New to TFP, gathering quotes for a new pool

[geonjay]

Hello. I've been lurking here for a few weeks trying to reduce my ignorance about pools, chemicals, liners, equipment, etc. I'm not sure I've made a very big dent in the ignorance :-/
We're in the South East US, near Charlotte, NC. The pool will receive full sun from ~11am-8pm in the summer. The area of the pool will be less than 20x40 and of irregular shape. We are on city water with little to no restrictions, separate meter for the lines that would fill the pool.
We'd like to keep the budget below $65k; that includes decking, fencing, pool, equipment, etc. We don't want a spa, but are interested in temperature control via heat-pump.
I'd prefer to have remote automation and monitoring abilities - Salt levels, lights, bubblers, etc. We are flexible on those - cost versus convenience.

We've had one PB come to the house so far, with 4 more on the way. We were pointed towards a concrete pool with a vinyl liner by neighbors with pool experience - but only 1 of the 5 PBs was onboard with that. They either want gunite or fiberglass. We were pointed to the vinyl over concrete because of reliability and long term cost - replace a liner every 10 years for $2k versus replastering every 15 for $10k. They also said that chemical maintenance is easier with vinyl versus gunite.

The first PB said they use all Jandy equipment and include a robotic pool cleaner - again, I don't have the quote yet. I was leaning towards a Pentair controller with a cartridge filter - but I'm looking to this community to help with filling in the blanks and adding some truth to the myths between gunite and vinyl, preferred equipment in terms of reliability, bubblers and direct drop waterfalls having an impact on maintenance, and where we can spend a little more now to save more later.

Thanks for the time!
John

 

[kimkats]

Oh GOODIE!!! I love helping to spend money aka building pools!

lights, bubblers, etc. We are flexible on those - cost versus convenience.

Get plain lights for cost saving now and in the long run, ditch the bubblers as they add cost fast for little return.

We'd like to keep the budget below $65k; that includes decking, fencing, pool, equipment, etc.

Now THAT is going to be hard to do when you add all of that up. It will be interesting to see what the PB comes up with. I would look into the fencing being done by someone other than the PB for cost savings.

Plaster vs vinyl care=the same in the end. If you get your own test kit and use the chemicals we tell you to that you can get from Walmart and Lowes it will all be the same!

Kim

 

[geonjay]

We contacted 7 PBs, but only 4 came out for a site visit. The other 3 just sent "sight unseen" quotes. Of the 4 that came out, 3 actually provided an estimate...but we had to update one of the quotes and they never got back to us. I'm waiting on a final copy of the quote from one company, and I'm attaching the quote from the first company - is that confusing enough?
We already noticed that this quote includes an "upgrade" option to a VS pump for $1200 - how much are paying for the pump included in the quote? I'll upload the next quote when they send it.
Thanks

 

[bmoreswim]

Much on that first quote looks good. I thought the options were somewhat reasonably priced. Good to have concrete add-ons priced out.

Add 2 returns for total of 4, one on each side.

You could upsize the filter to a 425. Your size is pretty good but bigger = longer time between cleaning.

Go with the T-Cell-15 SWG. We recommend going 2x your pool size for most economical usage.

I'm not a big fan of smaller water features as sometimes they looked tacked on. Make sure you get comfortable with what you are getting and how it will look.

You should have 2 full size lights in the pool (or probably 3-4 nicheless ones). One large color changing LED will be dim on some colors.

But the robot (what he calls auto vac) yourself outside of the pool contract.

Highly recommend going with the Omni Logic automation system.

Definitely the variable speed pump. He quoted you a single speed which should be (and are being) outlawed.

Obtain model numbers on every piece of equipment for confirmation here, and to make sure you get what you are contracting for.

Your tile choices will also contain opportunities to spend more money. He mentioned that on the plaster but not the tile.

 

[geonjay]

Here's the 2nd quote. It's from a "Nationally Recognized" PB that gives a "lifetime" warranty on the shell and has houzz awards, Angie's List, etc. The price is significantly higher, and both representatives were VERY high pressure - which is an immediate turn off. There IS something to be said about a nationally recognized company and their aversion to negative reviews and unhappy customers.

 

[spd500]

Do you have renderings of the pools for the proposals? As someone mentioned, you should but the robot separately. Our original contract had a line item for "auto cleaner" that was $850 and when I asked what exact cleaner was being included I found out that it was a suction side vacuum that I could buy myself on Amazon for under $300.

 

[geonjay]

I will definitely buy the robot myself. Only one of the PBs supplied a rendering - it's from the second quote.