Pool remodel in AZ - guidance needed

[RC121]

Hello all,

I've been a member here for quite some time, mainly for minor questions I had regarding our first pool. We've just moved into a new house and knew that we'd need to resurface the pool pretty soon, as well as replace the old single speed pump and decaying fiberglass housing of the sand filter (and maybe the Caretaker 99 pop-system). Since this is going to be a long term house for us and has a really great size yard with lots of potential, we're looking at putting some money into the pool and then later redoing the pool deck and landscaping.

I've got the CCP520 cartridge filter and Intelliflo on order to replace the existing equipment and that should be a pretty quick job.

The first part of the project is resurfacing/remodeling of the pool surface. I've attached a few photos from the listing and will put up some more when I have time, as well as measurements and pics of equipment. It's currently a plaster surface that has been patched a few times, with some small entry steps and one cutout seat at the far end of the pool and an elevated waterfall feature.





My initial thought is resurface with pebble fina (colors tbd) and new tile, while adding a decent size baja shelf where the current entry steps are. We have 2 kids under two and pool time last summer was just exhausting carrying them around the whole time. They love the baja step at my inlaws where they can stand up and play.

Before starting this project, are there things I should be considering that would make sense to do while demoing about 1/3 of the pool, rerouting some of the pop-up pvc and at least one return line, and resurfacing? Things like bubblers, lighting, modifying the waterfall feature, etc. If I'm considering changing the caretaker 99, what should i change it to and should it be done during the resurfacing (I assume so since it would have new pop-up heads). I'm already budgeted for the standard pebble fina, tile and baja shelf, and am willing to spend more within reason to add some cool features, but am not looking at spending another $10k for some perspective.

 

[duraleigh]

I would consider eliminating the pop-ups and buy a robot. The forum has a long, long list of troubles with pop ups and I believe robots are superior in about every way.

 

[Jimrahbe]

rc,

Wow!!... you are up to about 1 post a year...

I too would take this opportunity to remove the 1980's In-Floor system and replace it with a Robot technology from this century.

Did your old pool have an in-floor system?

I think you have a pretty nice set up. Getting new tile and plaster will give it a new look.

Not sure what you had in mind for the waterfall, but there are tons of pictures here and some look great and some look like a pile of rocks sitting next to a pool. Whatever you do with the waterfall, it needs to look like it belongs there and not just stuck there.

Obviously, you should add any water features before you re-plaster and tile.

Thanks for posting the pics...

Jim R.

 

[RC121]

I'm sure posting will increase with this project, but it takes a long time to soak in all the information from this board! As mentioned, the first pool was in our starter house so I didn't sink a lot of money into something I knew I wouldn't be in for long (and was going to be turned into a rental, so I was unlikely to recoup cost from additional bells and whistles in rental income vs. the increased value had we decided to sell it).

Our previous pool did have an in-floor system, I'm not exactly sure of the model but the heads are A&A. It works exceptionally well and I've had to replace 2 heads in the 7 years we lived there, which is why I'm hesitant to get rid of the in-floor system that the new pool has. From what I hear, they tend to work well here in the Phoenix area because we deal with a lot of lighter dust that can be pushed around pretty easily when it settles to the bottom of the pool. One quick brushing a week and everything looked really good on my old pool. I don't have any experience with the Caretaker 99, but my pool guy had a negative opinion based on his experience with this specific system. The only reason I'm hesitant on the robot is having been in pools that have them and constantly getting wrapped up or avoiding it, or having to take it in and out of the pool. And would it be able to clean the baja shelf?

And if anyone has recommendations in the area for this type of project, feel free to shoot me a pm. I've gotten a few quotes but am worried about the addition of the baja step and getting someone that knows what they're doing vs. the cheapest price.

I think the question i have on the water features is whether they will be easy to add with the plumbing that is already near the baja shelf or will it be running new pvc from the pool equipment? There's a return line, 5 or so pop-ups and an aerator that are right there. I do not want to tear up the yard since the landscaping and decking will not occur until much later on in the year.

 

[kimkats]

I have a neat idea for your shelf. Go to this thread and see what they did. This is the purrfect set up for everyone!

We're back! Pool demo and replacement in Sanger, Texas.

I like your waterfall like it is. It fits in with the pool.

Kids LOVE bubblers. We have one member that turns the pump all the way on them for the kids. They shot WAY up in the air. The kids call it "big water" and ask for Dad to turn on the "big water". I will look for the thread but don't hold out much hope of finding it LOL

Kim

 

[RC121]

Thanks Kim! I found that thread before I posted and have been following it intently. Are you referring to the two depth baja as the perfect setup? I like the idea, it's just whether it will work on our pool and still have two steps that are large enough to use. If you see the pictures, our pool is kind of shaped like a lightning bolt. From the entrance of the pool to the first turn is 7 ft on one side but 15 feet on the other. I guess I could do the first level out 7 ft straight across and then an angled 2nd level out 15 f5 on the other side. Not sure if that makes sense or not.
On the bubblers, what would I tie those into so I wouldn't have to run additional pvc from the equipment?

 

[kimkats]

The two level baja is what I was thinking about. I looked at your pics again but it is hard to really see the shelf end. Can you take and share a picture of it from up as high as you can (maybe a ladder?) so I can mess around with it and see what would look good there.

Bubblers-not a clue LOL I just know kids like them sorry!

Kim

 

[lasvegaspools]

Baja shelf was added where former steps were, single return turned into 2 bubblers. Umbrella sleeve added also with new deck and tile. You should be able to turn sheer descent into deck jets or wokpot using existing piping for a fairly reasonable cost.

 

[RC121]

So I'm finally about to pull the trigger on the remodel, having found a company that gave us a good bid and we are comfortable with. The plan is demo the plaster and tile, resurface with stonescapes mini pebble (aquacool to match the lighter color in floor heads), new tile, replace existing light with LED (pentair intellibrite) and add large baja shelf while raising the pop ups onto the new shelf/steps.

A few questions. First, here is a picture of where the baja shelf is going to go.

I'm having trouble figuring out what the best way to design it would be while utilizing the existing pop up heads (or we can add 1 or 2 heads by splitting an existing line). The idea was to leave the first step as-is and then make the second step depth (maybe a few inches shallower) the whole baja shelf. The blue are the existing pop-ups and the red is the general idea of the baja shelf. Could the third step stay pretty much as-is, leaving somewhat of a wall on your left when you are going down the step? Anyone else have any ideas that might make sense? I can't picture many other options unless we just ditched the in floor system.

The second question is the black spot on the left side is where I would love to put another light, most likely a nicheless globrite. The problem is that there is about 3 feet of pooldeck and then about 125 feet of grass/dirt to get to the pool equipment. We are not redoing the yard at this point, so I would not put this light in if it meant running new line from the equipment to the pool because i don't want to tear the yard up twice. However, a friend of mine mentioned just drilling the side of the pool and installing the light leaving it accessible but buried in the dirt. That way, I could run the line to the equipment when we do actually dig up the yard in the next year or so and have the light for the baja shelf. Has anyone ever done something like that or would there be a reason not to?