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GV,

Your pool looks gorgeous and my experience is if Kimkats likes it you'll love it! I know my limitations so I stay out of the landscape design. I will weigh in on structural and add a vote for gunite. If you don't do this get a lot of details on the installation methodology. More important discuss the terms and conditions that apply to a fiberglass insert. Make sure to address the following in writing:

  • Transportation damage of the fiberglass inserts
  • Accidental drop.
  • What is a structural warranty? Define minor surface damage Vs significant structural damage.
  • Who is responsible to repair damage to the fiberglass insert if it's damaged?

Terns and conditions are more important than most people realize and at least as important as the specs. They shouldn't be excessively rigid but they should cover at least most of the things that can happen. If both parties are fair and open to discuss before the job starts there will be a lot less stress as the job progresses and if the worst case occurs and there is a problem it's very clear to both parties how it will be addressed. No argument necessary.

I hope this helps.

Chris
 
Re: Pics of colored broom finish deck & stamped concrete coping please

That's a great question and valid point, kimkats! The color is poolhouse. You can see the big backyard canvas that needs a pool to get us going.

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Thanks sktn77a and setsailsoon for your thoughts. We've made the decision to go with vinyl so that we can also increase on our landscaping budget. After some extensive due diligence, we've identified the PB that will do the best job (fingers crossed:)).
 
I am going to share, with permission, some things a member that is doing a build wishes they had done before picking a builder:

1. Search lawsuits by whatever means you need to. In our county we can search on a county website. Seeing 50+ lines of lawsuits would have prevented me from where I am sitting today.

2. Ask for reviews on all available social media. Apparently many people can have horrible experiences and stay quiet, until asked.

3. Ask an attorney to read the contract. While many homeowners do not sue, they may have consulted attorneys and that attorney may have good advice based on their knowledge. Ask the attorney to search for previous bankruptcy filings.

4. Ask for an end date in the contract, if they will not oblige, decide for your self if that is acceptable.
5. Go and look at any and all pools they have done and meet the homeowners. Don't stop at one or two. Pick them from their advertising books and Instagram and FaceBook photos even - don't just let them direct you to the good ones.

6. Be sure the milestone payments protect you and make sense. We did not have equipment installation in ours. Despite the amount of money that is invested in equipment, apparently it fell in the final payment of a small 5%. Understand what order work phases will be done in and that you get your questions answered if something doesn't make sense.

7. Make sure the contract is very very specific. No detail is really too small when you get to where we are sitting with ours.

8. Call the licensing board and request copies of any complaints or actions against the contractor - whether deemed to be founded or not. Our board is very quick to dismiss any complaint as a "civil matter".

9. Search all review sites separately for reviews, yelp, google, facebook, etc. Take them for what they do or don't say. In my experience a 5 star review with no comments is likely an employee, friend or fake.

10. Ask how many pools they have in process at any one time. Ask how many contracts they are under for your time frame? Ask how long they have averaged for similar pools? Ask how they allocate work from project to project (do they stay on yours until it is complete?). What is their plan if they get behind? Do they work weekends if behind from weather?

11. Get their insurance certificates. Look at the expiration date - is it in your build window? Will it cover your project if they stop working on it?

12. How long have their employees and subs been with them? Are the subs all licensed or do they work under the contractor's license? Are the employees background checked?

They have some very good points.

Kim:kim:
 
That color's name is spot on!!! I love it!

So with the house color and the exposed concrete wall I say gray is the way to go. I LOVE gray and blue together! It sill also tie the wall and walk way together.

This is going to be a fun place to have a pool. That yard is really screaming for a pool! What I like is the fact the yard part should not get messed up with the build since the pool is going over to the side. Are you going to sod or seed for grass in the yard?

Kim:kim: (I merged your two threads together to keep the story flowing)
 
The due diligence list above is fantastic. Thank you for sharing, kimkats. We've done quite a bit of it, so that makes us feel pretty good. Admittedly, TFP was our early source for determining questions and activities to complete PB vetting. :)

Those are interesting points that you bring up regarding the house color and exposed concrete too. You know, the landscaper is planning on building up the yard over by the covered porch and near the garage too. I'm wondering if the exposed concrete will be minimized or disappear with the additional soil (and deck) on top and all the plantings. I'll add that to my list of questions for him. I'm also sharing the front of my house, because we have grey stone on the front. My husband and I sort of want to go grey for the deck, but just worry it might look too dark and sad, LOL. It's why I was hoping to see other folks' colored/stained decks.

The backyard pic I shared is from when we closed on the house 18 months ago. Since then we've intentionally done nothing to the backyard. We call it the wasteland of weeds and dirt. The seed the builder planted never really took and it's hard to water an acre with a hose and sprinklers, LOL. Once the pool is done, we'll get moving on the rest of the yard, plantings, grass (most likely sod), sprinkler system, fence for the full backyard (to cage the toddler :)). We'll also shift the stairs on the covered porch - make a moderate sized landing/grill deck at the top, turn the stairs and bring them down in front of the covered porch leading to a wood deck. The deck will lead to the concrete pool deck. Since we've decided to the move part of the first septic line, it's allowing us to re-orient the design parallel to the house vs. angled as we had before in my first post. The vision in my head is beautiful. :)
 

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I say gray even more now. You want everything to tie in together. To brighten it up you can add the pretty cobalt blue and bright red planters around the area. You pillows and pads on the chairs will also add pops of color. Oh and the toys your little adds to the area LOL

Smart move leaving the yard alone. No sense working in it when it is going to get torn up :roll:

Kim:kim:
 

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Good morning! I have a great news. Our permit to build the pool was finally issued this past Friday! :kim:

We had anticipated starting at the end of March, but a few things slowed us down: 1) coordinating scope of work (and fostering collaboration) between the PB and landscaper; 2) permit delayed since we decided to change the pool design from rectangle to L-shaped, which meant moving a septic line and getting environmental's approval and their required design; 3) searching for a septic installer that could come out quickly to make the changes - it's been raining so much here and they all appear to be behind schedule; 4) pushing the county to update their system with the field inspector's "pass" of the septic system changes so that the invoice would go out to the PB for him to pay and for permit to be issued. This has been quite an intense process to project manage, so we'll be glad once PB can manage the build and coordination between other steps moving forward (we added this to our budget intentionally).

So, now our dig/build date begins on April 18th. Since it's been pretty rainy around here, how will that potentially impact the overall build with so much moisture in our clay-based dirt?
 
kimkats said:
MUD will be a word you will live with for a while. Prepare for it with lots of towels and brand new door mats and maybe NO shoes worn inside for a while.
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Yikes! Alright, I'll brace myself. :)

I have another question(s) for all the vinyl liner pool owners with a tanning ledge/splash deck. Have any of you put any chairs on your splash deck? If so, what kind/brand? How deep is your splash deck? Ours will be 18" deep.
 
Feel the bottom of the legs on the any chair you are even thinking of using IN the pool. If it is not smooth do not use it! Now you might be able to put a PVC end cap to keep the liner safe. If you use due care then you might be able to find a comfy chair to put in the pool with these ideas in mind.

Kim:kim:
 
kimkats said:
Feel the bottom of the legs on the any chair you are even thinking of using IN the pool. If it is not smooth do not use it! Now you might be able to put a PVC end cap to keep the liner safe. If you use due care then you might be able to find a comfy chair to put in the pool with these ideas in mind.

Kim:kim:
Click to expand...

Good advice. I’ll keep looking at the feet for smoothness.
 
Uncle Salty said:
Maybe I missed it but what options did you go with now that you’re going vinyl? Also have you started looking for pool furniture as that can take a while to arrive depending on what y’all choose to go with.

Salty
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What do you mean by “options”? The vinyl liner color? We’re not there just yet. Haven’t finalized deck color yet but PB says we have time.

And do you mean deck pool furniture? We have some ideas but haven’t really thought it through yet.
 
We are in Holly Springs, have a vinyl pool with gray liner, and a stamped concrete coping with broom finished patio. No feedback on chairs for splash pad as we use the integrated steps and bench to lounge on.

Here are pics of our build. I'll try to find the colors we used for the concrete. New build in Raleigh NC

ETA: The base color is Chromix Autumn Beige. Coping is Brownstone with a color powder on top; the name may have had the word "oak" in it, but that may be totally wrong. We don't have that info.
 
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ponygirl said:
We are in Holly Springs, have a vinyl pool with gray liner, and a stamped concrete coping with broom finished patio. No feedback on chairs for splash pad as we use the integrated steps and bench to lounge on.

Here are pics of our build. I'll try to find the colors we used for the concrete. New build in Raleigh NC

ETA: The base color is Chromix Autumn Beige. Coping is Brownstone with a color powder on top; the name may have had the word "oak" in it, but that may be totally wrong. We don't have that info.
Click to expand...

Wow, what an oasis! Thanks for all the details!!
 

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