New construction in Houston, Tx ** Trying to complete punch list**

[spd500]

Thanks for accepting me to the group, here are the renderings of the pool we are building. I am still working through all of the details and trying to learn about the equipment and everything else. I am not sure yet if we will be doing the saltwater system, mineral system, or chlorine. I have decided that we will be doing the 400K Pentair gas heater and variable speed pump, but I am open to any suggestions that everyone has. Also have not yet decided on decking finishes, we are looking at pavers on the concrete, or tile, or just leaving it concrete, we don't want anything that will be too hot in the Texas sun and really don't want to redo it every 5-10 years.

 

[Dtkokay]

Welcome! When you have the list of equipment, post it here for feedback. Get the specific model numbers as well.

Skip the mineral system or any UV system. We get plenty of free UV here via the big bright thing in the sky.

If your pool gets a lot of sun, you may want to think about a chiller. You could add one later though, if you want to live with your pool for a season to see if you need it. My pool gets full sun until around 4, so I really appreciate having a chiller. Personally, I don’t like to be in the pool if the temp is above 90.

As for the salt system, your builder will try to talk you out of it, big time. I’ve managed my pool with tablets (what 99% of people do), liquid chlorine, and now salt. The salt system is by far the most convenient. Also, in case you weren’t aware, a salt pool is still a chlorine pool. It has an electronic device that converts salt to chlorine, which is converted back to salt. So it’s a self sustaining way to maintain the chlorine level in your pool.

How long did you builder estimate for completion? Pool builders are extremely busy right now.

 

[spd500]

We considered the heat pump to cool the pool, but are hoping that we will be able to shade it enough to not need it.

One of the main reasons that we are considering the salt system is that we have a few friends that have saltwater and are happy with it, and the water feels softer when we swim in it. We do know that it is still chlorine, and that we will shorten the lifespan of the heater and pumps with saltwater. One thing that I am hoping is that the saltwater will be easier to maintain when we have to travel. My wife's office is in Las Vegas and mine is in Austin, and we are often out of town for a week at a time.

The estimate for build time right now is 4-6 weeks to complete from the beginning of excavation, but I do not yet have a date for excavation to begin.

 

[Dtkokay]

I have a huge heat pump / chiller. The heat part works fine but the chiller is pretty slow and expensive to run. 6K per hour, or $0.60 / hour. That adds up quickly. I did the heat pump because it’s better at maintaining heat over an extended period, compared to a gas heater, and our pool is set up for lap swimming. I want to be able to swim laps most of the winter.

If you’re going to be away for a few days or more at a time, definitely get the salt water system! Once you have the % dialed in and the number of hours to run it per day, you can pretty much just leave it alone. You’ll still have to check water parameters periodically, but the salt system is by far the best for leaving the pool unattended for extended periods.

 

[spd500]

We were told that even with the heat pump we would still need the gas heater for the hot tub because the heat pump wouldn't give us enough temperature rise in the winter time to get the tub hot. That is why we decided to wait and see if we need the heat pump

 

[mjacks]

We are at about the same stage as you are right now. Maybe a step behind since we haven't selected the building from a couple options. I have been looking into Glacier Chillers. Supposed to be a much more energy efficient way to cool the water down a bit. Cheaper up front as well.

 

[Dtkokay]

We were told that even with the heat pump we would still need the gas heater for the hot tub because the heat pump wouldn't give us enough temperature rise in the winter time to get the tub hot. That is why we decided to wait and see if we need the heat pump

This is true. Unless you want to keep your pool warm every day all winter long, I doubt you'll ever need the heat pump.

 

[spd500]

I went with the larger gas heater just in case we want to heat the pool in the winter time, but we will probably only use the hot tub in the winter mostly and heat the pool only when we want to use it. My neighbor has the same heater that we are going with and similar sized pool and he said he can get his pool heated up in a few hours during the winter.

 

[Nectarologist]

Hi. If you have week-long absences I would also consider an auto-fill and overflow drain (the over flow is not as necessary). The only drawback to the auto-fill is if your pool has a leak you may not notice it until you get your water bill (if that's quarterly, it can be pretty significant). It's not much to install and you can always turn it off and only use for times when you are away for extended period of time. With your intense sun i'd imagine you lose quite a bit of water to evaporation & the auto-fill will keep you water level up at the desired level.

 

[HermanTX]

Welcome fellow Houstonian. Its a beautiful design
I have a Pentair 400BTU and love it. It heats the spa really quick. I have not used it to heat the entire pool, however I have a friend who did and said it worked well - although it was expensive. He did it for his grandchildren to swim in March when COVID hit. I also have a Pentair DE filter.
If you think you ever add a water feature in the future on that area along the lawn on backside, you may want to as a minimum install the pipework to avoid tearing up you lawn again. Just an idea for you to consider.
Overall it looks very nice.

 

[spd500]

The area along the back where the grass is will be getting a 1 foot tile wall added to match the hot tub, and we are considering a few waterfalls or something to go there.

The auto fill is a very good idea, I will have to make sure to ask about that.

 

[Dtkokay]

The area along the back where the grass is will be getting a 1 foot tile wall added to match the hot tub, and we are considering a few waterfalls or something to go there.

The auto fill is a very good idea, I will have to make sure to ask about that.

I would also confirm that you're getting an overflow drain. With the heavy rains we get, your pool can easily overflow otherwise.

On a related note, my PB set my autofill level too high at first, so that it was constantly running because the excess water was draining out through the overflow. It's easy to adjust, but something to double check on your own. The autofill is the same mechanism that's used to fill your toilet tank.

 

[spd500]

Just had a guy come out and flag the rest of the utilities, so hopefully that means we will be digging soon !!

I need to get out and build a pair of 6 foot gates for the builders to be able to get into the backyard.

 

[Hobbescom]

All good advice so far....here's my two cents. Make sure that your PB has gunite scheduled and locked in BEFORE the dig. We're in Katy and signed about a month ago expecting to start a week later. Houston area is running weeks/months behind on gunite with Covid impacting crews and the insane number of pools being built right now. We're probably looking at another 2-3 weeks before we can get gunite locked in. Luckily our builder takes the approach of not doing the dig until a few days before gunite so we don't have a huge hole in the ground for days/weeks on end.

 

[spd500]

We are supposed to be doing the steel and gunite within 2 days after excavation. This time of year I wouldn't want to wait very long at all, a tropical storm could collapse the hole pretty easily

 

[Stoopalini]

We started our build just a few weeks back. Plumbing finished up yesterday, and gunite is being scheduled for next week.

Here are the things I've learned along the way so far, and changes we made:

1. Autofill: I declined the $1500 change from the builder on this, but then decided I wanted it once the build started. So I plumbed everything myself for the hookup, and asked my construction manager to have his guys install the paralevel into the gunite. So instead of $1500, it cost me about $200 in parts and about 2 hours of my time. You can read my experience Here
2. Pour-a-Lids: I didn't even know these existed until after the build started. As soon as I saw them, I knew I wanted them for my skimmers and the autofill. You can check out my thread on these Here
3. Equipment Pad Size: I wanted an equipment pad large enough to support any future equipment I may want to add to my pool. So for a few bucks (less than $100), my builder is doubling my pad size.
4. Trim tile package: Thsi is something we added after signing the contract, and it was only a ~$300 or so changeorder. It basically adds accent tiles to the edges of the steps, tanning ledge, and benches in the pool. We thought this gave a nice touch to the look.

 

[spd500]

We started our build just a few weeks back. Plumbing finished up yesterday, and gunite is being scheduled for next week.

Here are the things I've learned along the way so far, and changes we made:

1. Autofill: I declined the $1500 change from the builder on this, but then decided I wanted it once the build started. So I plumbed everything myself for the hookup, and asked my construction manager to have his guys install the paralevel into the gunite. So instead of $1500, it cost me about $200 in parts and about 2 hours of my time. You can read my experience Here
2. Pour-a-Lids: I didn't even know these existed until after the build started. As soon as I saw them, I knew I wanted them for my skimmers and the autofill. You can check out my thread on these Here
3. Equipment Pad Size: I wanted an equipment pad large enough to support any future equipment I may want to add to my pool. So for a few bucks (less than $100), my builder is doubling my pad size.
4. Trim tile package: Thsi is something we added after signing the contract, and it was only a ~$300 or so changeorder. It basically adds accent tiles to the edges of the steps, tanning ledge, and benches in the pool. We thought this gave a nice touch to the look.

Your build is one of the ones I am following in hopes of learning more as we go through our build, it looks like it is going great. I will check into the auto fill link that you shared, $200 makes it sound much more appealing than $2000 ! Most things that I can do myself to save a few bucks I am all for.

We looked at the lids like those at the pool place when we picked out our material but I am good with just regular lids. We are not 100% sure what we are doing for decking or pavers yet. I am considering doing tile and installing myself to save some money on that.

Our space where the equipment pad will be going is long and narrow so we will be doing an equipment layout that is all linear and the pad will be 2'x10'. We are doing a similar layout as yours, but all of the piping will enter the pad from the end of the pad instead of the front, this will give me a wider walkway between the equipment and the side yard fence.

We are going to add the tile package like what you are doing, it is a really clean look and doesn't add too much expense. I am also considering ordering a few frog mosaic tiles for my wife to add maybe to the hot tub and the tanning ledge. There are tons of the on Amazon that are pretty cheap

 

[Stoopalini]

Your build is one of the ones I am following in hopes of learning more as we go through our build, it looks like it is going great.

Nice! Sometimes I wonder if my build thread is worth it, as I'm not really getting a whole lot of engagement on it. I'm glad to hear you are finding it helpful

I will check into the auto fill link that you shared, $200 makes it sound much more appealing than $2000 ! Most things that I can do myself to save a few bucks I am all for.

Definitely! I will say it cost me about $200 only because I already had a brand new PRV and cut-off valve from a previous project. Those add another $200 - $300 to the cost. If your home's water pressure is already limited to less than 80 PSI (about 60PSI is ideal for the Paralevel), you may not need the PRV though. My home's water pressure is up around 90 PSI, and we prefer that since I remodeled our master bath a couple of years back and added multiple heads to it. So I didn't want to drop my home's pressure down.

We looked at the lids like those at the pool place when we picked out our material but I am good with just regular lids. We are not 100% sure what we are doing for decking or pavers yet. I am considering doing tile and installing myself to save some money on that.

Makes sense. Keep in mind, you can put whatever decking material you go with into the pour-a-lid. Pavers, concrete, flagstone, tile, etc ... they all work in the pour-a-lids. For $35, we thought they would add a nice touch to the overall design. But you do need them when the concrete is poured for the deck, so the rings can be integrated during the pour. You can't add these after the fact.

I ordered them yesterday from This Place, and they were delivered today! This company is in Ft. Worth.

Our space where the equipment pad will be going is long and narrow so we will be doing an equipment layout that is all linear and the pad will be 2'x10'. We are doing a similar layout as yours, but all of the piping will enter the pad from the end of the pad instead of the front, this will give me a wider walkway between the equipment and the side yard fence.

Nice ... I actually thought ours would be more linear, but I have so much space around my house, I'm not concerned about it.

We are going to add the tile package like what you are doing, it is a really clean look and doesn't add too much expense.

Completely agree. It's definitely the little things which add up to create a quality looking pool

I am also considering ordering a few frog mosaic tiles for my wife to add maybe to the hot tub and the tanning ledge. There are tons of the on Amazon that are pretty cheap

My wife really wants a dolphin pool tattoo. I thought about the mosaic tiles too, but decided I didn't want anything permanent. This is our "forever" home, and don't ever see us moving .. but who knows? So in researching these, we found removable pool tattoos, which is probably what we will end up with.

Here is an example: Underwater Pool Mat



And here's the installation process:

 

[spd500]

My wife really wants a dolphin pool tattoo. I thought about the mosaic tiles too, but decided I didn't want anything permanent. This is our "forever" home, and don't ever see us moving .. but who knows? So in researching these, we found removable pool tattoos, which is probably what we will end up with.

Here is an example: Underwater Pool Mat

That tattoo is a neat idea! I will send that to my wife and see if there are any that she likes

 

[spd500]

Not quite the pool we envisioned when we started this process....