Thoughts on new pool build - Allen, TX

[jamcha02]

Thanks for the advice.
The SWG and flagstone issue keeps bugging me, but I have talked to 5 friends/neighbors who have pools with a SWG that are everywhere from 2 to 10 years old and they all love it and have no problems. One builder recommends Lueder Stone because he says it is much more dense and harder than flagstone, but then I read that it is a type of Limestone and I've heard that you should avoid limestone and SWG, so I'm more confused than ever.

I wouldnt worry about this. You will love your SWCG. For your size pool. make sure they spec an intellichlor IC40, not the 20. You want to be sure to oversize it just a bit. This gives you 2 advantages:

1.) Allows you to not run the SWCG full steam - will ensure it lasts a bit longer - cost difference between IC20 and IC40 is neglible
2.) Allows you to shock the pool at higher percentages after heavy rain or high bather load.

I too have many neighbors that have salt pools and natural stone. None of them have issues and some of their pools are 10 years old plus. As a precaution, make sure to seal the stone and wash down the decking during dry season.

Ironically, I know of a couple pools, one of them being the common pool in my neighborhood, which uses chlorine pucks. This pool is suffering from major deterioration of the Flagstone. To assume that deterioration of natural stone is a sure thing with SWCG is short sighted and premature at best. There are several variables that play into deterioration such as proper water chemistry, quality of stone, use of sealer, etc.

 

[jamcha02]

Couple flags go up for me: 1. Texas 2. Looks like flagstone coping? 3. SWG

Texas seems to be the capitol of the world for people reporting problems when they get natural stone around the pool with a SWG. The flagstone down there seems to be very soft and it just falls apart in the presence of the "salty" water.

If you want SWG, do NOT get natural stone. If you want natural stone, do NOT get a SWG.

FYI, palm trees are surprisingly messy (at least the ones around my pool are). Once they get tall they are difficult to trim and the fronds fall into the pool. They also flower and drop all kinds of junk in parts of the year.

Really? There are thousands of pools in Texas that use a SWCG and natural stone and have no issues at all. On the flip side, I can point you to a number of pools I have personally observed that suffer from major deterioration of flagstone coping, yet use chlorine pucks.

There may be a number of reports on this forum of issues with stone when combined with a SWCG in Texas. However, there are several other unknown variables at play to limit the blame to the SWCG.