Under contract now! - New build/quotes in central Florida - Opinions welcome!

[FloatingAround]

7/14/22 update - free upgrades!?! (upgraded sheer and filter)
7/8/22 update - Spa jet upgrade (ParaJets)
6/30/22 update - We're under contact!

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Orignal Post

tl;dr
Long time lurker trying to decide between two similar designs/quotes and looking for outsider opinions on the designs as well as material and equipment considerations.

We're previous pool owners/builders who recently moved into a new home and have started the process of designing and quoting with a few different pool builders. We've narrowed it down to three potential builders (one of which we previously used to build the pool at our previous house).
Specs for each quote:

Builder #1

Pool (15' x 31') (385 sq feet)
In ground gunite
Depth 3' to 6'
Pebble (tier 1) or Quartz interior
OmniPL Automation (3 actuators, 4 relays)
Hayward Salt system (40k cell)
Hayward TriStar 900 VSP 2.7hp
Hayward C200 Cartridge Filter
Hayward Colorlogic 12v LED (1 pool)
Sunshelf with 1 bubbler and 1 umbrella sleeve
Standard 6x6 waterline tile

Spa (8' x 5’)
4 therapy jets with 1HP blower
Granite or glass tile spillway
Hayward Colorlogic 12v LED (1 spa)
Hayward Eletric Heat pump 100k btu

Deck (28' x 40') (940 sq feet)
Flagstone Pavers (Tier 1)
Travertine Coping (12" x 12" tumbled, tier 1)
Under deck drain pipe / area drains

Total Price - $95,440


Builder #2

Pool (15’ x 31’) (399 sq feet)
In ground gunite
Depth 3' to 6'
Quartz interior
Jandy 4-function smartphone automation (waiting on model info)
Jandy Variable Speed 2.7HP pump
Jandy salt system (waiting on model info)
Jandy cartridge filter
2 Jandy Hydrocool color led lights

Spa (6' 6” x 6' 6”)
Raised 12" with glass tile on riser
4 therapy jets with blower
Glass tile spillway
Jandy heat pump 110k BTU
1 Jandy hydrocool color led light

Deck (28’ x 40’)
Level 1 concrete pavers
Bullnose brick coping
Concrete wall (12" high) - supposedly required due to our subtle yard slope
Deck Drains

Total price: $103,550

As you can see both designs / quotes are very similar after a few rounds of back and forth with each builder.

We’re leaning toward builder #2 because the larger swimming area and their clear insistence for the need of the raised wall along the back of the deck (which I think would be a benefit in keeping the pool clear due to the slope of the property).

That being said, our previous pool was built by builder #1 and we were really happy with that pool except the rough texture of the quartz from the beginning and through the 9 years we owned it.

I’m more familiar with Hayward equipment and do like the fact that if I need to replace a pump or Tcell that I can do it myself (I’ve done both before). My understanding of Jandy equipment is that it much be done by a dealer which feels like a money grab to me for ‘simple’ swap outs.

My experience with pool equipment is that it will go bad and when it does it’s nice to save a little doing some DIY when the job is straight forward and simple.

We do plan to add a screen enclosure to the whole project but their 3rd party quotes for that are basically identical.

 

[PoolBrews]

I'm in central FL as well and just went through this process a little over 2 years ago! I had 6 builders out, and the eventual PB we went with was incredible. Best price, reasonable install time (10.3 weeks from dig to water), and have been very responsive on minor follow up issues!

If Premier Pools of Central Florida out of Winter Garden isn't on your list above, I would recommend you call and get an estimate from them. Here in central FL there are way to many shady PB's to take a chance. Make sure you talk to couple of former clients that they have installed pools for. If they can't (or won't) give you clients to call I would be wary of them.

 

[PoolBrews]

Two things I see right off the bat - I would want a larger filter than a C200. I don't see the size of the Jandy filter, but for filters, the bigger the better.

For the heater, one PB is quoting a 100K heater, and the other 110K. Heat pumps work fantastically well in central Fl! That being said, get the largest heater available - should be around 140K for any of the major manufacturers. The cost difference is very slight, the bigger heater is more efficient, and it will run less to maintain temps in the pool (leading to longer life for the heater).

 

[FloatingAround]

I'm in central FL as well and just went through this process a little over 2 years ago! I had 6 builders out, and the eventual PB we went with was incredible. Best price, reasonable install time (10.3 weeks from dig to water), and have been very responsive on minor follow up issues!

If Premier Pools of Central Florida out of Winter Garden isn't on your list above, I would recommend you call and get an estimate from them. Here in central FL there are way to many shady PB's to take a chance. Make sure you talk to couple of former clients that they have installed pools for. If they can't (or won't) give you clients to call I would be wary of them.

I didn’t want to post builder names here but Premier is indeed one of builder we are working with. Both builders have been great so far and both have been doing pools in the are of a long time and fantastic reputations. That’s why we’ve narrowed it down to these two.

Two things I see right off the bat - I would want a larger filter than a C200. I don't see the size of the Jandy filter, but for filters, the bigger the better.

For the heater, one PB is quoting a 100K heater, and the other 110K. Heat pumps work fantastically well in central Fl! That being said, get the largest heater available - should be around 140K for any of the major manufacturers. The cost difference is very slight, the bigger heater is more efficient, and it will run less to maintain temps in the pool (leading to longer life for the heater).

Thanks for the tips. I’m still waiting on the details for all the Jandy equipment for the builder #2 quote.

That’s a good point with the heater as well because I imagine going up in BTUs is a relatively low cost when already spending roughly $6500 on the heater to start with.

 

[TampaKathy]

I don't have a spa so I'm not speaking from experience but I *thought* heat pumps didn't work great for spas b/c they take awhile to heat the water especially the colder it is outside...is gas not an option?

 

[PoolBrews]

Good catch - I mossed that (my spa is separate from my pool). As long as you:

1. Have a separate feed to heat the pool vs the spa (a heat pump can service two bodies of water - you just need separate pumps for each)
2. Maintain the temp in the spa

...you'll have no issues. When you really need gas is when you only ramp up the spa when you want to use it.

Gas will cost wayyyy more to heat the pool than a heat pump in central FL.

 

[PoolBrews]

One more thing - I would highly recommend that you don't go 3' on the shallow end. That is way too shallow. Mine goes from 4' - 5' and we love it. Even 3.5' is too shallow.

I hear a lot of folks say "I need 3' for the kids", but then they find out that they only need the 3' for a couple of years, and the pool is there for decades. My kids learned to swim in 4' of water early on, so there was never an issue.

 

[pjt]

Depth 3' to 6'

3' is extremely shallow. I'd suggest increasing the depth of your shallow end to 4'.

 

[FloatingAround]

3' is extremely shallow. I'd suggest increasing the depth of your shallow end to 4'.

Our last pool was 3' to 5' which is the standard here in Central Florida because the high water table.

That being said, we're definitely still debating the depth. My concern with doing 3' to 6' would be the steepness of the decline from shallow to deep end.

 

[FloatingAround]

I don't have a spa so I'm not speaking from experience but I *thought* heat pumps didn't work great for spas b/c they take awhile to heat the water especially the colder it is outside...is gas not an option?

Gas isn't an option for us and we really don't want a large propane tank on the property so a heat pump is the way to go for us.

Good catch - I mossed that (my spa is separate from my pool). As long as you:

1. Have a separate feed to heat the pool vs the spa (a heat pump can service two bodies of water - you just need separate pumps for each)
2. Maintain the temp in the spa

...you'll have no issues. When you really need gas is when you only ramp up the spa when you want to use it.

Gas will cost wayyyy more to heat the pool than a heat pump in central FL.

Interesting idea but we don't plan to ever heat the pool with the heat pump so I'm not sure that will be an issue for us. Definitely something to think about though.

We will be adding solar heating for the pool for sure though. We had solar heating on our previous pool and it was perfect for extending the swim season both at the beginning and end. We could typically swim from February/March through October which usually was enough for us.

One more thing - I would highly recommend that you don't go 3' on the shallow end. That is way to shallow. Mine goes from 4' - 5' and we love it. Even 3.5' is too shallow.

I hear a lot of folks say "I need 3' for the kids", but then they find out that they only need the 3' for a couple of years, and the pool is there for decades. My kids learned to swim in 4' of water early on, so there was never an issue.

That's a good point. We do have young kids but they don't stay young forever.

 

[Cena_sea]

I like both designs. I do think if there’s a slope then the retaining wall is a good idea and it looks nice. My question is where is the cage going around and do you need a wall if there’s an enclosed cage?

 

[PoolBrews]

Gas isn't an option for us and we really don't want a large propane tank on the property so a heat pump is the way to go for us.


Interesting idea but we don't plan to ever heat the pool with the heat pump so I'm not sure that will be an issue for us. Definitely something to think about though.

We will be adding solar heating for the pool for sure though. We had solar heating on our previous pool and it was perfect for extending the swim season both at the beginning and end. We could typically swim from February/March through October which usually was enough for us.


That's a good point. We do have young kids but they don't stay young forever.

I would take some time and research and do the math for solar heating. Solar works great when you don't need it (in the middle of summer), helps a little in spring and fall, and not much at all when you really need it. Since you're already spending the $$ on a heat pump, spending another $5K or more on solar heat results in a ridiculously long payback period - long after something will eventually go wrong. My heat pump costs me ~$30/month to heat my pool to 88 in January. In spring and fall, it drops to ~$10/month. A solar heating system might drop that to $20 and $5 (and that's being generous). In my mind it doesn't make sense.

Also, when you need a new roof, you'll have to pay to have it removed and re-installed.

 

[FloatingAround]

I would take some time and research and do the math for solar heating. Solar works great when you don't need it (in the middle of summer), helps a little in spring and fall, and not much at all when you really need it. Since you're already spending the $$ on a heat pump, spending another $5K or more on solar heat results in a ridiculously long payback period - long after something will eventually go wrong. My heat pump costs me ~$30/month to heat my pool to 88 in January. In spring and fall, it drops to ~$10/month. A solar heating system might drop that to $20 and $5 (and that's being generous). In my mind it doesn't make sense.

Also, when you need a new roof, you'll have to pay to have it removed and re-installed.

Good points. Solar is something we had on our previous pool but we also didn't have a spa and therefore no heater. From your numbers, we might be better off just using the heat pump. Since we'll have the heater we might as well try it for a season and see if we end up with similar costs.

We're lucky enough to have a tile roof so it's unlikely we'd have to replace the roof during the time we own the house.

 

[FloatingAround]

We signed and dotted yesterday with builder #1!!

After a bit of back and forth on the design we settled on the design below (rendering don't have exact materials obviously).

Design changes:

• We moved the bench from the backside of the pool to the house side and connected it to the sunshelf/bench 'walkway'.
  • This is similar to what we had in our previous pool and we really like the ability for our young son (2-3 at the time) to be able to walk from the sunshelf all the way to the deep end (with a lifejacket on of course!). We have a >1 daughter so she will have the same 'freedom' in the pool as he did during those early years. Once they are grown it will be a nice area for anyone to sit and hang out if they're not floating.
• Enlarged the spa to be 8' by 8' and added a step in the corner
• Changed depth to 5.5' (from 6')
  • I was worried about the slope from 3' to 6' in only 23 feet.
  • Debated going to 3.5' but our previous pool was 3' and we were happy with it.
• Added bump out for step #1 in order to keep the sunshelf 8' by 8'
• Swapped the sunshelf bubbler for a under coping 12" aqua wave arc sheer (PB was pretty adamant that with the sunshelf at -19" (from coping) the bubbler would be pretty pointless)
• Added glass tile inlay on the steps and benches (matches spa spillway glass tile)
• Add 6" curb wall with tile and coping around the entire back for the decking because the slight slope of our property
• Upped the heater from a 100k to a 140k BTU Heat pump

Updated Specs

Pool (15' x 31') (409 sq feet)
In ground gunite
Depth 3' to 5.5'
Pebble interior - Wet Edge - Gulf White
OmniPL Automation (3 actuators, 4 relays)
Hayward AquaRite 900 Salt system (40k cell)
Hayward TriStar 950 VSP 2.7hp
Hayward C200 Cartridge Filter
Hayward Colorlogic 12v LED (1 pool)
Sunshelf with 12" aqua wave arch sheer and 1 umbrella sleeve
Standard 6x6 waterline tile - Baystone Tile Azul Macauba Porcelain Tile
Glass tile inlay on steps and benches - Artistry in Mosaics - Avalon Series - Seafoam

Spa (8' x 8’)
5 therapy jets with 1HP blower
Glass tile spillway - Artistry in Mosaics - Avalon Series - Seafoam
Hayward Colorlogic 12v LED (1 spa)
Hayward HeatPro Electric Heat pump 140k BTU

Deck (28' x 40') (960 sq feet)
Flagstone Pavers - Cream/Beige - Travertsone - Random pattern
Travertine Coping - Baystone Light Premium 12" x 12" tumbled
Under deck drain pipe / area drains

 

[srfdntchk]

I really like this design, especially the shelf and entrance area. It's like a multi-level hangout spot. You have the shallow shelf for laying out and some sitting, the entrance spot next to it with more seating for those that want to chill with the shelf crowd, but be a bit more "in the water". Then the spa in the same area fort hose that want to do their hottub thing, but not be separated from the group. Lastly you have the main body of the pool for swimmers and float-people. It's an excellent setup for groups and parties. I wish that was going to be in my backyard.

 

[FloatingAround]

I really like this design, especially the shelf and entrance area. It's like a multi-level hangout spot. You have the shallow shelf for laying out and some sitting, the entrance spot next to it with more seating for those that want to chill with the shelf crowd, but be a bit more "in the water". Then the spa in the same area fort hose that want to do their hottub thing, but not be separated from the group. Lastly you have the main body of the pool for swimmers and float-people. It's an excellent setup for groups and parties. I wish that was going to be in my backyard.

Thanks and we sure hope we love it as much as we think we will. This will be our second pool build and we learned a few things from the first (both good and bad) so we had a bit of a list before even starting this design.

You pretty much hit on just about every thought we had while designing and revising. I think this was revision 7 on one of the two designs we started from.

The designer/builder we went with (same one as our first pool 10 years ago) was absolutely amazing again and worked with us so much that I was worried all of the back and forth would have him annoyed. Instead he kept saying how fun it was to work with us and it felt genuine.

I plan to update this thread with all the build progress for anyone to follow along if wanted.

 

[FloatingAround]

I like both designs. I do think if there’s a slope then the retaining wall is a good idea and it looks nice. My question is where is the cage going around and do you need a wall if there’s an enclosed cage?

The screen enclosure will be around the entire main deck. The curb wall in the back is only 6 inches and only across the back.

We debated waiting on the screened enclosure because the price of aluminum is insane right now but because of the child safety laws in Florida I don’t think we’ll be able wait.

We don’t want to fence the yard and also don’t really want to drill while around the entire pool for the pool safety fence.

With the screen we can have a safety fence just from door to door inside the screen so while there will be some holes in the pavers for that, it’s only on the house side of the pool.

 

[FloatingAround]

I've been bugged our PB about the type of spa jets they were going to install. We finally settled on the Paramount ParaJets after a little back and forth and some research by the PB on the plumbing required.

Hope they are as nice as they look! ParaJets Massage Therapy Spa Jets - Paramount Pool & Spa Systems

 

[FloatingAround]

Not totally sure why but PB upgraded the 12” AquaWave arch sheer on the sunshelf to the 24” model.

This was something we looked at during the design phase but doing so required the filter to be updated as well which was around $1000 (between the 24” sheer and the bigger filter) that we didn’t feel was important enough to us to justify the added cost.

They just noticed me that they upgraded both for no charge so either we are lucky or I’m missing something. Either way were not going to complain!

 

[Toxophilite]

Not totally sure why but PB upgraded the 12” AquaWave arch sheer on the sunshelf to the 24” model.

This was something we looked at during the design phase but doing so required the filter to be updated as well which was around $1000 (between the 24” sheer and the bigger filter) that we didn’t feel was important enough to us to justify the added cost.

They just noticed me that they upgraded both for no charge so either we are lucky or I’m missing something. Either way were not going to complain!

It is amazing how some of that stuff is of no difference to them later, but has a big price tag at the bargaining table before signing. Got a few upgrades that way myself. But, then, when it comes to the sub and the decking, they wanted to fret back and forth over a few extra feet of travertine that was mis-measured. Beats me!