Thinking about DIYing a vinyl liner pool in KY. Have some questions for those who have done it.

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blk94f150

Active member
Mar 29, 2013
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So thinking about DIYing a liner pool. Looking at Royal Pools 16x32 or 18x36. Considering it mostly for cost savings but being able to have it installed before 2022 is a big item as well. I am well versed in construction but have never taken on an inground pool. I plan to hire out excavation, electric, bottom concrete, and decking/cantilever concrete coping.

How did you find your contractors? Any tips or tricks? It looks pretty straight forward, just massive. I'll get into the nitty gritty later but I know I want salt water, VS pump, and solar or HP heater.

Thanks.
 
Haha, don't be such a stranger! We'll let you post more than once a year.

Many find that OB'ing (owner builder) a pool does save money, but often allows a homeowner to get a better pool than they would have otherwise been able to afford. In other words, they use some or a lot of the savings to upgrade their pool, ending up with a better pool for a little less.

teal97f150 here. ;)
 
Lol, I mostly just search and find my answers. I've had a bromine spa for about 5 years and have found everything I need without asking! I had researched this to death about 2 years ago and I'm ready to pull the trigger now.

I've been getting basic 16x32 quotes from builders to get apples to apples numbers and they are about 30-40k with no frills. The same kit from Royal is about 7k. I figured another 7 to 14K for all other materials and labor? Does that sound reasonable? About the only extras I want are the VS pump, salt water, and solar heater on top of that.
 
I think that most people will take 15 to 25 percent margin.

The big issue right now is getting subs. If you call a pb and they yell you that the lead time is 18 months, that means most subs have plenty of work for the next 18 months as well. The ones that are available are most likely less experienced, or worse those with bad reputations.

For example my friend runs a small concrete business in ky, doing pool decks and back yard patios mostly, and when I talked to him the other day he had gotten 20 calls in one day to request to come bid on a job. He has so much worked already lined up from now until winter, he said he likely won't call anyone back.
 
Getting the subs to come when needed will, be the hard part. I built my own a few years back. I had a pool guy do the floor because I knew I couldn't possible shape a complex shape in time. Concrete waits for nobody. I also hired a concrete finisher to trowel the deck. Again I knew I couldn't do it fast enough. Not sure how much I saved in the end because you always talk yourself into small standard and upgrades along the way when you are that invoked. I did get a much better pool doing it myself and some great memories. I will say this was the only project I have ever done that made me feel overwhelmed (I have gutted house and rebuilt them so I'm not new to big jobs) we had a crazy year of rain and it always seemed like 2 steps forward and 1 back. And never having done a pool before you can't often anticipate your next move and that resulted in a lot of wasted time too. I day go for it!
 
Arranging the subs and what have you seems to be the sticking point. I'm having a builder come out in a couple of weeks to firm up a price. Their spec sheet looks good and the price is reasonable.
 
16x32 liner Rectangle or lagoon. Nothing fancy really. Want a VS pump, salt cell, and possibly solar heating but I can add that after construction if a PB builds it for me. Most places have quoted about 30k for rectangle and 35k for lagoon. I'm in Walton btw so we're really close.
 
I noticed that you posted in another thread about the poor concrete coping not being straight. This would be my worry with getting your own subs in todays busy high demand world.

That price seems not outrageous without seeing any details. Make sure you know what is not included, most commonly electric,fencing, post construction yard grading. And most quotes come iwth just a tiny bit of conrete, and you will most likley want a whole lot more.

For vinyl pool, typically there is not a huge price jump to make it 4 feet longer. It is just 1 more piece of metal form on each side plus a bit more concrete. To make the pool 36 or even 40 feet long shoudl not be a huge bump.

For pool shape, oval will give you better circulation, and make it easier to take care of. 18x36 oval shoudl be about same price as 16x32 rectangle.
 
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