New pool build in Louisiana - design and build

[Da456789]

Hello all
We have finally decided after years of putting if off to go ahead and install an inground pool. Our property poses a bit of challenge since it a a 2ft slope where pool needs to go. We will need a retaining wall built around the pool and would like it to extend on the back of the property that cost along would be about 6-8K.
I have got 2 serious bids out of the 5 vendors that I have tried. One of the vendors with 42 years experience installing fiberglass and vinyl told me to go with a gunite pool with 8 inch interval rebars after looking at my site and soil conditions.

Pool finish -- diamond brite or maricite. Which is smoother? Which last longer?

Pool coping --- Limestone or cantilever coping with cool decking? Which would be cooler? Which would last longer and cause less trouble?

We are next to the subdivsion common area with numuerous trees so we get a lot of leaves and debris in our yard. We are going to probably have to run the filter on a slow setting most of the time so the skimmers will catch the leaves before they sink.

Pool pump -- variflow or 2 speed pump which would be best for the above use?

On the designs we like aspects of both so we have not decided on one yet. Thinking of adding a water feature to the first one and a swim out to the second one.

Any help or comments would be welcome.

Quote 1 First -Picture

Price $35,300
1. 265 sq ft Salt water pool 3.5'-5.0’ deep.
2. Plans and permits.
3. Liability and workers comp coverage.
4. Layout, excavation and form.
5. 3/8" Steel rebar to be placed at 8" intervals.
6. Shell to be a minimum of 6" thick.
7. 12" bond beam around entire pool with ½" rebar.
8. Gravel under the pool.
9. Hydrostatic relief valve.
10. ¼" poly void spacing caulked for expansion between coping and concrete.
11. Required grounding of pool shell, decking and equipment.
12. (2) Skimmers with dedicated lines, 2 anti-vortex main drains with dedicated line. All
plumbing within 35 feet included. Anything over is extra.
13. (4) Returns with directional eyeballs.
14. Customer to supply electrical to pool equipment location. Brian Keith Pools to
supply from there to all pool equipment including lights etc. (If my electrician needs
to run the supply line to the panel he usually charges me $2 per linear foot.)
15. Travertine Coping with customer’s choice of color (some colors may have additional
cost such as Silver). Other copings are available such as concrete, blue stone etc;
cost will vary)
16. Customer to choose waterline tile with $6 dollar per sq. ft. allowance.
17. Pentair Legend Pool Sweep with ¾ HP booster pump.
18. Plaster to be customers choice of "Diamond Brite" Watercolors. (Onyx, Midnight Blue & Ocean Blue will have additional cost)
19. (1) Pentair CNC 320 Cartridge Filter.
20. (1) Pentair Intelliflo Variable Speed pump. (energy efficient pump)
21. (1) Pentair Easy Touch 4 Panel.
22. (1) Intellichlor (salt cell system).
23. (2) Pentair Globrite LED pool lights.
24. (1) Pentair automatic water leveler.
25. (289 sq ft) Brushed Concrete with footing (there are other options such as Sundek,
stamped, travertine etc; cost will vary). Deck drain included.
26. (1) Year warranty on entire pool.
27. (3) Year Manufacturer’s warranty on equipment. Pool Sweep pump warranty is 1
year.
28. Lifetime non-transferable warranty on gunite shell.
29. All start up chemicals, pole, net, brush, vacuum hose, vacuum head & test kit
included
Retaining wall cost $35 square foot -- 180 square ft. needed est $6300


Quote 2 -- Second picture

Price: $31,601.00
1. 251’ Salt water pool Per Design Plans.
2. 3.6' to 5.6’ Deep.
3. Plans and permits.
4. Layout, excavation and form.
5. Shell to be a minimum of 6" thick with a 12 inch beam.
6. 3/8 Steel rebars to be placed at 10" intervals.
7. 100% 4 point required grounding of pool shell, decking and equipment.
8. (2) Skimmers with dedicated lines, 2 anti-vortex main drains with dedicated line. All plumbing included.
9. Pentair Filter Upgrade to Pentair 420 Cartridge) ($000.00
10. Pentair Whisperflo Pump - WF-26 1.5 HP
11. (5) Returns with directional eyeballs
12. (1) Pentair white pool light.
($435.00 Upgrade to LED Colored Light)
ADD Extra White Light $510.00 ADD Extra LED Light $895.00
13. (0) Benches
($350 for 4 feet $20 each foot after)
14. (0) Bubblers (0) Tanning Ledge
($95.00 each for each bubbler)
15. Cantilever Coping
16. DX3 Pool cleaner
17. White Marcite Plaster
18. (0) Feature Pump
19. Pentair Easy Touch 4 Panel with IC 40 Salt Cell Generator.
20. (0) Umbrella Holders
21. (251) sq. ft. concrete decking. (Spray Deck Upgrade $3.50 per foot)
22. (0) Deck Drains 1 ½ inch wide.
($100.00 per 10 ft Section 1 ½ inch channel drain)
23. (1) Year warranty on entire pool.
24. (3) Year Manufacturer’s warranty on equipment.
25. Lifetime warranty on Gunite shell.
26. (00) year warranty on Plaster.
27. All start up chemicals, pole, net, brush, included.
WATER FEATURE WALL
(8) Ft Wide by (15) Inches Tall
((1) 3 ft wide Sheer Descent
To upgrade to Super Blue Diamond Brite or any white base Diamond Brites Quartz Plaster) it would be an upgrade charge of $945.00.
Retaining wall cost $2000 per 20ft.

 

[redfishray]

Good to see someone else building in Louisiana. As far as your questions I can tell you marcite is much smoother than pebbletech etc and it is also cheaper however it won't last as long. For me smoothness trumped and I went with marcite.

I also have lots of trees...(oaks) near my pool and my single skimmer pics the leaves up fine. My Polaris (DALE) pics up 99% of what sinks and I only run my pump 4.5 hrs a day total.

As far as the retaining wall....I don't understand why u are paying per sq ft and not ln ft. Also are you against just forming the back side of pool level with the front so the back would be a decorative wall and the front could be your pool deck. Don't know if I explained it very well but i I'm sure someone can chime in.

Lemme know if you have any questions or lessons learned

 

[Helen203]

I like the water feature!

 

[Nursenini]

Welcome to TFP! Both are nice designs, water feature adds interest and that "soothing" flowing water sound. What are your dimensions?

 

[Da456789]

redfishray

I am using the retaining wall to stabilize the area behind the pool,patio and garage. The retaining wall would run from the pool as shown to the driveway on the other side of the property. Roughly 90ft.

nursenini

The pool dimensions on both designs are 12x24.
Also the wife and I have pretty much decided on a water feature.

 

[Da456789]

Hello all

Final design is below.

We we decided on the following upgrades , diamond brite plaster, variable speed pump, 2 columns added to water feature, sun deck decking added to pool and existing patio , and led light upgrade.

I would like to here from anyone in south Louisiana that has experience with a pool heat pump vs natural gas.

We are looking to extend on swimming season into November and open the pool in March.

Also so what is better on a water feature and coping Brick or tile. We like the look of both and are leaning toward an older brick that matches to our house.

Thanks

 

[JamieP]

The one thing about brick, especially if it is dark in color, is that it may get pretty hot in the summer. We are trying to choose our coping with that in mind, considering how hot it gets here in TX. A lot of people do travertine for the coolness, but it is out of our price range.

Nice design, by the way! I like the curves at the ends. They really give the pool character.

 

[Isaac-1]

I have solar heat, but strongly suspect a heat pump would be the winner in our climate for the limited swim season you indicated, particularly in a year like this year with a warm autumn, even with just solar heat, although on an indoor pool, my pool is still at swim temperatures, although just barely, and I suspect next week's clouds and cool front will be end of the swim season for us until spring.

 

[imperator]

I don't have experience with a heat pump, so I can't speak with certainty about those, but I'd be very cautious with going electric. Almost all of my friends/family in this area have gas heaters. The only one that I know of with electric (no gas in neighborhood) almost never runs the heater. They claim the bill is astronomical. If your main concern is heating and adding a few months of swimming, gas is probably the cheapest option.

I think (but I'm not sure) that one of the benefits of the heat pump is the ability to cool the pool. Pools in south Louisiana get very warm in late July through August. Some people like to get in a pool that feels like bath water ... I don't. The heat pump could be an advantage if your pool will have zero shade and you want a dark bottom ... but you'd still have to consider the high cost of electricity for heating or cooling.

FWIW, I have a pentair 400K heater and it takes about $20 to $25 in gas to run it 6 hours straight and that typically will raise my water temp from low 70's to the high 80's (rough estimates). You might want to find someone in the area with electric and ask them what they pay.

Good luck

 

[kimkats]

Nice design you have there! Good use of the yard!

Brick vs tile.......since there will be a water feature there I would not use the brick due to cleaning... Brick is harder to clean and remove deposits from. Tile is easier to clean with it being smoother. Just something to think about.

Kim

 

[Da456789]

Started the build today. Decided to bump the length up to 24ft. But when they where putting the end curves they went an extra 1ft on each end. So it will be 12x26. Coping and water wall will be old Saint Louis brick. Pool and existing patio will be finished with sun deck. Did not go with the heater at this time.

The yard is a mess will need to lay more sod once everything is finished. The excavation contractor spread out about 2 truck loads of dirt in the back yard and smoothed out all the ruts from the haul out.

 

[kimkats]

No one has ever said they wished they had a smaller pool so they did good!

Kim

 

[Da456789]

The final layout and a few construction pics

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[Isaac-1]

Is this genuine old St Louis or modern imitation, I ask because genuine "old" brick tends to flake over time. We have Old Chicago brick installed in the mid 1980's and are always sweeping up brick flakes at the base of the brick columns.

 

[kimkats]

Let the mud begin! No backing out now!

Kim

 

[Da456789]

Went with the modern imitation. We have colonial Virginia on the house but that was too rough for a pool coping. The old Saint Louis modern imitation blended in the best. I liked old canal street brick the best but I did not blend with the existing brick. The brick will be sealed once construction is finished.

We we are still trying to pick tile and plaster color.

We we are down to the following plaster colors. SGI diamond Brite colors. -- blue, super blue or Tahoe blue.

Here are is the website with brick samples.

http://columbusbrick.com/product-gallery

 

[Casey]

That is going to be a gorgeous pool. Please keep us updated with pics.

 

[Da456789]

They were busy last week on the pool despite the rain. The PB left a sump pump for us to keep running when it rained so the excavation would not fill up with water.

The steel was done on Sunday. The plumbing was done on Tuesday. The gunite on Thursday.

We actually have our pump, filter and pad installed.

The only thing that I can see is wrong is that some on the gunite slumped off on one the skimmer inlets. The PB said they will repair it with a Portland cement mix.

We have only had 2 days of good weather since the gunite. It has been raining just about everyday.

And yes Kimkats the backyard is one big mudhole. Even thought I knew it was going to be muddy I was still not prepared for the level destruction. It will be worth it in the long run. I am already planning for a couple of pallets of sod was it is finished.

Steel and Plumbing

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Gunite

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[Da456789]

We nixed the heater for right now. Talked to a few neighbors that have heaters and the cost is about $18-$22 a day or about $500-$600 per month to heat with gas. We will do a solar cover to start. I am looking into installing a solar heater maybe later. Since I have the Pentair easy touch system and variable speed pump it should only cost me the solar panels later on.

The only thing we have left to pick is the Sundeck color. The wife likes the Bone White and I like the Franciscan Tan. We have seen the bone white in person.

Does anyone have a few pictures of the Franciscan tan?

Also would the light tan be hotter than the white?

 

[Helen203]

Looks great!! I like the shape!