New IG pool in Nashville, TN

Green Goblin

Gold Supporter
Nov 5, 2012
120
Tennessee
Well, at long last my pool build is coming together.

Sorry I don't have pics yet, but will soon.

This is the general idea:

  • Inground concrete pool
  • 14 x 30 feet, rectangle
  • 3.5 feet shallow end, 6 feet deep end
  • Steps run the full width of the shallow end
  • One deep end swim-out
  • coverstar autocover
  • Jandy pump & valves
  • One Jandy LED color light
  • Jandy wifi system
  • Travertine coping
  • Jandy heat pump or gas heater, to be decided
  • Gray Plaster
  • Sundek decking

I have had pools before, so I know a bit about them, but this is my first build.

I'm not as familiar with Jandy products, other than their valves, as most of my previous stuff was Pentair. Any specific good/bad things with the Jandy line to keep in mind?

I'm a bit worried about using only one light, and also a bit worried about the lighting in general-- I don't want a spectacular light show. In theory it'd be cool if I could do a few colors as well as a white light, but I'm not trying to replicate a Pink Floyd concert in there. I have head some bad things about the LED lights breaking and needing to be replaced very often, anyone regret their colored light choices?

I have not had full width stairs before. Anyone have any thoughts on this? We saw it in a pool and my wife really liked it because in our previous pool (a 14 x 28 rectangle with small wedding cake steps) we often found folks congregating to sit at the steps, which wasn't ideal for folks coming in and out, and the steps were only so big. We liked the 14 x 28 size, so I added 2 feet to accommodate the steps a bit. The builder is charging us $1200 for the steps and the additional 2 feet adds about $3000 to the pool cost overall, so this is "only" costing us about $4200.

Ideally we'd do something like a 6 foot tanning ledge or something nice like that, but it would cost over $10k more if we went to 14 x 34.

I expect some of you are stunned by the cost and wonder who is ripping me off. Nashville is a very expensive market to build a concrete pool. A 12 x 24 foot rectangle, with white plaster, no real decking, and no fun options would be around $75k here.

I have taken 5 bids on the project. As I'm sure all of you who have done this know, each builder has his/her own unique pros/cons. The one we have chosen seem to fit us best overall. One thing that has stood out to me about this builder as interesting is that he said that he doesn't put in a lot of variable speed pumps because the increased cost of the pump isn't often offset by the energy savings. He admitted that prices have come down on VS pumps over the years though, so maybe it's more favorable now. I was surprised by this, but he's willing to do it for me, and I guess that is what matters at the end of the day.

Any other feedback on the build in concept? I know it's not a ton of details to go on at this point, and will try to update it as things move along.

Thanks!
 
Hey there Green Goblin-

My fiberglass pool is about the same as your desired pool. Mine is 14x32, full length stairs in shallow end. We love the stairs, the only thing I would do differently now is put the handrail on each side instead of down the middle of the stairs. Its just a visual thing. You can see pics of my pool in siggy line.

Jandy is about the same as Pentair, both good. Check and see if the warranty increases with the purchase of 3 or more pieces of equipment. Some manufacturers do.

You don't mention how you are planning to chlorinate.... please say SWG?!

I have two lights, and think you need two also. The LED lights cost an arm and a leg (IMO) and I think if they ever fail, I'd be happy with white.

My autocover is by PoolCoverSpecialists, the Infinity4000. I haven't had any problems with it in 7 years. It seems a little different than Coverstar from what I've gathered. Great to have, by the way!

Maddie :flower:
 
Welcome to the forums! As a former Nashvillian pool owner, I just want to say that when our Mt Juliet pool was dug (previous owners put in the pool), the crew ran into some of that famous “rocky top” Tennessee limestone. I hear they had to call in some jack hammers to blast it out and it ended up costing an extra couple of thousand dollars.
Excited to follow your build progress!
 
@YippeeSkippy, thanks for the advice. We weren't planning on having a handrail for the steps. Never had one before-- 3 pools with wedding cake steps. As for chlorination, yes SWG. That has been a battle here. Many if not most builders here won't do it. One told us that SWGs caused cancer, we didn't have him out for a bid. Our chosen builder doesn't mind at all about the SWG, a plus for him. I considered doing a tank and pump and using liquid chlorine-- the pool store is quite close, but as I looked into it, it seemed that the pumps have their share of problems too. Nothing is perfect. I've had an SWG before, and overall liked it, and figured that at least I knew what I was getting into with an SWG.

Thanks for the advice on the lights, and the thoughts on the cover. I looked over at those covers-- looks pretty cool, and 7 years of no problems for autocovers seems to be better than average.

@kimkats, the pics will come, along with the cold feet questions, I'm sure

@Sseaman, your response pretty much sums up the Nashville pool building environment in general, not exactly a buyers market, less than desired customer experience, incredible prices, and unimaginable weirdness. One builder told me that it would be 2 years before he could start on my pool, if I put a deposit down today. 2 years? He builds above ground pools. Our builder said 90 days from the dig if we have perfect weather. I wonder what perfect weather in Nashville even is.

@ Jodie, thanks! I think I'll be paying extra for some rock removal, hopefully less than $6k, but who knows. Looks like you've got a bunch of Jandy stuff showing up soon too!
 
thanks for the advice. We weren't planning on having a handrail for the steps. Never had one before-- 3 pools with wedding cake steps.

Oh please say you'll reconsider. I ruptured my achilles and had both knees replaced, and if I didn't have a handrail I would never had gotten in the pool! You never know when an injury will slow you down, or perhaps your parents or grandparents visit and would love to get in the water. As you age, balance is often a problem.

Perhaps talk to the PB about putting the cups in somehow flush and let you take the rail in and out at will?

Maddie :flower:
 
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