Raised spa spillway question

[otie84]

Hi everyone,

Thank you in advance for your help.

We are building a raised spa with our pool and have a few questions about the options associated with it.

For one, our PB is stating that because we are going with a rock ledge material around the spa, he says we need a marble spillway. He says it will help prevent breakdown of the ledgestone material over time. However, he says it will cost us an extra $1k for the marble. We thought this was outrageous because he never told us about the cost until after we decided we wanted the ledgestone.

When asking how he came to that number, he explained the installer needs to build the spillway and level it and the mudwork for that gets pricey. He says they will need to laser measure the spillway + cost of the granite & fabrication. Then installer charges him to pick up and install the granite plus labor costs to install.

Does that $1k sound reasonable for all that and is the marble a must have IYO if we are going to go with the ledgestone?

Thanks for the feedback and any other suggestions you may have going forward.

 

[AQUA~HOLICS]

$ 1K for materials only or materials and labor?
What’s the height and length of the spillway and is it on a radius?
Marble is not a requirement only an option.

 

[Jimrahbe]

84,

How much will it cost later on, if your pool builder is correct, and you have to replace the ledger stone that has been worn away?

I suspect that your pool builder has seen this failure before and wants you to be happy later on. I doubt he is just trying to make a few extra bucks.

If he is just trying to price gouge you there are better ways..

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[Toxophilite]

I have not seen everything, but can't imagine any of us living long enough to see a quality stone "wear away" in water flow, lots of different "stone" out there, though, but if it's a total of $1K for marble upgrade, me personally would not question it. When I built my house, the contractor and myself had a signed agreement that after signing of contract any upgrade was an automatic $350 surcharge, then cost of upgrade. Being in business myself, I could understand. There's documentation, sourcing material, changes of plans to subs, even getting the word out to supervisors, comebacks when communications get crossed - that's time, my time, their time, time is money.

 

[Turbo1Ton]

Marble is not a must. My spillway is normal stone. There has been some flaking of the stone on the sides of the spillway, but that is due to the quality of the stone, not because of water flow. The stone that the water actually flows over has not deteriorated at all that I can tell.

I can't imagine that I won't remodel the pool before the stone is worn away.

I don't think his price is out of line. As Toxophilite said, time is money. And when you make changes, there is a higher likelihood of things getting messed up. It happens every day where I work. One seemingly small change to the original design can cause significant issues down the road when something is overlooked.

he explained the installer needs to build the spillway and level it

I don't like this explanation as even for the stone, the stone should be placed so that it is level. Mine was not checked correctly and I have one side about 1/16" higher than the other, so my spillway has to be turned up to a ridiculous flow so that it spills evenly.

--Jeff

 

[otie84]

$ 1K for materials only or materials and labor?
What’s the height and length of the spillway and is it on a radius?
Marble is not a requirement only an option.

Hi Aqua yes I should have specified - labor and materials.

I guess they outsource to a granite company who makes 2 trips. First to measure/laser, then another trip charge and labor to install. I guess we could eliminate the spillway and just put tile on the spillway, but it wouldn't look as good and it will expose our natural stone. But man another $900 we didn't expect stings the budget a bit. Curious your thoughts on that fee in general. Thanks!

 

[AQUA~HOLICS]

I think the fee is inline with the times of today and I see it as an investment in the longevity of the product.

 

[otie84]

I think the fee is inline with the times of today and I see it as an investment in the longevity of the product.

thanks for your thoughts. you are much more experienced in this and we are still learning. with this added cost, the stone and spillway will end up being half the cost of the spa itself. it will be the focal point of the pool, so it should look nice.

 

[otie84]

Aqua another question for you if don't mind on the spa:

is it true spas typically only get about 15 degrees hotter than the air temp? That is what our PB kind of explained to us. is there a way to get them hotter? I will ask my PB again but curious your thoughts too

thanks so much

 

[Jimrahbe]

84,

What are you using as a heater?? Gas, Heat Pump, or ?????

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[ajw22]

Aqua another question for you if don't mind on the spa:

is it true spas typically only get about 15 degrees hotter than the air temp? That is what our PB kind of explained to us. is there a way to get them hotter? I will ask my PB again but curious your thoughts too

thanks so much

I can get my spa to 100F on a 60F night with my 400K BTU NG heater.

 

[AQUA~HOLICS]

If I remember correctly natural gas heaters have a high temp setting at 104F. I personally have never heard of the 15 degree hotter than the air temperature. I’m sure that their is a common loss of temperature due to weather/pluming length, I’m thinking he may be incorrect on the comment.

 

[otie84]

Thank you all for the responses. Can you tell I'm a pool noob yet lol? I'm learning but most definitely appreciate everyone's input here.

Jim - To answer your question, the pool will have a 140,000 BTU Pentair heat/cool unit

 

[Cena_sea]

Just wanted to add agree on the marble (or another stone slab). I think it would stick out better than tile would to protect the ledge stone.