New Build in South Carolina (Pics of site and a few questions)

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R

rawb

0
Bronze Supporter
May 3, 2017
164
Lexington, SC
Hi Everyone. As with many others on this forum, I've been lurking for a while but we are getting close to breaking ground :) I don't have nearly the amount of detail for this post many I've read, but hoping I can at least gain some knowledge and recommendations on a few things before breaking ground. I'm trying to make sure we make the best decisions we can early on...especially the ones that you only get one shot at making in the beginning.

I'm going to attach some pictures of the pool site in our back yard from different angles. We are planning to center the pool roughly in front of the deck and screened porch. We are fairly sure it's going to be a Matrix Pools Roman vinyl liner pool (16 X 37). We quoted with 4 different local companies and I got the best feeling from this one. He's been doing it for over 40 years, he is the owner and deals directly with the customers (no sales force) and has only one very experienced crew that does all of his installations...not multiple crews with a lot of turnover, etc.

Basically, we have a sloped yard in the back which slopes harder the further back you go. There is about 25 feet of sod from the house to where the natural area starts just to give some idea of scale. The pool builder is coming out in the morning to do a layout, shoot the angles, etc. and see how everything looks and get a better feel for how everything will be positioned. He isn't sure if a retaining wall will be a requirement or optional for aesthetics but should know tomorrow for sure. I'm not sure how I feel about the wall if it's not deemed to not be a requirement. I would certainly rather have it than not, but would love to be able to save that money. I'm just not sure we would like how it would look without a wall since I'm sure there would need to be quite a bit of drop off on the low side after the pool. Also worry about erosion, etc. going forward.

I am leaning towards a Pentair Intelliflo pump and IntelliChlor SWG. The pool guy prefers the FROG Mineral system over a SWG for the cost savings and has says he's had good luck with the FROG it for the last 15 years. I would love any advice anyone may have on this. I'm leaning towards the SWG since it seems to be the industry standard these days but am hesitant to dismiss the FROG system without at least a little analysis. I know very little about the sand filters honestly and I'm not sure how important of a component it is in the grand scheme of things. I haven't asked the pool guy which one he's planning to use with his installation. I also asked him about 1.5" or 2" pipes since I had read some articles that indicated 2" may be beneficial in some ways with flow rate, less pressure, etc. but my pool guy claims 1.5" is what he uses and that there's no benefit at all to going to 2".

I'm sure I'm leaving out lots of important information but hopefully this is enough to get the conversation started. I'm hoping to get as much information as I can since we could be starting the dig in a week or two and try to figure out what questions I need to be asking now that I may not have asked yet.

I tried to add more photos but apparently have reached my quota :/

Thanks in advance!

20170910_103446.jpg 20170910_103640.jpg
 
Welcome to the forum, I won't ask how you came up with your username ;) We went with a Matrix and are very happy so far(check out our build in my signature). I would definitely ditch the Frog (no love for them here)and go SWG, it makes it super easy to care for the pool. Make sure to ask if electrical hook up is included in your quote and also how many lights are included, I would suggest at least two with the size pool you're looking at. I would also think a retaining wall will be required with the slope but hard to tell in the pics for sure. One last thing get yourself one of the recommended test kits the TF-100 or Taylor 2006C I believe the other one is.

Salty
 
Uncle Salty said:
Welcome to the forum, I won't ask how you came up with your username ;) We went with a Matrix and are very happy so far(check out our build in my signature). I would definitely ditch the Frog (no love for them here)and go SWG, it makes it super easy to care for the pool. Make sure to ask if electrical hook up is included in your quote and also how many lights are included, I would suggest at least two with the size pool you're looking at. I would also think a retaining wall will be required with the slope but hard to tell in the pics for sure. One last thing get yourself one of the recommended test kits the TF-100 or Taylor 2006C I believe the other one is.

Salty
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Salty...thanks for the reply! Yours looks fantastic and glad to know that you're happy (so far) with your Matrix. So do you have cantilever with standard concrete?
 
rawbutt said:
Salty...thanks for the reply! Yours looks fantastic and glad to know that you're happy (so far) with your Matrix. So do you have cantilever with standard concrete?
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Yes, we have cantilever with brushed concrete. Standard was 4' on sides and 6' on shallow end and 8' on deep end and we just paid the concrete crew cash for the extra areas we added. Wished I would have added a couple more feet on both ends but it still works pretty good as is. Looking forward to following your build, when are y'all starting?

Salty
 
Ditch the FROG as it adds metals to your water which cause stains and green hair. Also very expensive to re-fill.

My pool costs are about $100 a year because we have a SWG which is a must as far as I'm concerned. Sure, we paid upfront for it but the convenience of being able to go on vacations and it maintains the pool perfectly for us (we also have an autocover which plays in to this).

My yard is sloped also and the PB did put in some retaining walls. You can see pics in my siggy line.

Maddie :flower:
 
Uncle Salty said:
Yes, we have cantilever with brushed concrete. Standard was 4' on sides and 6' on shallow end and 8' on deep end and we just paid the concrete crew cash for the extra areas we added. Wished I would have added a couple more feet on both ends but it still works pretty good as is. Looking forward to following your build, when are y'all starting?

Salty
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PB came out this morning and did a layout. I will add a picture of it if I'm able to. We'll know a start date soon but probably within a week or so. I know what you're saying about the extra concrete. We are going to try to pour all that we feel we'll ever want now rather than having to potentially add more later and not match exactly, etc.

bFuZeQ
 
rawb said:
PB came out this morning and did a layout. I will add a picture of it if I'm able to. We'll know a start date soon but probably within a week or so. I know what you're saying about the extra concrete. We are going to try to pour all that we feel we'll ever want now rather than having to potentially add more later and not match exactly, etc.

bFuZeQ
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Yes get all the concrete you can afford now. Also for adding the pictures if you become a supporter you get more upload space and also some nice discounts on items from TFT Testkits and a couple others, it's a win win.

Salty
 
Good job on becoming a supporter! It looks like you have a nice private spot there or at least it appears that way in the pics. Just spent the last couple hours in the pool enjoying this wonderful weather, water was 91*! Once you get your quotes be sure to post them along with equipment details PB is including so we/others can give you our best advice.

Salty
 

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YippeeSkippy said:
I'm impressed with whomever was able to spray such straight lines on the ground! Looks great so far!

<psssst! don't fall off that roof!>

Maddie :flower:
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Yeah, I was impressed with those lines too! The guy that did it has been digging pools since 1960 so I think he could probably do a layout with a blindfold on...lol

I was actually wondering about how feasible it is to move sod to a different area. Seems like it would be tricky, but maybe not. Would be nice to be able to not waste it because we were thinking about possibly bringing in some fill dirt and grading the area behind the pool for some more usable yard.
 
kimkats said:
Seems to me you could rent a sod removal machine. You can everything else so....of course I am not the one doing the work :roll:

Kim:kim:
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This is kind of off topic, but I can't decide about spending the $$ for the LED light kit or just stick with the standard. Seems like I have read one too many posts about them going out prematurely or not lasting very long. But sure would be cool to change colors and save some electricity. Then again if it went out, the savings would dry up quickly :/
 
This is YOUR thread so nothing is really off topic so long as you want it on your thread! :hug:

It is your wallet BUT I would do what I wanted now. See if they can set it up where you can replace the LED lights with a standard light IF something happens.

Kim:kim:
 
I think you hear about the ones that fail and not about the ones that don’t. Feeling here is that if you like flip phones, get the standard light!

Thanks for become a supporter!

Any thought given to lowering the pool elevation and doing your retaining wall on the upper side? The reason I ask is because then you get to enjoy the wall as a design feature and backdrop to sitting area instead of just holding up the deck on the lower side of the pool. We have walls above and below (though the lower wall is all buried). I don’t expect you will go this route but wanted to throw it out there now.
 
bmoreswim said:
I think you hear about the ones that fail and not about the ones that don’t. Feeling here is that if you like flip phones, get the standard light!

Thanks for become a supporter!

Any thought given to lowering the pool elevation and doing your retaining wall on the upper side? The reason I ask is because then you get to enjoy the wall as a design feature and backdrop to sitting area instead of just holding up the deck on the lower side of the pool. We have walls above and below (though the lower wall is all buried). I don’t expect you will go this route but wanted to throw it out there now.
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That's actually work discussing. I had thought about that early on, but then forgot about it for some reason and it never really came up during the layout the other day. I wonder why the PB didn't give that much consideration vs. putting the wall at the bottom? I will ask the PB about it tomorrow and get his thoughts.

Kim...thanks for the thoughts on the LED lights. I'm leaning towards going with the LED's and hoping for the best. Just seems like everywhere you look is another $1000 :)
 
You'll be happy with the LEDs, they really give a nice ambiance to the pool area. Speaking of another $1,000 will you be needing a fence around your pool? That was a lot more than I planned for, I originally budgeted about $3500 and ended up a little over $7,000!

Salty
 
Uncle Salty said:
You'll be happy with the LEDs, they really give a nice ambiance to the pool area. Speaking of another $1,000 will you be needing a fence around your pool? That was a lot more than I planned for, I originally budgeted about $3500 and ended up a little over $7,000!

Salty
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Yep...it appears I will need a fence if I want to keep my homeowner's insurance =/ I haven't even priced that but I had a feeling it was going to probably be more than I thought. What kind of fence did you put up and how many feet did you get for your $7,000 if you don't mind me asking?
 
rawb said:
Yep...it appears I will need a fence if I want to keep my homeowner's insurance =/ I haven't even priced that but I had a feeling it was going to probably be more than I thought. What kind of fence did you put up and how many feet did you get for your $7,000 if you don't mind me asking?
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I believe it was about 140' total length and 60" high, I think 54" high is min code in SC and we added a double arched gate it was just run of the mill black aluminum, God only knows what wrought iron would have cost. Hopefully you'll get a better price as you're in a bigger market than I am, I had a hard time just finding a PB around here.

Salty
 

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