New Pool quotes in the Indian River County SE Florida area

[comet155]

No pool yet, but trying to start!
The pool builders in our area (there are at least 4 good ones per neighbors, no one registered on BBB) are so backed up that half aren't even returning calls for estimates. Typical time from contract to build is nearly a year.
Costs I am being quoted by 2 of the builders I can reach are 80-95k for the following; ( without them looking at the site)
Gunite kidney shape inground comparable to 14'x28'
deep end 6 ft
8 ft sun shelf with steps
600-700 sq ft concrete paver decking
child safety fence
screened enclosure
heater
pool hardware / plumbing (no idea on brands of pumps or filters or sizes)
tile at waterline (standard, no upgrades)
no other details available yet... first stage was a quote via email for both.

Things they aren't aware of yet... taking down an existing vinyl fence for access and putting it back up, removing irrigation system at dig site. I had thought our pool build would be in the neighborhood of 70-80k with a waterfall, bubblers, and all in. The neighbors with more recent builds, within the last year, paid between 50-65 with screened enclosures, no sun shelf, 5ft depth. In your opinion, have costs really gone up that much or are these guys so overloaded with work that they are quoting outrageous rates in hopes I will go away? Are straight pools or L-shaped less expensive than kidney / freeform shaped?

A little about my neighborhood, it is a non HOA neighborhood, completely flat quarter acre yards standard, at least a quarter of the homes in the neighborhood have inground pools.

Thanks in advance!


We were thinking similar to the one below, without the spa, adding a screened enclosure.

 

[setsailsoon]

Based on what I've seen over last two years for my OB house and pool the answer is a little of both. Supply chain and even more so labor shortages are limiting production. Since they can't build as many pools they have to raise gross margin even to keep profits flat. There is some light at the end of the tunnel but once vendors and contractors raise margin they fight to give it up very slowly. It will happen but it takes time. Here's some interesting info:

• I couldn't get a commitment for concrete at all during first half of 2021
• My trusses took longer to get than the entire home build... most major suppliers are still 8 month delivery.
• Concrete had a huge increase end of '21 and a 20% price increase has been announced for July. That makes close to 50% this year so far.
• Lumber is trending down slightly but still very volitille and still over 2x normal
• Steel is about 3-5x normal pre-covid
• NAHB reported 20% increase in costs year over year. I've seen 22%
• Bids from suppliers and contractors include very limited validity periods. Average is about 14 days and if you don't select/award there is serious risk of price increase.
• Drywall goes up 20% after May 30
• Appliance deliveries are getting better except for certain high end brands like Wolf (still 12 months)

Delivery schedules were crazy long but have gotten much better in several areas like plumbing, HVAC equipment. But certain things somewhat random like flexible duct work are very hard to find. Transformers and some styles of meter boxes are 34+ weeks. The only way to be somewhat successful is to bird dog the daylights out of everything. Many builders are not prepared to do this so they suffer delays and blame it on "supply chain" when half the problem was their own lack of attention.

So I've asked myself many times why am I doing this now? Answer is I don't see it changing a lot for a very long time. With inflation nipping at our heels I just don't see actual prices declining without a deep recession - definitely don't want that. So I'm slogging it out and celebrating mini-milestones and trying to hang on tight to schedule by being the squeaky hinge with every supplier. So far after the restart last Dec I've only lost 1 week. Today I just got all the upper bond beams poured and did final inspection of my trusses. Everything looked great and we rig up the crane on Thursday.

This is probably more than you asked about but I think its reality for your builder or you if you go OB. The days of pre-covid pricing are not likely to return.

Chris

 

[Casey]

That price for that size pool sounds about right. You could have gotten the pool pictured for that price about 3-5 years ago. Every year it seems like its getting worse. I put in a fiberglass pool late last year n my builder to me my pool "as is" now has $100k+ price tag.

 

[KfenTx]

I feel like prices are going up by the week. We're doing a "DIY" vinyl liner pool and I started researching/pricing about a year ago. I think the pool kit cost around $10k more when we finally purchased in February than when I started looking. Our concrete guy told us prices were only good for one week because his materials keep increasing.

DIY is NOT for everybody but can save you serious money. Our 20x44, 8ft deep with 6ft tanning ledge, diving board, heat/cool pump pool will cost 80-85k in total. That includes the $10k autocover, startup chemicals, salt, repairing the irrigation system and having subbed out a fair bit of the heavy labor (excavation, concrete, bottom finishing). If you could/would do more of that yourself you can save a significant chunk.

 

[comet155]

Based on what I've seen over last two years for my OB house and pool the answer is a little of both. Supply chain and even more so labor shortages are limiting production. Since they can't build as many pools they have to raise gross margin even to keep profits flat. There is some light at the end of the tunnel but once vendors and contractors raise margin they fight to give it up very slowly. It will happen but it takes time. Here's some interesting info:

• I couldn't get a commitment for concrete at all during first half of 2021
• My trusses took longer to get than the entire home build... most major suppliers are still 8 month delivery.
• Concrete had a huge increase end of '21 and a 20% price increase has been announced for July. That makes close to 50% this year so far.
• Lumber is trending down slightly but still very volitille and still over 2x normal
• Steel is about 3-5x normal pre-covid
• NAHB reported 20% increase in costs year over year. I've seen 22%
• Bids from suppliers and contractors include very limited validity periods. Average is about 14 days and if you don't select/award there is serious risk of price increase.
• Drywall goes up 20% after May 30
• Appliance deliveries are getting better except for certain high end brands like Wolf (still 12 months)

Delivery schedules were crazy long but have gotten much better in several areas like plumbing, HVAC equipment. But certain things somewhat random like flexible duct work are very hard to find. Transformers and some styles of meter boxes are 34+ weeks. The only way to be somewhat successful is to bird dog the daylights out of everything. Many builders are not prepared to do this so they suffer delays and blame it on "supply chain" when half the problem was their own lack of attention.

So I've asked myself many times why am I doing this now? Answer is I don't see it changing a lot for a very long time. With inflation nipping at our heels I just don't see actual prices declining without a deep recession - definitely don't want that. So I'm slogging it out and celebrating mini-milestones and trying to hang on tight to schedule by being the squeaky hinge with every supplier. So far after the restart last Dec I've only lost 1 week. Today I just got all the upper bond beams poured and did final inspection of my trusses. Everything looked great and we rig up the crane on Thursday.

This is probably more than you asked about but I think its reality for your builder or you if you go OB. The days of pre-covid pricing are not likely to return.

Chris

Thank you Chris! That was great info, and i really appreciate the time you took in the explanations. I feel a little better about this now, i agree, i don't believe prices are going to go down anytime soon, so best to get locked in at current rates if i can.

 

[comet155]

That price for that size pool sounds about right. You could have gotten the pool pictured for that price about 3-5 years ago. Every year it seems like its getting worse. I put in a fiberglass pool late last year n my builder to me my pool "as is" now has $100k+ price tag.

Wow. This is really getting nuts! Thank you!

 

[comet155]

I feel like prices are going up by the week. We're doing a "DIY" vinyl liner pool and I started researching/pricing about a year ago. I think the pool kit cost around $10k more when we finally purchased in February than when I started looking. Our concrete guy told us prices were only good for one week because his materials keep increasing.

DIY is NOT for everybody but can save you serious money. Our 20x44, 8ft deep with 6ft tanning ledge, diving board, heat/cool pump pool will cost 80-85k in total. That includes the $10k autocover, startup chemicals, salt, repairing the irrigation system and having subbed out a fair bit of the heavy labor (excavation, concrete, bottom finishing). If you could/would do more of that yourself you can save a significant chunk.

That is really smart, in my case DIY would be nearly impossible due to my lack of know how and work schedule, but I really wish i had taken the plunge on the pool in 2019. I am super smart and decided to wait. Hooray.