Newbie building a pool in AZ

[Heyerfam]

Hi!
we've owned our home in Gilbert AZ for 13 years now. We have 2 toddlers (and 2 teens, long story!) and nearly lost our minds this summer (hottest in record) with all the pandemic shut downs! As a result we did a cash out refinance and plan to put in a pool!!
we are new to all of this. Our BFFs have built 3 pools, coordinating it all themselves to save a lot of money. We are planning to do the same. We want a simple rectangular pool with large shallow shelf section. Excited to check out your threads and learn more about the world of pools!

 

[mknauss]

Welcome to the forum!

I suggest you read ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry.

 

[Arizonarob]

 

[Nikilyn]

Hi there! We are doing o/b in Gilbert too . We are getting dug on Dec 2nd. It was definitely the most miserable summer I can ever remember and I’ve lived here since I was 7. What part of Gilbert are you in? We are by the San Tan mountains.

 

[setsailsoon]

H,

Welcome to TFP and congrats on your new pool build. Building your own pool is a lot more than coordinating the job. It takes planning, identifying, selecting and managing a lot of different contractors, interfaces, and quality of each one's work. Here are a few suggestions:

• You've got a huge advantage with close friends that have done all this in your area. Exploit this before you start not as you encounter problems. Probe them for details on subcontractors that were top quality. Which did they have to terminate or wish they had is equally important.
• Lay out a schedule that is based on logical sequence and put in some contingency for each duration. A plan with no contingency is one that will never be met. Also, time is money so this is a plan that will always cost more than you expect.
• Get firm pricing and schedule commitments from each sub in writing. If they won't commit use somebody else or build a lot of contingency in for them.
• Then put together a cash flow spending curve based on the schedule so there's no surprises. Make sure each subcontract covers payment plan and quality assessment in simple reasonable terms that never require you pay in full before the work is completed and quality is demonstrated satisfactory.
• If you don't know how to assess quality for each different sub, hire a person that knows this and have them sign off before you make payment. Building a pool is a sequential process. Quality issues from early works can be very costly impact to later work.
• Make sure you get all the information from subs that is required for permits and you know how long the permits will take to get. Build this into your subcontracting plan.

I hope this is helpful and look forward to your progress reports and any questions you may have. We have a lot of experienced experts that can help with every aspect of pool constructions. Most important, we sell nothing so you can be sure their advice is never conflicted. You'll soon see this is hard to come by.

Good luck!

Chris