O/B in Peoria AZ

[Rattus Suffocatus]

Okay.. let's see if this works: here is how tight that 6' is from the wall to the HVAC. You can look at the rest of my build thread there too. Sadly, most of the projects (like the second shed and cutting and putting rollers on the cover) are still not done since the end of October. We are looking forward to the water hitting at least 70F though so we can at least take quick swims without having to immediately run to the hot tub...

Okay.. It didn't work the way I wanted... but this will.. The link below is the build thread... I reattached the Bobcat picture to give you a literal picture of why it's more expensive to use a little backhoe rather than a bigger one. Like I said the guy was good.... The backhoe had to fit through here also, and there is a picture of them digging out the plumbing line to the equipment pad in the thread below:

Continuation of an odyssey

Continued from the "introduce yourself thread". The pool was laid out on Friday and we will have the dig on Wednesday (of course moved from Tuesday). We saved a little more gravel. I calculated the volume to be about 14,500 gallons, so yes it's intentionally a small pool. PB thought 15k to...

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[mslaman]

What a great day!
First of all. Thanks to everyone for the comments and advice.
We received another bid back. Almost identical design and price. I have attached a few pictures.

Secondly. Went to the bank. No PMI will be required due to the amount requested and our equity. Bonus was the Fed reduced interest rates today so we can lock in around 3.7%. Great news.

Finally. PSD called me back within 24 hours to go over how the design process works. They supply a equipment list and subs! That’s a plus. Was very pleasant to speak with. Since the pricing has come back higher then I expected. My bride is lobbying for me to just do it ourselves. She said I’m probably going to manage it anyway (evidently I can be a bit of a control freak when it comes to construction) so she says......

I’ll have to measure the yard this weekend and draw up the rough dimensions of the yard. Probably make a schedule. I’ll post that when I’m done..

 

[kimkats]

Look what someone shared a little while ago. Design help. Give this a try and let us know how it goes.

Kim

 

[mslaman]

Soooo The overlord demanded that we go to Home Depot today to get some new gravel and dirt for her Bearded Dragons. Which meant I get to spend time outside in the sun remodeling the Bearded Dragon chateau. Don’t ask why people in Arizona need to buy dirt and rocks. It’s beyond my comprehension.
On the good side. The dirt and rocks are located in the garden section. I saw some concrete pavers. Looked durable and similar to Travertine. My question is. Anyone use this stuff? Way cheaper then travertine. I’m wondering how they hold up.

 

[kimkats]

Did you take a pic of them? I wonder if you can find where they came from so we can research them. Can you find them on your Home Depot store page?

 

[mslaman]

Brand is called Pavestone. pretty common at Home Depot

 

[kimkats]

Okay so I looked at it.........it looks like they make different kinds of pavers and such. Which exact one are you looking at?

 

[mslaman]

We are looking at Rumble stone. Many color choices.

 

[Newdude]

So I used the stepping stones (squares). The red brick looking ones from that line. They have held up perfect for 7 years. When I wanted to make more of a patio design around my hot tub I looked at the ones that you quoted. They were small and I needed 2-3x as many of them. Also they seemed half weathered already on the shelf and very crumbly. For the same price I got much bigger rectangles 8x16(?) from the stone / paver place for about $3 each. They weren’t as thick as the Home Depot ones but they were much less crumbly and have not weathered at all. . I googled your area and you have several quarry / rock / landscaping stone places to choose from.

 

[IMAZ1218]

The concrete paver will be very hot in the summer. I’m in Las Vegas and my neighbor has concrete pavers and they get HOT! We went with travertine and although they get warm, will not peel flesh off your feet.

 

[Rattus Suffocatus]

Soooo The overlord demanded that we go to Home Depot today to get some new gravel and dirt for her Bearded Dragons. Which meant I get to spend time outside in the sun remodeling the Bearded Dragon chateau. Don’t ask why people in Arizona need to buy dirt and rocks. It’s beyond my comprehension.
On the good side. The dirt and rocks are located in the garden section. I saw some concrete pavers. Looked durable and similar to Travertine. My question is. Anyone use this stuff? Way cheaper then travertine. I’m wondering how they hold up.

And dirt and rock here are expensive! ESPECIALLY rock... I don't get it either. For what it cost to fill in my backyard with rock, I could have done a half mile gravel drive for in the upper Midwest...I know.. I've done both...

 

[Rattus Suffocatus]

The concrete paver will be very hot in the summer. I’m in Las Vegas and my neighbor has concrete pavers and they get HOT! We went with travertine and although they get warm, will not peel flesh off your feet.

Wasn't that bad last year. The pavers we have don't really get any hotter than a concrete deck does (I've compared with my IR thermometer.. within 3F of the concrete sidewalk every time I checked) and concrete (and pavers and Travertine) decks are all over the place here. I have a garden hose for those 110F days (the pool doesn't seem to mind at all), so that problem is mitigated as well. Or you can pay 10x as much for that limestone stuff they call Travertine here....

Travertine might be cooler than concrete and concrete pavers are. But I would put money on a concrete deck with "cool deck" added to it would be even lower in temperature. Ugly as sin though but many people have that and like it too.

That is exactly what someone trying to up sell you will tell you. Luckily I had that IR thermometer and the PB agreed to let me take the samples outside for awhile.... Quickly disproven. They stopped arguing with me at that point, too.

What I am going to say and you can do anything with this information you want. The pools here that cost $80K instead of 40K-$60K are the ones with a lot of Travertine. It seems to be THE #1 reason for higher cost pools in Arizona.....So that is why I mentioned it as a heavy cost hitter in a build. Because it is THE heavy cost hitter in most cases.

 

[IMAZ1218]

I was just giving my thoughts. When we built our pool a couple years ago, (O/B) travertine pavers were 80 cents to 1.60 per sq ft more than cool decking. Four different bids and all were within that range.

 

[mslaman]

had another company come out and take a look this afternoon. See how that goes.
In other news while we wait for financing. Is anyone else who is getting ready to start a pool apprehensive? The way the market is bouncing up and down and the current worries is giving me the nervouses about spending a bunch of money on a pool.

 

[Newdude]

Well, the economy was great when i built my pool, and taking a 'fun' loan that large made me want to vomit. If one of us lost our job at that time, we could afford the house and living expenses, but not the pool payment. Having that over my head the first few years was hard.

In the bad economy, which most certainly is coming after all this, most people won't be going out to movies, dinner and fun activities all the time. They will be home more often than not, and in my case, the pool IS our fun activity. We invite friends and their families over and all it costs me is some food. It amounts to nothing compared to how much fun is had by all.

 

[Rattus Suffocatus]

I would wait. I will probably be criticized for this, but the stupidity of this is unprecedented. We have had more virulent pandemics in the past, but this "shut everything down" tactic hasn't been done since at least 1918.

If anything else. I would wait a few months and get new bids. They WILL be lower.

 

[mslaman]

Uggg
Ive been selected as an essential person at work. Which means I’ve been working 7 days a week. Never knew I was that essential. But am very thankful. Could be much worse.
‘Anyway Checked with Our credit union. Online says approved but haven’t seen anything official. Can’t get in touch with our loan officer. Wondering what is goin on.
‘And I may not be up for husband of the year award this year. Discussed with the boss that we may need to wait to get the pool due to the current financial market. Hopefull that our famous Arizona sun starts shining bright and the heat kills this virus off.
We shall see.

 

[Newdude]

Anyway Checked with Our credit union. Online says approved but haven’t seen anything official. Can’t get in touch with our loan officer. Wondering what is goin on.

According to the list i saw, they are non essential. Finance was the only white collar job on the list, and it was limited to payroll (to pay the essentials) and accounts payable/recievable (for the business to charge/pay its bills). New loans are probably on hold.

But if the worst that happens is that your wife misses you, and gets no pool while you work 7 days a week through this...... eventhough you missed husband of the year... like you said, life is good

 

[kimkats]

I think @Newdude nailed it!!

What do you do @mslaman for work?

 

[Newdude]

I just looked up the Arizona essential list. Your loan is good if they can manage tnrough the crisis. Just because they are allowed to be open doesn't mean they don't all get sick and close anyway. Here is exactly how that part was written for AZ

'Financial institutions, including banks and credit unions'