New Inground Pool in New York City!

[xrabbi]

Mid-way through constuction of new inground vinyl liner pool that we managed to tuck into a corner of our backyard in the Bronx. 14x28 rectangular (which is maximum size allowed in NYC without prior permit) with liner-over-steel corner steps and deep end climb-out bench. Pictures of contstruction so far, they are just about ready to begin running the plumbing lines. Electrician to come today to do bonding of the steel walls.

 

[xrabbi]

Current equipment setup includes:

Pentair Superflo VS pump (1.5hp)
Pentair Clean & Clear Cartridge Filter
Pentair iChlor 30 salt chlorine generator
Bowman titanium 200K BTU heat exchanger (to be plumbed to house boiler)
Inline zinc sacrificia anode
[Pentair Intelliph -- thinking about this but not currently included for initial setup]

The equipment will be installed in a corner of our garage, which is well below the water level of the pool.

We are not using lights inside the pool at all, too much trouble/risk, and going with tree-and deck-mounted lights around perimeter.

 

[jamjam]

did you have any worries of hitting schist?

 

[xrabbi]

Yes, quite worried since we hit some when house foundation was dug a few years ago -- but we did not hit anything other than some soft rock that broke up easily with ordinary excavator.

 

[jamjam]

what are they doing for the bottom?

 

[xrabbi]

Standard vercimulite pool base

 

[Newdude]

Looking sweet so far. Congrats !!

 

[guinness]

Are you planning on any automation, or just using Superflo for scheduling?

 

[Jdecast1]

Your pool looks great!

I live in upstate NY (Catskills) and am in the middle of a very similar build - 16 x 34 with corner steps and deep end climb outs.

I’m curious about what you said about the permit. I googled it because I was wondering if they limited the size of pools or something like that but it looks like they’re not requiring a permit at all if it’s under a certain square footage? Is that the case? That seems sooo unlike NY. Am I reading it right? Is it a pandemic thing?

Also how deep are you going? Did you do 8 ft? I love a good deep end

Good luck with the rest of your build! I hope you’re up and swimming soon. It’s been super hot and humid up here, I can’t imagine how hot it is down there!

 

[xrabbi]

Thanks, guys, latest picture below, they are doing the vermiculite pool bottom today. Jdecast1, depth is 7ft in deep end, the 14x28 is too small to be a diving pool (which must have minimum 8 ft depth). On the permits, New York City (as opposed to other municpalities in the greater NYC area) does not require a permits for small pools -- see write up at Permits and code requirements to install an in-ground pool in NYC - dominickciccarello.

 

[xrabbi]

One concern, though: as you can seein pic above, they used mostly the excavated dirt for the backfill. They put a couple of feet of gravel along bottom of whole front side (under where guy is standing in the picture) because that is where water will naturally flow downhill, but dirt everywhere else. The PB says he is afraid to use compacting equipment in the narrow space for fear of affecting the steel walls. So no deck supports, no gravel backfill and no carfeful compacting of the soil as it was backfilled. PB says to run a soaker hose all around the perimeter to assist with compaction over next few days. The mason will then top the dirt off with 4 inches of gravel and then bedding sand to lay concrete pavers. Recipe for disaster? Anything to be done at this point?

 

[xrabbi]

We are installing an inline 200K btu heat exchanger, with heat coming from zone off home boiler. All our pool plumbing is 2-inch but cold water inlet/outlet on heat exchanger is 1.5 inch. Is it necessary to upsize to larger heat exchanger with 2-inch connections or ok to use reducers going in and out of the heat exchanger? Appreciated.

 

[ajw22]

Reducing to 1.5” will work fine. Pool heater coils are smaller then that.

 

[Newdude]

It will settle for sure. Probably a lot, but if there is only so much they can do because of the lot size, it is what it is. Either wait a year for it to settle or go in knowing it’s going to settle.

 

[Jdecast1]

Wow! That’s interesting about the permits. I’m totally shocked.

I’m no expert but going from what the guys have said to me about settling, it seems like the recommendation was to wait until next Spring before doing much. Maybe you can wait it out for the rest of this season and start the pavers after the winter?

 

[xrabbi]

Thanks. You see any reason this standalone Bowman heat exchanger can't be heated directly by a zone off our regular home boiler (Weil Mclain 250K Btu)?

 

[ajw22]

It is an interesting application. I don't know how the costs and efficiencies compare with using a gas pool heater.

 

[xrabbi]

Our PB originally proposed pool kit without a main drain, just the one skimmer (14x28 IG). I said I wanted a main drain to enhance circulation and to allow for draining the pool. He said it would cost another $2,300, to which I agreed. Fast forward 5 weeks and pool is installed through to vermiculite bottom and backfilled, but two issues I see: 1. the two main drains are set directly into the vermiculite without their own concrete pad underneath: 2. the main drains are plumbed to the skimmer in a "combination skimmer" configuration rather than in a separate line to pump. So did I get anything of value for my $2300? Is there any practical use for the main drains? Appreciated.

 

[Jimrahbe]

X,

Well, for $2,300, I would have "assumed" they would have been plumbed back to the equipment pad. In my mind a main drain that is connected to the skimmer is almost useless.

I would see if there is time to move the plumbing back to the equipment pad..

That said, main drains are not really there to drain the pool, and thousands and thousands of pools work just fine without them.

I am not a vinyl guy, so not sure if they need to be encased in concrete or not... Let's see what @jimmythegreek has to say about it.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[jimmythegreek]

It's ok to set them in vermiculite but its much better to set them in a small cement form. I pour the whole hopper floor in concrete when doing the collar. The guy fleeced you on the pricing. That's a 750 dollar credit for no main drains attached to skimmer. 1k for a home run setup. If hes gonna hold you to 2300 make him dig up skimmer and home run the line. Extra returns do more for circulation than a main drain BTW