New Build in Round Rock (Austin), TX - Dig Started

[stodds]

Oh boy. Here goes!

We are in the process of selecting our PB. Designs are all pretty much the same, as they were based off my SketchUp with the understanding that I'm not a pool designer, master draftsman, hydraulic engineer, etc. Those finer details are in their hands.

One builder initially said that turn down beams on the deck perimeter (away from home's slab) and under the supports for the pergola posts (with rock base) were unnecessary. Just doesn't seem right. Thoughts?

Same builder doesn't believe in deck dowels (other two do). I suspect that this may be a bone of contention. Ok . . . deep breath . . Thoughts?

Here is some views of our "guideline" design. Don't feel comfortable posting the competing builders designs right now. Basic dimensions: Pool - 18ish by 32ish plus 8 by 5 shelf, Spa 7 x 7. Gunite or Shotcrete. 3 or 3.5 to 6 in depth.

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[twinkiesmommy2009]

Re: New Build in Round Rock (Austin), TX

Hi! For design it looks nice. I'd recommend not going any shallower than 3.5'. I'm 4'9" tall and our shallow at 3.5' is perfect. 3' would be too shallow even for me. My larger 7 year old twin can already touch there and my smaller one is close.

We chose to 5' and it's been great. Everybody can use the whole pool to hang out. 6' is deep enough for maybe some cannon balls but that is about it. Serious jumping/diving would need deeper. One question that really helped me was, "When you think back to all of the pool parties you've ever attended - where were the people?" Our answer was in the shallow end and on the deck so we built the pool with that in mind.

I can't comment on the technicals but I'm sure someone who can will be around shortly!


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[stodds]

Re: New Build in Round Rock (Austin), TX

Hi! For design it looks nice. I'd recommend not going any shallower than 3.5'. I'm 4'9" tall and our shallow at 3.5' is perfect. 3' would be too shallow even for me. My larger 7 year old twin can already touch there and my smaller one is close.

Sweet. My thoughts exactly, I too think 3' is too shallow.

We chose to 5' and it's been great. Everybody can use the whole pool to hang out. 6' is deep enough for maybe some cannon balls but that is about it. Serious jumping/diving would need deeper. One question that really helped me was, "When you think back to all of the pool parties you've ever attended - where were the people?" Our answer was in the shallow end and on the deck so we built the pool with that in mind.

Ha! I say the same thing. We told all our builders that we thought 5.5' would be ideal for the deep end, and they all came back with plans at 6'. "Cooler water" was one builders input. I'll agree. Now the question: by how much? Negligible is my guess.

 

[twinkiesmommy2009]

New Build in Round Rock (Austin), TX

I think it's negligible. Ours is 5' and we have the "black bottom pool" plaster that is a darker finish. It gets warm. I think that pretty much every pool in Texas has a pool though that can feel like a bathtub during certain times of year. With the bit of rain we've gotten lately we've even had some days where it was too cool to comfortably swim. My PB set us up with a feature run that she called the poor man's water cooler and runs the spa as a heavy waterfall. Definitely lowers t a few degrees overnight.

How tall is your family?


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[daddymack]

Re: New Build in Round Rock (Austin), TX

18 wide is huge, you may want to drop that a little to give yourself more patio closer to the house, assuming you placed the pool where you did because of set backs... also on your shelf, check to see what local code is as to how deep you can go without a step... ours is 11 inches, which means that from the top of the deck to the bottom of the wet deck can be no more than that without a step (which leaves (11-2(deck)-3(tile)) 6 inch water depth.. also be sure 5 ft is long enough for what ever chairs you want to out on the wet deck... I am sure the experts will chime in on the other issues, like light placement, VS pumps, bubblers, etc...

 

[stodds]

Re: New Build in Round Rock (Austin), TX

How tall is your family?

daughter (youngest / shortest) is 4'9", Wife 5'5", I 5'10", & son -- moved out so he doesn't count -- he's 5'9".

So, yeah. I like 3.5'. Still thinking 5.5' in deep, though. . .

 

[stodds]

Re: New Build in Round Rock (Austin), TX

Any expert comments on the turn down beams and deck dowels from the first post in this thread?

 

[twinkiesmommy2009]

Re: New Build in Round Rock (Austin), TX

daughter (youngest / shortest) is 4'9", Wife 5'5", I 5'10", & son -- moved out so he doesn't count -- he's 5'9".

So, yeah. I like 3.5'. Still thinking 5.5' in deep, though. . .

My husband is 5'9". He originally wanted 6' and then wanted to split the difference with me and go 5.5'. After a lot of research and polling we decided on 5' and crossed our fingers. It's been perfect and the feedback we get from our 6' plus friends even is that it's a great depth because they can stand comfortably. Your daughter and wife won't be able to use the 5.5' at all and it's still to shallow for jumping.

I would recommend getting out a tape measure and seeing what different depths are on all of you. Also, if there is a neighborhood or neighbor/friend's pool you can get in and experience the depths that may help also. I'd welcome you all over but we may be a bit far. Lol. If you're ever in Cypress, TX you're welcome to come try out our depths!


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[stodds]

Re: New Build in Round Rock (Austin), TX

Besides the chlorinator, any comments on the PB's list of equipment? Any red flags? Obviously, not going with SWCG. Unfortunately, the natural materials that we like for our pool won't stand up to the salt.

 Heater Jnady LXI
 Pool Pump: Jandy HP: 2.0 / dual speed
 Filter: Jandy DEV 60
 Auto Water leveler Pool Miser
 Back Wash Valve: Jandy Multiport
 Chlorinator: 320 Chlorinator In-line
 Polaris Vac Sweep: Polaris 280
 Cleaner Pump: Jandy booster pump
 Sanitation: TBD
 Pool Computer: Jandy RS8

 

[bmoreswim]

New Build in Round Rock (Austin), TX - Equipment Comments Requested

I won't push it but do you have any interest in being talked into a SWCG despite your natural materials?
Despite very common PB hysteria on the subject we almost never see any degradation whatsoever related to salt.
All one supplier is good, though for the heater, Raypak gets consistently high marks and might be worth getting other thoughts from folks here on that one.
Are you wedded to a cleaner that requires a booster? That's not the most efficient option long term. Robots are the future. Some of the Maytronics Dolphin units get very high marks here too.

 

[stodds]

Re: New Build in Round Rock (Austin), TX - Equipment Comments Requested

I won't push it but do you have any interest in being talked into a SWCG despite your natural materials?
Despite very common PB hysteria on the subject we almost never see any degradation whatsoever related to salt.
All one supplier is good, though for the heater, Raypak gets consistently high marks and might be worth getting other thoughts from folks here on that one.
Are you wedded to a cleaner that requires a booster? That's not the most efficient option long term. Robots are the future. Some of the Maytronics Dolphin units get very high marks here too.

I know I'm fairly new here (as far as actual membership date). But, I've been lurking for quite a while now. I've researched the SWCG vs. limestone on this site for some time. One thing is for sure: there really is no consensus that I can find. I'm aware of the ideas of keeping things rinsed off, etc. But, for the amount of money I'm going to drop on this pool, I'll admit, I'm scared. Then, there's the equipment wear argument. On both counts (limestone and equipment) it is really difficult to understand who has empirical evidence vs. opinion vs. an axe to grind with salt (read: purveyors of chlorine / tri-chlor pushers).

Having said all that, I really, really, really wanted to go salt. At one point I even had the conversation with my wife that we'd just screw it, we'll try it. Should we decide to go the salt route down the road, I understand the expense will be a bit higher then, but not impossible to add the SWCG, right?

Also, thank you for your input on booster pump. I really struggled with that as well. OK . . . Off to over-analyze the boat loads of posts regarding the subject. Oh, and .

 

[Jimrahbe]

Re: New Build in Round Rock (Austin), TX - Equipment Comments Requested

Chris,

In my mind, there are only two low maintenance pool options.. SWCG or Stenner.

If you have ruled out a SWCG, then I recommend going with a Stenner. I'm sure you already know, if you've been hanging around here for very long, but just in case.. A Stenner pump system injects a controlled amount of liquid chlorine into your pool, just like a SWCG does, but no Saltwater is involved.

I doubt your PB even knows what a Stenner is, but you can ask.

In a way, it is funny that you don't want a saltwater pool because of the damage your PB claims, without any real evidence to back him up, but you are willing to use a chlorinator with 3" tabs, when there is a mountain of evidence as to why that is an unwise thing to do.

And you are correct, a SWCG or Stenner, can be installed after the PB is long gone, without a lot of effort, if you are at all handy at DIY..

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[stodds]

Re: New Build in Round Rock (Austin), TX - Equipment Comments Requested

In a way, it is funny that you don't want a saltwater pool because of the damage your PB claims, without any real evidence to back him up, but you are willing to use a chlorinator with 3" tabs, when there is a mountain of evidence as to why that is an unwise thing to do.

Jim - I can see why you'd find the humor in that! But, I'm not willing to use the chlorinator. That's why my post leads off with "Besides the chlorinator." But, alas, I cut-n-pasted the whole list instead of removing that before posting. Could've avoided confusion that way. FWIW, the PB didn't make the damage claims.

Will likely start with a stenner pump. Maybe when I get tired of buying (so much) bleach, I'll look into adding the SWCG. Try as I might, I can't find any threads that defend the use of salt with our soft Texas limestone (Lueders) where there isn't contention. Maybe you're right and maybe everyone against it sells chlorine. This is a huge struggle for us, because we want to "go salt" but we are dropping a huge sum of cash that we worked hard to save, and are simply afraid. Fear doesn't normally make our decisions. We also don't normally drop that kind of money in the backyard.

I see lots of case studies done on these forums. Has anyone done salt v. limestone against a control? Is there a thread that I need to read that will convince me?

Bottom line. I'd rather have a SWCG.

 

[Marlahoutex]

Re: New Build in Round Rock (Austin), TX - Equipment Comments Requested

You might also consider a robot instead of the Polaris.

 

[Jimrahbe]

Re: New Build in Round Rock (Austin), TX - Equipment Comments Requested

Jim - I can see why you'd find the humor in that! But, I'm not willing to use the chlorinator. That's why my post leads off with "Besides the chlorinator." But, alas, I cut-n-pasted the whole list instead of removing that before posting. Could've avoided confusion that way. FWIW, the PB didn't make the damage claims.

Will likely start with a stenner pump. Maybe when I get tired of buying (so much) bleach, I'll look into adding the SWCG. Try as I might, I can't find any threads that defend the use of salt with our soft Texas limestone (Lueders) where there isn't contention. Maybe you're right and maybe everyone against it sells chlorine. This is a huge struggle for us, because we want to "go salt" but we are dropping a huge sum of cash that we worked hard to save, and are simply afraid. Fear doesn't normally make our decisions. We also don't normally drop that kind of money in the backyard.

I see lots of case studies done on these forums. Has anyone done salt v. limestone against a control? Is there a thread that I need to read that will convince me?

Bottom line. I'd rather have a SWCG.

Chris,

I think you'd be very happy with the Stenner. Sorry, but I completely missed the idea behind your original "besides the chlorinator" point. Makes sense now...

I too, would use a Robot over a pressure cleaner, any day of the week.

Jim R.

 

[And5555]

Re: New Build in Round Rock (Austin), TX - Equipment Comments Requested

We struggled with the salt with stone for a long time as we are also here in Austin.

At the end of the day, it's clear that pool builders make way too big of a deal about it, but it's unclear whether there will be any damage in, say, 5 years. It's also pretty evidence-based that soft stones can show deterioration from salt (i.e. Limestone).

All that being said, Leuder is not a soft stone like limestone. It is more dence, consisting of layers but ends up being very hard and not subject to deterioration like normal limestone. Many builders will actually recommend Leuders with salt because it is a pretty hard stone. Oklahoma flagstone is also hard. Will they show signs in 10 years? Who knows? In 10 years, though, maybe there are just a couple spots that you don't even care about, or worse case, you spend $3000 to replace the coping. If you use a sealer, it really shouldn't be an issue, especially if you go with a heavy duty one like 40SK.

For me, I really just wanted salt and natural stone, so it was worth the risk. I also ended up paying huge bucks to go with quartzite because it's uber-hard and beautiful. That raised our cost a lot, but even so we would have gone with a Leuder as our backup option (Leuder only cost like $500 per ton and our pool would need 2 tons).

FWIW, our other option we had explored initially was cantilevered (concrete) coping stamped to look like stone (SunStone/KoolStone, I think - from companies that do Kool deck and Sun deck). We just weren't sure if it would look fake as we couldn't vision it enough. Another option we explored was pavers. They make some pavers that look very close to Leuder.

The main thing I like about my salt pool is that I don't need to mess with it much. I check the chlorine level every now and then but don't need to do anything with it. Only thing I need to do is add acid about once a week (first year ph rises more) - also considered getting ph-Tek to do my acid for me for $500. Thought I'd wait on that one. I'm super lazy, so for me these things are nice. Stennar pump for liquid chlorine would accomplish similar goal.

The second benefit I've seen with the salt pool is the improved feeling (perhaps mostly psychological) about salt water. Everybody that swims at our pool is overly excited that it's a salt water pool. It has a super positive vibe that I think will even help with value on resell due to perceived value.

Many people that I know did a chlorine pool with tablets and gave up on maintenance after the second algae outbreak. I have found the effort to be so low and only had one slightly green color when I discovered that the salt cell didn't have enough flow since my filter needed to be back washed.

Hope this helps.

 

[daddymack]

Re: New Build in Round Rock (Austin), TX - Equipment Comments Requested

I just got this stone.. unaffected by saltwater.. as it was born there... and looks like travertine, or marble in some versions of this stone.... oh and does not get hot!!

Coquina Stone PTrading

 

[stodds]

Re: New Build in Round Rock (Austin), TX - Equipment Comments Requested

The dig has begun. Pool builder going on honeymoon tomorrow. I'm happy for him . . . Oh well. I knew this when I chose him. Delays.

Ceremonial ground breaking complete:



Bringing in the big gun with jackhammer attachment.



What a mess. Oh, the rock!



Rock layer at 2'. Good news? Just soft limestone. Tat - tat - tat - tat. Sorry neighbors!

 

[skylar18]

Welcome fellow Austin Pool Builder.

I have the Jandy heater and it works great. I preferred all my equipment to be the same. Also I have natural stone and salt and not a single issue. My Austin Builder did not try to talk me out of salt either.

 

[stodds]

Welcome fellow Austin Pool Builder.

I have the Jandy heater and it works great. I preferred all my equipment to be the same. Also I have natural stone and salt and not a single issue. My Austin Builder did not try to talk me out of salt either.

Thanks for taking the time to reply. Holy cow. . . I'm on page 9 of your documented build. Now I'm scared! I'm enjoying(?) the read. I guess. Sort of. Sure is pretty though!