So, we met with a really awesome contractor this morning and he gave us some great ideas. We are definitely going with 20x40, as we have the room and it fits our yard and family really well. We are going to spring for extra decking. His standard price includes 4' on each side and 8' on each end. I think we are going 12' on the shallow end, 10' on one side, 6' on the other side and 8' on the diving board side. We will set the fence back 3' outside the concrete, where we can put mulch, pea gravel and some plants inside the fence to make it more aesthetically pleasing. That also allows us to expand and pour a little more concrete later, if we feel we need more room somewhere. His plan automatically includes a Pentair Salt Generator and a Polaris Pressure Side pool cleaner. Also, he does not do the aluminum coping, and only uses concrete or stone, which is what we prefer. Steps and diving board will both be grey, to better match the pool (I just hope they don't get hot because they are a darker color).
He uses Latham liners. We really liked the Grey Mosaic and also liked the Natural Grey. The Grey Mosaic is a little lighter, and I think they water would be lighter, which is appealing with smaller kids. We don't like the tans or greens, and don't want water so dark we can't see kids easily underwater in cloudy or dark conditions. This may be the hardest part. It's hard to imagine the pool without seeing exact pictures of the water. Really wish I could find a few good pictures of the Grey Mosaic. It seems to be a newer color and there aren't any good pictures out there that I've found.
I really wanted to install a gas heater, but after talking to the contractor, he said he could do it, and some people really want them. However, he said it would rarely be used, and he didn't feel it was worth the money. $3600 is not appealing if it'll never be used. He said it would cost hundreds to heat the pool when it was cold, and it may add a few weeks to each end of the swimming season, at best. I'm in Georgia, so I don't know what to do here. I'd love to have more use out of the pool, especially if it's just getting it up to temp when it's cooler in April and May, or in October. But, if it costs me a few hundred dollars to do so each time, I'm not sure how often I'd use it. Any suggestions here?
We did decide against the built in hot tub. He said that they are nice, but very expensive, and are harder to work on if there is a problem. His thought that they are more aesthetically pleasing, but he'd prefer to have a stand alone hot tub, if it were him. We could always add a separate one in the winter, if we feel like we really want it.
Other than the liner color, we are trying to decide decking. We want two tones, one grey as the coping around the pool edge, and a lighter grey or sand color as the concrete. Not sure if we should have colored concrete poured, or if we should have regular concrete poured and then we acid stain it or have SunDek put on it after the fact. We just don't want it to be plain Jane concrete, and want it to look nice and match the house.
Any suggestions or thoughts are appreciated. I'm trying to learn, but it's near impossible to do without ever having done this before.
