I had a thread going asking numerous questions. It got lengthy, so I figured start a new pool build thread. We have hired a pool builder and pool kit was delivered yesterday. Digging starts in a week. 20x40 rectangle vinyl lined pool with cantilevered concrete coping. Liner is Latham Grey Mosaic and the steps, diving board and skimmer/return covers will be grey to match. I don’t have the full list available, but all equipment is Pentair. Pump is VS, SWG I upgraded to the IC60 (from IC40). I’m excited. Just ready for them to start digging. Good thing is that we are also putting a natural gas heater, so even though it’s the end of summer, we still get to use the pool for a few months after it’s complete. Still trying to figure out which heater to go with, so any opinions are appreciated. Pool will have automation, and the phone/tablet smart controls. Added 2 LED lights, so there should be plenty of light for night swimming. I’ll update as we go. Can’t wait to get started!
New Build... Watkinsville, GA.
- Thread starter mayberry32
- Start date
We initially started thinking of going with the Grey Mosaic liner with no border, as it looks cleaner and better. After seeing pictures of a few older liners with no border, they all showed fading much worse than any liner with the border. So, I think we've changed direction and are going with the border again. I asked some friends with pools and they all agreed that the no border liners look great, at first, but show fading much sooner, and look much older than they are pretty quickly. Do any of you have opinions on this? Should we stick with the border, or go without it? Coping will be cantilevered concrete with a 2nd pour to give a defined edge around the pool. Something like the picture below. Also attaching a sample of our liner for reference.
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I'm in NY with less of a season than you (i stretch it to 7 months) but my 7 year old liner has not noticeably faded without a border. Both myself and the Missus did not like borders so it was an easy decision for us.
Also if all your equptment is still going to be Pentair, i'd recommend the Ultratemp 140 heater to match.
Also if all your equptment is still going to be Pentair, i'd recommend the Ultratemp 140 heater to match.
I think I've settled on a 400k btu Pentair natural gas heater. Now just trying to find the best price.
Digging started this morning!!! As they are digging, he's asking me about the shallow end vs deep end. He said the minimum size of the shallow end is usually 12'. He recommended making it a little larger, which would take away from the deep end. He said he could go as far as 16' with the shallow end, and it still not be too steep getting to the deep end. His thought is most people hang out in the shallow end. I think cut it in the middle and have the shallow end be 14', leaving 26' for slope and deep end. 20x40 rectangle with 8' deep end and diving board. What are your thoughts?
My 20X12 foot shallow end is the same size or even bigger than most of my friends freeforms with extended shallow ends. My space is in the width and theirs is in the length. Theirs will always appear to have more but they dont Personally i prefer the 16 ft deep end to dive into. At 6'4" i hit a 12 ft slope with hard force. I have to consciously try not to hit it at friends houses. We bought a bunch of tubes/ floats for anybody who just wanted to lounge.
Also *disclaimer* 20x40 with a 12 ft shallow end and 8ft deep end is ALOT of water. My exact specs and i have 35k gallons.
So, would you recommend doing the 14' shallow end? Will that take away too much deep end?
It would certainly help both sides of the discussion by splitting the difference. You'd have 2 ft more on each side. For us, we knew the kids would grow into the bigger pool so we wanted the maximum amount of swimming. (Which is why we went with a big deep rectangle. Its boring and not resort like, but boy oh boy can you swim) The trade off was the 'smaller' shallow end. Which we discovered after the fact was still plenty big. Its also more maintenance and chemicals but i had no problems handling it as a noob. It probably worked in my favor as well. The larger the pool, the less likely it will swing into trouble with small occurances like one rain storm or one really hot day.
Thanks. I thought splitting the difference in 14 feet might be the best option, but I’ve never had a pool, and just want to make sure before telling him to proceed.
They hit a large slab of rock this morning and had to stop with the excavator. They are coming back in a few days with a jackhammer attachment and busting through the rock so they can finish digging the deep end.
They hit a large slab of rock this morning and had to stop with the excavator. They are coming back in a few days with a jackhammer attachment and busting through the rock so they can finish digging the deep end.
Like I said we ended up big. I never even discussed the slope location with my PB but we had told him we wanted lots of pool and he ran with it. Once the build started we realized exactly how big it would be. And at first the shallow end seemed very small but it was more of an illusion. It will easily hold 10 people lounging around and the rest can have more on floats. If anything I wish I went deeper in the shallow end. 3.5 feet is total depth. Loose a few inches because the water isnt full to the brim and it’s waist high. It’s a hair too much to sit and not enough to kneel submerged. So you either squat or half kneel/sit. If I ever do it again I will go with a AG pool depth around 50 inches in the shallow end. Kids can stand and adults have plenty to be good and wet.
So my vote is always for more/deeper pool but I understand if you choose otherwise.
So my vote is always for more/deeper pool but I understand if you choose otherwise.
So the rock they hit was big and the excavator can’t get it out. So, we have to rent a tractor with a jackhammer attachment to finish the dig. The pool just got $1600 more expensive. This stinks.
Ugh that sucks. Sorry. I guess we all have to worry about our regional hiccups. We were terrified anout hitting water. The neighbor's pool is freezing due to ground water and they built my house with a half basement due to where the water table sits. When the first scoop from 8 ft down came up dry we basically won $4k in well pumping fees.
Definitely not happy about it. But the pool builder is Paying for the operator time and I’m just paying for the rental. So, it could be worse, I guess.
Shirker
0
- Jul 2, 2014
- 749
- Pool Size
- 19000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
No pictures yet. I left for a short vacation yesterday. I’ll post some when I get home this weekend.
Well, they got through it this afternoon. Looks good, from the pictures the pool builder texted me. Sucks I paid another $2k for the same pool and I’m getting nothing extra out of it. But, at least it’s done and we can move forward.
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Shirker
0
- Jul 2, 2014
- 749
- Pool Size
- 19000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
A friend of mine recently went way over budget because of rocks too. They had to bring in some extra heavy equipment and delayed the build for a while.