Owner Builder in Sacramento - Just starting - looking for planning advice

[Tiburon]

HI all. This forum is amazing! Reading all of your comments and advice has really motivated me to actually beginning this dream project. Here is what I am thinking, but I would love advice and changes (particularly where to make efficient cost savings as I am already over budget). Thanks.

Here is a list of equipment that looked promising to me:
Hayward Max-Flo VS Variable Speed Pump - SP2303VSP
Hayward Swimclear Cartridge Filter 225 Sq Ft. - C2030
Raypak Heat Pump R8450TI-E-HC
CircuPool RJ-45 PLUS Salt Chlorine Generator
2x Colored LED lights (??? maybe white is better?)
Robot cleaner
Solar Cover
Pool automation: to be honest I am very confused about this and if it is needed and the value it has vs costs. I am also not sure which product would work with my pool and equipment.
2nd phase I would do the actual construction for a concrete grotto / waterfall / slide. Other than that, no other water features.

Here are a few details about the pool:
511 sq ft
16000 gallons
1' cantilever coping
white plaster with abalone shell
shelf at 12' deep
surrounded mostly by artificial turf instead of concrete (we already have it in most of the yard and love it!).

I also wondered about the slope of the pool. I would like to have most of the pool be shallow and playable for our children (age 10 and 5) and their friends at 3'6" deep (good depth?) and groups of teens (3'6" vs 4'?). And also want a large enough deep end for jumping. So my design has a 4 foot decent over 10 feet.

Thanks for all the help.

 

[ajw22]

Welcome to TFP.

Abalone shells in plaster can cause staining. Read...

Abalone Shell Chips and Brown Stains in Diamond Brite Plaster-

Moved from here... Abalone Shell Chips Causing Brown Stains in Diamond Brite Plaster- Hi, Hopefully I can shed some light on your issues. I am ever too familiar with abalone stains. Here is what I have gathered thus far. So, because abalone is a shell and was once alive, they...

www.troublefreepool.com

Your pump and SWG should be from the same manufacturer as your automation. If you are set on the Hayward pump then look at the Hayward Aquaplus that combines Prologic automation with an Aquarite SWG cell. Although if I had a choice I would get a Pentair IntelliCenter with an Intelliflo 011028 VS pump and IntelliChlor IC40 SWG.

Automation - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[kimkats]

LOVE the design! Looks like lots of playroom and swim room! Hold a tape measure to see where 4' and 3'5" will hit you and your wife and go from there for the depth.

You can add glass beads to get some bling in your plaster instead of the shells I used to love to suggest until I saw what problems they could cause

Kim

 

[Tiburon]

Welcome to TFP.

Abalone shells in plaster can cause staining. Read...

Abalone Shell Chips and Brown Stains in Diamond Brite Plaster-

Moved from here... Abalone Shell Chips Causing Brown Stains in Diamond Brite Plaster- Hi, Hopefully I can shed some light on your issues. I am ever too familiar with abalone stains. Here is what I have gathered thus far. So, because abalone is a shell and was once alive, they...

www.troublefreepool.com

Your pump and SWG should be from the same manufacturer as your automation. If you are set on the Hayward pump then look at the Hayward Aquaplus that combines Prologic automation with an Aquarite SWG cell. Although if I had a choice I would get a Pentair IntelliCenter with an Intelliflo 011028 VS pump and IntelliChlor IC40 SWG.

Automation - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

Thanks. I am not attached to any pump. I will look into the Pentair intellicenter. Appreciate the heads up on the abalone shells.

I will look into the glass beads as an option.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Automation is nice, but you can live perfectly fine without it (flipping switches manually) if you want to trim that out of the budget.

Basically automation is a device or phone app that lets you turn lights on/off, pump on/off, water features. etc.

Maddie

 

[Tiburon]

Here is my price deltas for three different control set-ups:

511 sq ft pool, SWG, no spa, heat pump, water slide, waterfall, LED lights

1. No Automation

Hayward Max-Flo VS Variable Speed Pump - 220v	890​
CircuPool RJ-45 PLUS Salt Chlorine Generator	939​
Hayward Swimclear Cartridge Filter 225 Sq Ft	674​

TOTAL COST: $2503

2. Waterway System

Waterway Oasis Control System w/WIFI & 2 Actuators 770-1006-PSW2	699​
Waterway Econo Flo Variable Speed Pump 230v 2.7HP ECONO-VSA	950​
Pureline - Pool Salt System Up To 60,000 Gallons Heavy Duty - PL7704	850​
Pentair Clean & Clear Plus, 240 Sq. Ft. Cartridge Filter	609​

TOTAL COST: $3108

3. Pentair System

Pentair IntelliCenter 5PIC40 Kit - Pool only with Load Center and IC40	estimate 2363​
Pentair IntelliFlo VS Variable Speed Pool Pump - 011018	1040​
IC40	included
Pentair Clean & Clear Plus, 240 Sq. Ft. Cartridge Filter	609​
(2) Pentair Intellivalve Valve Actuator	235​

TOTAL COST: $4247

I would also get a $250 SMUD (local utility) rebate on any of the pumps.

I do not need/want an app on my phone (the app reviews say that they all pretty much suck as these are pool equipment manufacturers not programmers). However, I would like to be able to turn on the water slide and waterfall and have the pump put out a specified amount of needed water rather than having to adjust each item whenever I wanted to use the water features. I would also like to easily turn on the pool lights (does it cost significantly more to have a line run to my porch light switches - the pool is about 80 ft away).

At this point I am debating if the extra cost is worth what appears to be clunky automation from all manufacturers. But I also don't want to mess with 4 or 5 valves turned in just the right order to be able to use the waterfall and water slide.

The $600 jump to the waterway system seems worth the risk (assuming the pump isn't total Crud), but the $1744 jump to the Pentair seems steep.

What would you do? What am I missing?

 

[ajw22]

If all you want to control is the VS pump speed and scheduling and some water feature valves then the Waterway seems appropriate for you.

 

[Tiburon]

Finally filling it up. We ran into a lot of delays with the plastering. Super excited to jump in!

The artificial turf that we ordered from China is also delayed, so we have a pool surrounded by gravel for another few weeks

 

[kimkats]

Love it all!! Those cuties are awesome!! Are they decals?
Grab some cheap left over carpet and put that down until yours comes in.

Do NOT turn off the water until it is half way up the skimmer face!!! If you do it might cause a ring on that pretty plaster.

Kim

 

[Tiburon]

They are tiles that I put in before the plaster. We got them from Aqua Blue Mosaics. They turned out really nice. At the deep end we have a $100 tile.

I put some of the old artificial turf down for the meantime.

 

[kimkats]

At the deep end we have a $100 tile.

What a tease!!!!! I KNOW you have a pic of each and everyone of them!!! Give it up!!!