Owner/Builder pool in Phoenix (Phase: Start-up!)

[Winter247]

Wow. That is not encouraging. Crossing my fingers that some good bids go your way.

Do you know what the pre-wire is? And the wash-out tub is probably a 5' plastic kiddie pool...

Pre-wire is $1700
Washout tube $100
Overbreak $470

 

[Foxer]

Starting to collect bids. Gotta say, some of these estimates seem a little crazy. Layout, excavation, steel... all seem like relatively what I expected. However, the one shotcrete quote I've gotten back so far seems high. I won't post which company, but the bid came back at just over $20,000. It's a 30 x 19 play pool with a raised spa. (It's 34 cubic yards, they quoted 38) $20k is basically double the prices I keep finding online for other similar projects around the country. Am I wrong here? Is it a supply shortage thing?

For what it's worth, that does seem high to me. I'm in SLC, but I paid $315/yard for 72 yards for my gunite back in March. It seems like even in the last couple of months concrete has been much harder to get, plus fuel prices have gone up. I don't know enough about it to know how much those affect price, but even taking those into account, it seems high.

 

[thewolf56]

Pre-wire is $1700
Washout tube $100
Overbreak $470

Sorry for the misunderstanding. Do you know what the pre-wire includes from your shotcrete? My contractor did not break out any additional charges other than the amount for the original design and the cost for any additional yards. He threw in the extremely heavy kiddie pool full of sludge and water that took forever to evaporate in my front yard for no additional cost.

 

[srivas]

Sorry for the misunderstanding. Do you know what the pre-wire includes from your shotcrete? My contractor did not break out any additional charges other than the amount for the original design and the cost for any additional yards. He threw in the extremely heavy kiddie pool full of sludge and water that took forever to evaporate in my front yard for no additional cost.

I am not 100% but I think the pre-wire is the wires they setup to make sure that everything is square and know where to stop with the shotcrete to finish. Not sure if they need that for free form pools and only square pools.

 

[Winter247]

Well... layout is done and tomorrow is excavation! Finally going to have a hole in the ground. Excited to get this moving!

All my equipment is here and I have multiple trades lined up.

1. Excavation - 6/13
2. Gas - 6/17
3. Plumbing - 6/18
4. Steel - 6/23
5. Electrical - waiting on a few more bids (Hoping for the week of 6/27 - 7/1)
6. Shotcrete - will get put on the schedule once presite inspection is done. Then could be 6-10 weeks !!! Ugh...concrete is insane right now. (Although, good news is I did at least get another shotcrete quote that came in $7,500 LESS than the first one. Unreal what some of these companies are doing.)

I made a slight change to the plans and decided to extend our existing artificial grass all the way to the pool, having it surround the southern half of the pool. I like the way it breaks up the decking. In addition I changed up the lighting configuration just a little bit. 4 LEDs in the pool (1 as an uplight under the sheer), 1 in the spa.

I also had a small wall put up to help conceal and protect the water softener. Thanks @proavia for the suggestion! Going to stucco and paint it to match the house.

Will post pics after tomorrows dig!

 

[kimkats]

Who did the layout? LOVE the getting the paint on the ground! That is when you know it is really about to happen!!

1 as an uplight under the sheer)

Did you know they make lighted sheers?? I love a lighted sheer for night time enjoyment!

LOVE the new grass lay out!

It is TOMORROW!!!! Are they there yet??????

Kim

 

[proavia]

You may want to seriously consider fully covering the water softener and brine tank. The sun will trash it within a couple years if not covered. Either cover each tank completely with a Sunbrella type fabric or build somethjng to not allow the sun to direftly shine on them - 365 days a year, as the sun angle changes.

Does the new wall enclosure extend above the highest pointof tbe softener controls? If not, considergetting that extended another full block or two. You can then build a solid cover over the top - and alsohang something down the sides if necessary.

 

[Winter247]

Who did the layout? LOVE the getting the paint on the ground! That is when you know it is really about to happen!!


Did you know they make lighted sheers?? I love a lighted sheer for night time enjoyment!

LOVE the new grass lay out!

It is TOMORROW!!!! Are they there yet??????

Kim

JRD Measurements did the layout and I had my consultant there as well, which worked out because he caught that one of the measurements was wrong initially.

Yeah, I was originally going to go with an LED sheer but decided against it. The wife didn't seem that impressed by it and I've heard they're a pain to replace. We found a few uplit sheers online that we liked the look of, so hopefully it works out.

They're digging away right now!

 

[kimkats]

he caught that one of the measurements was wrong initially.

OPPS!! How did the measurement guy act when he was called out for doing it wrong? Thank goodness the other guy caught it!

found a few uplit sheers online

Which ones? At least you knew about the lighted sheers. I just like to give choices.

They're digging away right now!

LET THE DIRT/MUD begin!!!

 

[thewolf56]

JRD Measurements did the layout and I had my consultant there as well, which worked out because he caught that one of the measurements was wrong initially.

That's one of the times were having those inspections comes in handy. We made a couple of changes at layout as well (we used JRD also).

 

[Winter247]

Excavation complete!
I think it went pretty well... but I've never done this before, so who knows. lol

Notes for anyone who's planning on riding this bull:

1. Triple check ALL your measurements. I was VERY confident I had everything double checked and good to go.... but the excavation company pointed out the depth was different on 2 pages of the plans. I didn't understand how I missed it! But... you're juggling so many thing at once, it can happen. TRIPLE CHECK EVERYTHING.

2. If you're plans have anything that's not "typical", make sure you bring it up with the excavation crew. They were glad I pointed out that I had a 2 ft wide step down from the baja, because typically they said that would have been 1 ft and their guy would probably just have done 1 ft by habit.

3. Taking a cue from multiple people on this site (@thewolf56 and others), I had the plans/concept printed and laminated for the crew to be able to reference. Then I clipped everything to a $12 easel from IKEA. This was great! I can't tell you how often they were double checking things. Definitely a good way to keep everyone on the same page!

4. I had a cooler out there with bottle water and Gatorade. I originally thought I filled it up too much, but at the end of the day they had blown through almost all of it and thanked me.

On to the next! Gas and plumbing later this week.

ps. Anyone in AZ mind sharing their electrical contractor or their shotcrete company? Shotcrete is obviously a nightmare here right now, so we'll see... but I was surprised I was having issues find an electrical contractor. I would appreciate any referrals!

 

[kimkats]

depth was different on 2 pages of the plans.

good thing they noticed it! I can how it would happen though.........look at it CLOSE on one page and think you are good so don't check the other page as close.

not "typical", make sure you bring it up with the excavation crew.

FOR SURE!!! Hey guys look what is being done to make sure they see it and do it! Well done!

had the plans/concept printed and laminated for the crew to be able to reference.

Yes, yes, yes!!!

 

[thewolf56]

3. Taking a cue from multiple people on this site (@thewolf56 and others), I had the plans/concept printed and laminated for the crew to be able to reference. Then I clipped everything to a $12 easel from IKEA. This was great! I can't tell you how often they were double checking things. Definitely a good way to keep everyone on the same page!

Glad it helped. I just expanded on other ideas I saw here. I think the excavation and shotcrete crews used it the most, but you organized yours a little better than mine (had to flip up to see the plumbing and other diagrams on mine). I don't know if you have experienced it yet, but those easels are not stable in the wind, so I would suggest something to weigh it down in the wind (I have sandbags for a pop-up canopy that I used with rope to hold it down)

4. I had a cooler out there with bottle water and Gatorade. I originally thought I filled it up too much, but at the end of the day they had blown through almost all of it and thanked me.

I think I have gone through 5 cases of Gatorade/Powerade (and 1.5 cases of water) from Costco already, so you will probably go through more with more of your work being in the hotter months. We also keep snacks in a separate tub, but they don't seem to go through that as much (especially as it has warmed up). Every crew seems surprised that they are there and have been very appreciative.

ps. Anyone in AZ mind sharing their electrical contractor or their shotcrete company? Shotcrete is obviously a nightmare here right now, so we'll see... but I was surprised I was having issues find an electrical contractor. I would appreciate any referrals!

I'll PM you, but you probably have the same list as I had. My neighbor down the street had an issue with our electrician (they walked off of her job), but I had a great experience with the same crew just a day or two later (including the idea of the grotto uplight). I ended up only getting one quote for electrical because of a lack of response from the trade, but was happy with the choice. Another member here has had issues getting in touch with the shotcrete company I used, but shotcrete was the hardest trade to get a bid from out here. I'm using the same tile/coping/deck/plaster/turf company as @Nikilyn and @ddoggphx.

 

[Kidsfirst81]

JRD Measurements did the layout and I had my consultant there as well, which worked out because he caught that one of the measurements was wrong initially.

Yeah, I was originally going to go with an LED sheer but decided against it. The wife didn't seem that impressed by it and I've heard they're a pain to replace. We found a few uplit sheers online that we liked the look of, so hopefully it works out.

They're digging away right now!

JRD is great! We used them too. My contractor was joking that he is always trying to catch mistakes with them.

Who did you use for gas? I’m in the struggle with you for shotcrete now too. The pain is real. So many will not schedule until the inspection is done and the. It’s 8-12 weeks. One of the bigger ones here today told me it is 12 weeks right now after they come out and approve you

 

[Kidsfirst81]

If you have problems with the easel for your plans tape then to your patio door. That’s what my last pool builder did. We are going to do it this time. Thanks for the reminder.

 

[Kidsfirst81]

Glad it helped. I just expanded on other ideas I saw here. I think the excavation and shotcrete crews used it the most, but you organized yours a little better than mine (had to flip up to see the plumbing and other diagrams on mine). I don't know if you have experienced it yet, but those easels are not stable in the wind, so I would suggest something to weigh it down in the wind (I have sandbags for a pop-up canopy that I used with rope to hold it down)



I think I have gone through 5 cases of Gatorade/Powerade (and 1.5 cases of water) from Costco already, so you will probably go through more with more of your work being in the hotter months. We also keep snacks in a separate tub, but they don't seem to go through that as much (especially as it has warmed up). Every crew seems surprised that they are there and have been very appreciative.



I'll PM you, but you probably have the same list as I had. My neighbor down the street had an issue with our electrician (they walked off of her job), but I had a great experience with the same crew just a day or two later (including the idea of the grotto uplight). I ended up only getting one quote for electrical because of a lack of response from the trade, but was happy with the choice. Another member here has had issues getting in touch with the shotcrete company I used, but shotcrete was the hardest trade to get a bid from out here. I'm using the same tile/coping/deck/plaster/turf company as @Nikilyn and @ddoggphx.

I would love to know who you are going with for tile,etc as well. We are trying to finalize that now. Thanks!

 

[thewolf56]

I would love to know who you are going with for tile,etc as well. We are trying to finalize that now. Thanks!

I'll send you a message.

 

[Kidsfirst81]

How’s your pool holding up with this storm? So far we are okay. Plumbing that was done yesterday actually helped protect it some with the dirt in the outside. Of course we would finally get rain right when we are doing the initial parts of the project.

 

[Winter247]

How’s your pool holding up with this storm? So far we are okay. Plumbing that was done yesterday actually helped protect it some with the dirt in the outside. Of course we would finally get rain right when we are doing the initial parts of the project.

Glad to hear yours is holding up well!

We actually didn't get too much rain so it's all good so far. We had day 1 of plumbing yesterday and steel today. So hopefully that'll help if there's any more rain in the near future. I'll feel a lot better about it once shotcrete is done though!

Actually, speaking of shotcrete... I was told that the supply limitations they have on contractors right now for cement are supposed to be lifted July 1. Not sure how accurate that is, but it would sure help speed things along.

 

[Kidsfirst81]

Glad to hear yours is holding up well!

We actually didn't get too much rain so it's all good so far. We had day 1 of plumbing yesterday and steel today. So hopefully that'll help if there's any more rain in the near future. I'll feel a lot better about it once shotcrete is done though!

Actually, speaking of shotcrete... I was told that the supply limitations they have on contractors right now for cement are supposed to be lifted July 1. Not sure how accurate that is, but it would sure help speed things along.

Glad to hear you held up and that you didn’t get much rain. We got hit with it off and on. I would have felt better if we had rebar in but it is what it is. That would be great if limitations were lifted July 1st!