New pool quote/estimate in Phoenix - sanity check?

[disillusioned]

Hi all!

We've been working through a lengthy design process with our PB and have begun some necessary landscaping work, but received our final quote for the project this last week and it's a bit higher than I was hoping, and so I'm just doing a bit of a sanity check and appreciate any feedback!

Here are some details:

It's a rectangular pool, 28' x 14', with an inset 8' by 7' spa in the NW corner, 4' - 5' - 4' depth. 12,000 gallons, 30' of step/benches, 10 jets in the spa, and a 5' x 5' baja shelf on SW corner.
It will also feature 2 or 3 MagicJet laminars, since I'm a fan of something a bit dynamic and it'll really work with our house. (Thinking 2 since it's a relatively small pool and they're pricey.)

This PB is boutique and only handles a few projects, and I've been really comfortable working with them and know they only use top quality contractors and they're going to really push fit and finish, so I feel good there. They've been at this nearly 30 years and are great to work with and I know they'll make it perfect. So there's that.

The estimate:

Permits/Excavation/Steel/Shotcrete, $17,550
Utilities (Electrical)/Plumbing/Gas run, some misc. $15,150
Equipment: $16,850
Water Features (had them break out the laminars extra effort/plumbing/equip): $5,750
Finishes, including interior, glass, and travertine coping & decking: $34,300.

That puts us at $94,385 with sales tax. That's a good $20k over where I was hoping to be, and I'm already going to make some downgrades to get us closer, but to provide more context:

Structural

• This includes 22 yards of Aqua-Blok, which is apparently a waterproofing material to help further protect the vessel itself but... it sounds a bit like a rust underbody coating for a car and I think I'm going to skip it, since it was about $1,200 more or so

Equipment:

• All Pentair
• Pentair VSF Pumps, x3 (pool, spa, laminars)
• Pentair Clean & Clear Plus Cartridge (might switch to DE, but same cost)
• Pentair ETI400 Heater (going to downgrade to MasterTemp 400 for $3k savings)
• Intellibrite Color 1x Pool, 1x Spa
• 3 Pentair MagicStream Laminars (again, dropping to 2, but this is what's quoted)
• Water leveler
• Intellicenter + IntelliChlor + Screenlogic
• Actuator valves
• IntelliPh

The equipment prices out about where I figured it would. If we drop down from the ETi, it'll be $13,800. Think we're going to do that because ETi is overkill for us.

Finishes:

• 84 lf Omez VC travertine coping (18" x 24" x 5cm, 50 pieces)
• 360 sf 6" x 12" travertine pavers (I feel like I'm getting screwed by the travertine selection they made; it's beautiful but evidently expensive af)
• Reinstalling some 200 sf of concrete pavers (just for a fair accounting)

Interior Finish:

• 84 lf waterline tile
• Floating all surfaces
• 15 lf spa spillway edge, 12" depth
• Glass Tile - Murrine Mosaics - paper face mounted, 5/8" x 5/8"
• Primera Stone (might downgrade to their PebbleSheen blend for $1,200 savings)

So my big questions are:

1. Is this completely out of whack for a high quality PB in PHX? Or about what you'd expect?
2. I'm having them break out the interior finish, glass, and coping and decking, because I think a LOT of cost is tied up in the travertine and... it's just waaaay too high. We're considering switching to turf anyway for the deck surround. Does this look high to you, or do you need that break down?
3. Is Aqua-Blok a bunch of Bull?
4. PebbleSheen or PrimeraStone? I really really like the ultra-smooth feel of the Primera product, but it sounds like starting it up is more complex... though it's much more durable for the long haul... might spend the $1,200 for that durability + smoothness.

Much obliged for any feedback! I can take some pictures of the plans and upload them as well.

 

[ajw22]

Welcome to TFP.

With IntelliCenter you don’t need ScreenLogic. The capability is standard in IntelliCenter. ScreenLogic is only needed for EasyTouch.

You really don’t need IntelliPh and with Intelliph it takes control of the Intellichlor.

Use a simple autofill valve instead of the Pentair Water Level.

Delete the water features and pump, delete unnecessary equipment, delete some of the high end finishes and you can be within your budget.

It is easier to understand where the cost is when you start a buildup from the basic pool, then trying to work down.

 

[NickCYC]

I can't add much, but Travertine is really pricey. I wanted travertine, but it put us completely out of budget. We switched to Flagstone pavers and it cut down the price a lot.