New pool (first time) build in DFW (Current Phase: POOL COMPLETED!!)

[joel98z]

TimeLine
Early June 2021 Started contacting pool builders and reviewing proposals
July 17th 2021 - Signed Contract with PB2 (See quote below) Contract Signed!
July 20th 2021 - Downloaded and learned to use Pool Studio
September 23rd 2021 - County and City Permits approved
November 22nd 2021 - Excavation has begun!
November 29th - Plumbing
December 2nd 2021 - Steel
December 6th 2021 - Gunite applied!
December 8th 2021 - Tile Installed
December 16th 2021 - Electric Installed
December 22nd 2021 - Water Feature and coping installed
January 25th 2022 - Deck Forms laid out
February 11th 2022 - Deck poured and concrete stamped
February 28th 2022 - Fence Installed!
March 25th 2022 - Plaster applied
March 28th 2022 - POOL COMPLETED!!!!!

Time Lapse Video of Build

Hello everyone, my wife and I are very close to pulling the trigger on a new pool here in the Dallas / Fort Worth area. This forum has been an invaluable source of information, and so glad I found it when I did as we have zero experience with pools and this will be our first! We have talked with 4 different pool builders in the DFW area, and have narrowed the selection down to two different builders. I would love to get the forums feedback in the two quotes we are considering. Thanks all!!


PB 1 (Pool Builder 1)

Basics:

• 35'x17' geometric pool, tanning ledge, Wall with three 2' sheer descent, 3.5' shallow, sloped to 6' in deepend 120' perimeter, 676 sf, 24,082 gallons
• HotTub/SPA: 38 sq Ft, 6 jets, Master temp 400 Heater, 1 LED
• Soil Prep: Not recommending soil injections based off of experience in area.
• Structure: 4 bar box 1/2", Steel , 3/8 steel on walls and flow 10” inch centers, no documentation on thickness
• Plumbing: PVC Routed around the Pool, No heat bending, 2 drains, 2 skimmers, 4 returns,
• Plaster: Pebble
• Lights: 3x Globrite color LED lights
• Equipment: Pentair Cartridge filter 520, Pentair SVRS Pump, Superflo 2hp booster pump, EZ Touch 8 with Salt
• Sanitation: Intellichlor Salt Chlorine generator
• Pool Cleaner: Pentair Racer Cleaner

Decking:

• ~1085 sf salt texture

Payment Schedule:

• Down payment - 500
• Due at start of Excavation - 35%
• Due at start of Gunite - 30%
• Due at start of coping - 30%
• Due at start of Plaster - 5%

Warranties:

• 3 year Pentair Equipment
• 10 year Structure
• Unclear on other warranties based on paperwork we have

=======================================================================================================================


PB 2 (Pool Builder 2 ***WE SELECTED THIS BUILDER****)

Basics

• 35'x17' geometric pool, tanning ledge, Wall with three 2' sheer descent, 3.5' shallow, sloped to 6' in deepend 120' perimeter, 676 sf, 24,082 gallons
• Hottub/SPA: 56 sq Ft, 8 jets, Jandy JXi 4000 Heater, 1 LED. Looped plumbing to balance jet performance. VGB main drain for plumbing.
• Soil Prep: Soil Injections Included under pool and decking. fill gravel to separate plumbing from gunnite and to keep water from ponding under pool structure
• Plumbing: PVC Routed 24" under the Pool, uses heat bending, 2 drains, 2 skimmers, 5 returns,
• Structure: 5 bar box 1/2", Steel 10” centers. 8”-10” inch thick floors and walls
• Plaster: Pebble
• Lights: 3x Spectrun360 color LED lights, 1 LED in tanning ledge bubbler
• Equipment: Jandy 2.7HP circulation pump, Jandy 2.0 HP booster, 580 Jandy Cartridge Filter, Jandy PDA PS6 controller, Auqualink IQ20A
• Sanitation: Jandy Aqua Pure Salt System PLC1400C
• Cleaner: MayTronics Dolphin M600

Decking:

• ~1085 sf salt texture

Payment Schedule:

• Down payment - 1000
• Due at start of Excavation - 35%
• Due at start of Gunite - 30%
• Due at start of coping - 30%
• Due at start of Plaster - 5%

Warranties:

• 3 year Jandy Equipment
• Lifetime Structure
• 1 year workmanship

 

[HermanTX]

Hi fellow Texan. So happy you found TFP. Also great that you have posted your bids prior to signing the contract as that avoids going through any change process if you decide to implement any suggestions.

Nice design and layout of your pool.

On PB1 he proposes a SVRS pump. Those tend to provide problems based on info on the forum. it is a feature that is really not required. If you go with PB1 then just request a standard Pentair IntelliFlo VS or VSF pump.

Great in using a NG 400BTU heater and a cartridge filter for either PB.

Your pool is estimated to be about 21k gals. Therefore if you use PB1 request the IC40 or IC60 SWCG. For PB2 he is offering the AquaPure 1400 which is rated to 40k gals and is the largest SWCG that Jandy provides.

Ensure your 2 skimmers are independently plumbed back to the equipment pad and also use Jandy never-lube valves for ALL your valves. Sometimes PB's try to use a simple twist handle valve for control of sheers or other lines. The Jandy valves can be repaired whereas the twist handle valves have to be physically cut out of the pipework and replaced. So although the Jandy valve is a more costly to purchase, it makes future maintenance so much easier.

It appears PB2 pays more attention to detail. Also, did PB2 do any soil testing to confirm they needed soil preparation?
Since you are making an >$100k investment, it may be worth getting an independent engineering firm to do some soil samples and recommendations.

You did not highlight but do the 2 PB's have a different payment schedule? You may want to ensure you have some holdback payment till after completion of the pool and finalizing the punch list. This provides some leverage to complete the work before they move on to another project.

Keep us posted and good luck with your build.

 

[joel98z]

Thank you for the great feedback! I will definitely check on the valves they use

It appears PB2 pays more attention to detail. Also, did PB2 do any soil testing to confirm they needed soil preparation?

Yes, we are leaning towards PB 2, they were much more thorough in in explaining their build process and everything they do to differently from the competition. They provided a book (literally ) that also details out every aspect of the build process.
They did not do a soil test, but stated based on their experience in our area it is best to do it with our clay rich soils.

You did not highlight but do the 2 PB's have a different payment schedule?

Good catch, they both have a similar payment schedule. I will add it to the post above.

 

[joel98z]

We are leaning towards PB2 and are going to speak more with them on Saturday. If all goes well we will probably put our $$ down and sign a contract! Would love to hear any feedback anyone else has! and thanks again!

 

[HermanTX]

We are leaning towards PB2 and are going to speak more with them on Saturday. If all goes well we will probably put our $$ down and sign a contract! Would love to hear any feedback anyone else has! and thanks again!

I looked at your payment schedule. You should request that the 5% (minimum) - should be 10%, be held to completion of the punch list. That is after plaster. The PB will counter that other customers have not paid him at the end, thus the full payment before plaster. Everything is negotiable. Try to have some $$ amount held to completion. You can counter that you are trusting the PB that he does quality work and that he trusts you to make the final payment at completion.
Let us know how that works out.

 

[joepaiii]

We are leaning towards PB2 and are going to speak more with them on Saturday. If all goes well we will probably put our $$ down and sign a contract! Would love to hear any feedback anyone else has! and thanks again!

Plus they have the dream center or whatever they call that place. They are a pretty impressive company if it is who I think it is.

 

[joel98z]

Plus they have the dream center or whatever they call that place. They are a pretty impressive company if it is who I think it is.

Yes we were very impressed by their sales pitch, it was on another level compared to other PB we met with.. They were one of the first we talked with, and I assumed by the huge design center they had the price would be huge in comparison with other PB but it wasn't. Actually they had very competitive pricing as well.

 

[gingrbredman]

Lights: 3x Globrite color LED lights

For PB1, a better choice would be microbrites. Newer light, standard niche installation, and easier to replace if needed in the future.

Lights: 2x Spectrun360 color LED lights

I would guess you want three lights along a 35' long pool wall, pointed away from the house. I have three microbrites, and that seems like a perfect amount on a 30' wall with no dark spots.

Also, if you are leaning towards PB2 anyway, the limited warranty on the structure from PB1 wont be an issue. Only 10 years and PB2 has lifetime?

 

[joel98z]

Only 10 years and PB2 has lifetime?

Yep, PB1 told us the lifetime structure warranty is a gimmick and most likely any pool builder will blame structure failure on shifting soil.. At least in our area.

 

[joepaiii]

Yep, PB1 told us the lifetime structure warranty is a gimmick and most likely any pool builder will blame structure failure on shifting soil.. At least in our area.

I think that is true of most warranties in the pool industry but I think your number 2 is a safe bet in our area for a quality build. They are literally a selling point when people list their homes in our area so there is that. I would see which way the lights are positioned relative to your home and seating areas... always best to have them pointed away from those areas. Jandy has a great lighting guide ...

https://www.jandy.com/-/media/zodiac/global/downloads/sl/sl4572.pdf

Which will give you somethings to think about there. Also the amount of light gets to be a question as well... Pentair told me to shoot for ~4 lumens per sqft of pool surface. So for a 500sqft pool shoot for 2000 lumens of total light.

 

[joel98z]

Thanks @joepaiii !! I read through that lighting guide and definitely think I will need one more light for the size of pool

 

[joel98z]

Thank you again for everyone's support and feedback. This weekend we signed a contract with PB2! Project will probably not start until Nov-December time frame though!

 

[HermanTX]

Thank you again for everyone's support and feedback. This weekend we signed a contract with PB2! Project will probably not start until Nov-December time frame though!

Great. You did awesome job in updating your signature to include the equipment outlined in your contract as this will help when you have questions in the future.
Keep us updated on any progress.
Good Luck.

 

[joel98z]

Last few months I have been immersed in all things pools. Learning and soaking up everything I could and now that we have signed the contract, the big waiting game has begun. I was looking over the design and thinking to myself I would really like to see some fence options, landscape options added to the design the Pool builders came up with. I though about asking my PB if he could add that stuff into the 3D renderings so I could see what it would look like.. I am sure they have better things to do though.. I felt I had a bit of void to fill now that I am not going over proposals with a fine tooth comb. I am in the software business for a living, and I have been really impressed with the software all these pool builders use which is Pool Studio by Structure Studios. So instead of bugging my PB I went and download the trial version of Pool Studio this past Sunday. I was very impressed , it is very intuitive and easy to use (and expensive) .. Well long story short I signed up for a subscription and recreated the exact pool design in my yard the PB did and added landscape to my hearts content. Would love everyone feedback and ideas! The first phot is what the PB gave me, and the next 3 are the ones I created from scratch in my personal copy of Pool Studio.

 

[BigPapaSmurf]

Looks great.

 

[joepaiii]

Last few months I have been immersed in all things pools. Learning and soaking up everything I could and now that we have signed the contract, the big waiting game has begun. I was looking over the design and thinking to myself I would really like to see some fence options, landscape options added to the design the Pool builders came up with. I though about asking my PB if he could add that stuff into the 3D renderings so I could see what it would look like.. I am sure they have better things to do though.. I felt I had a bit of void to fill now that I am not going over proposals with a fine tooth comb. I am in the software business for a living, and I have been really impressed with the software all these pool builders use which is Pool Studio by Structure Studios. So instead of bugging my PB I went and download the trial version of Pool Studio this past Sunday. I was very impressed , it is very intuitive and easy to use (and expensive) .. Well long story short I signed up for a subscription and recreated the exact pool design in my yard the PB did and added landscape to my hearts content. Would love everyone feedback and ideas! The first phot is what the PB gave me, and the next 3 are the ones I created from scratch in my personal copy of Pool Studio.

Nice ! I should have done that as I was iterating through designs with my builder. If I ever build another pool I am going to live in that software and explore the space in 3d much more than I did this time. Heck with occulus maybe even one day they will enable a vr walkthrough option.

 

[joel98z]

Heck with occulus maybe even one day they will enable a vr walkthrough option.

They are starting to do that already. Check this out YARD - Augmented Reality Designer - From Structure Studios

 

[joel98z]

Ensure your 2 skimmers are independently plumbed back to the equipment pad

@HermanTX PB told me all suction lines are run individually run from pool to equipment area. Is this essentially what you recommendation is?

 

[HermanTX]

@HermanTX PB told me all suction lines are run individually run from pool to equipment area. Is this essentially what you recommendation is?

Yes. That is great.

 

[Mcow]

I think that is true of most warranties in the pool industry but I think your number 2 is a safe bet in our area for a quality build. They are literally a selling point when people list their homes in our area so there is that. I would see which way the lights are positioned relative to your home and seating areas... always best to have them pointed away from those areas. Jandy has a great lighting guide ...

https://www.jandy.com/-/media/zodiac/global/downloads/sl/sl4572.pdf

Which will give you somethings to think about there. Also the amount of light gets to be a question as well... Pentair told me to shoot for ~4 lumens per sqft of pool surface. So for a 500sqft pool shoot for 2000 lumens of total light.

Sorry I know this is an old post but just wanted to mention something about the lifetime warranties. They are almost all to the original owner only. Just went through this on our house we just sold in the same area and confirmed it with the pool builders we got bids from for our new pool that this is standard practice in our area at least. Just an FYI because all I had remembered from when we purchased the pool was a lifetime warranty and I was glad I checked with our PB before telling the buyer it was covered.