chairs); (2) umbrella sleeves. I have not seen a split level tanning shelf and would love some feedback. This solves the problem of “what depth to make the tanning shelf” per Goal 6
5) Spa: 8’ Diameter Circular – Raised 18” with 24” Spillway
6) Plaster: WetEdge Premera: I would like a different color on the tanning shelf than the rest of the pool. One of the PB’s I talked to said that it would require a cold joint between the colors and that he advised against it. Would love some feedback on this.
7) Waterline: 6” Tile
8) Coping: Stone or Paver
9) Pool/Spa Heating: We desire 85 to 90 degrees in the pool for as much of the year as possible for my 5 women (wife and 4 daughters). Gas heating and solar heating – no product selected. I have a 6’x20’ area for solar collectors. Is this enough? I could try to stretch the area to 6’x30’ but then I start to conflict with Goal 6 above.
10) Cover: need some input. Heat retention is important to me.
11) Pumps: not selected
12) Valves/Controls: not selected
13) Filter: not selected
14) Lighting: no idea…
15) Cleaning system: In pool cleaning: PV3 or equivalent. I like the low maintenance aspect if it works properly. Read several posts were customers had trouble. So still not sure about this.
16) Additional Cleaning: Paramount O3 and UV Sanitizer: I like the idea of this. Anyone use it?
17) Slide – Looking at Paradise Slides – PS17 or PS27 (Residential Water Slides for In Ground Swimming Pools) or the Dolphin Slides equivalent. Would love some feedback on this. We will incorporate a rock or water feature. I will attach a photo or two of what we are thinking.
18) Decking: Pavers around the pool, then stamped and stained concrete around the rest of the yard.
19) Grass – Would love artificial turf, but just too costly. I got 2 quotes at $12.50/sf. We will likely do natural grass.
20) Other elements:
a. Basketball court will be either painted/striped concrete or possibly sports court tiles.
b. Volleyball court is half on the concrete and half in the grass. Not sure if this will work or not.
c. Deck around the spa will have a fire pit and TV.
. Pool volleyball here we come.