Unsure of Which Pool Type is Best for Us

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100k should get you and amazing gunite pool with great equipment. That would be my choice. Go with a pebble finish product and it will be easy on your feet And swimsuits. Ours is 17years old and looks brand new. Figure on $5k-6k for a liner every 15 years or replaster every 20- 25 If you choose std plaster.

now, if a fiberglass Pool is sufficiently cheaper than gunite you might consider that but in my area they price out comparable to gunite so gunite’s the easy choice.
 
@Rossterman You made my day! I’ve been so worried that it’s out of my price range, that I don’t think I’ve given gunite a chance. Off to research more, so I can change that. I’m so glad I found this forum!
:lovetfp:
 
@LuschMommy $100k will get you the pool of your dreams! We are building our 15x30 gunite pool for about 55k. That includes pebble finish, four LED lights, and great Pentair equipment. Now, we aren’t getting a spa or any water features but figure $1k for a bubbler and $12k for a spa - at least in our area. Good luck!
 
zea3 said:
LuschMommy try to get estimates from people near where you live. The cost of pool construction can vary greatly in different parts of the country.
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Exactly, as most will have to be due to travel costs Inflating costs. Oh, and my build was $80k with spa, solar, pebble, travertine coping, 3 waterfalls, swg. Full automation. etc and in northern calif. That included $24k concrete deck too.
For a more current number, we just did quotes on my daughters that will be bigger than mine, baja shelf, spa, heater, etc and was $66k in northern calif.
 
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Absolutely! I’m hoping to walk in and talk to someone at one gunite PB tomorrow, and another has me on the books in 2 weeks. Preliminary talks with both seem to indicate my area’s costs are definitely higher than what you’ve all experienced. The vinyl pool that I had been looking at was going to cost $75k. Hopefully, I’ll have a better idea about my options tomorrow.
 
The biggest issue regarding dogs and the pool is making sure they’re comfortable. The ONLY good advice my PB gave me was to get in the water with the dogs the first few times they are in the pool and guide them to the stairs so they know how to easily get out of the pool. Liner tears happen when they panic and fear they can’t get out. I seriously doubt my dogs have ever even touched the regular liner with their claws.
 
@Chasarms Thats good advice. The last thing I want is for my pups to hate the pool. We’ll be spending LOTS of time back there.
@jimmythegreek Part of the meetings that I’ll be having with builders is to map out “everything”. Around here, most gunite builders aren’t building a pool, they’re building a backyard oasis. That’s probably where the finished product starts to get pricey. My husband is in charge of keeping me in line. :giggle:
 

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I think a $100k can build a nice pool (with spa if you wish) and with water feature + all pool equipment. I have a 14,000 gal pool and did a replaster for under $10k with a pebble, smooth finish. This is just a reference point but I do think you be happy with a pebble type of finish rather then just a white plaster. Be sure to have it polished to achieve the smooth finish. There are some other threads of pool budgets for complete new builds and that should help give you some guidelines as well. Good Luck.
 
That’s the way we’re hoping to go @Chasarms. The 2 gunite PB that I’ve spoken to so far will create a 3D design of whatever we want to include and then we would own that design (for a fee, of course ;) ). Then we could build in phases, either for us to finish, or a professional.
 
Just going out on a limb here, but I would imagine that most people with a $100k budget will go with some form of gunite or shotcrete. I would have, for sure. And for what it is worth, our community pool has traditional white plaster, and it is not rough at all. Very smooth, feels great. Same goes for all the pools I have been in that just have traditional plaster. Although I have never been in any pools with the fancier finishes, it seems like the stones/pebbles that are used for the beauty and color also contribute to roughness. But good old plaster is just, well, dust basically.
 
LuschMommy said:
I was hoping that someone here had heard of reinforcing the stairs and tanning ledge with "thick treaded material" and could help me understand it.
--Wendy
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So normal vinyl is 20mil thick. They have thicker material 27mil (might be 28) that would be harder for nails to go through.

So normal vinyl is smooth, and for some can be slippery on the horizontal surface on stairs. They have a new option called TredTech? that basically puts a series of ridges on the vinyl, just to give it a bit of texture. This makes it less slippery.

As for your worries, this is all I can tell you. Vinyl, even the thinner 20mil, is pretty durable stuff. Ask for a 12' square of vinyl as a sample. Color doesn't matter, it can be a scarp from a previous job where they cut out the skimmer. Then take a fork and scratch the vinyl like a dogs foot would. You can even try to stab the vinyl. You will probably be convinced of how tough it is.

Cost is very location specific. If 90% of the pool in your area are vinyl, then expect that FB and gunnite will be much more expensive. But if 50% of the pools are gunnite, then due to competition, your price will come down.

As for FB floating, I might be wrong, but I think with the addition of a sump under FB pools, this problem really should be minimal in a modern well designed installation..
 
We met with our vinyl PB builder. To add a fiberglass tanning ledge to the vinyl pool would add $20k, which would put us at $95k total for it. He said that they use TredTec (30 mil) on tanning ledge and stairs and 27 mil (Latham liner) everywhere else. He said 75% of their customers have dogs and the only issue he knows about is a scared deer that got stuck. He said even if the have to patch, it’s not expensive and they would do it from behind so it wasn’t visible.

We also met with a gunite builder who priced just a 18x36 pool (no deck) at $90k - pool total at $130k. I’m not sure that would include pebble sheen or lighting, but maybe. I spoke to another gunite installer briefly who said just the pool with no cleaning/sanitizing/decking would be $80k. Unfortunately, I think that puts gunite out of our price range.😢

The $75k for vinyl is their “platinum” package, which has “everything you would need to keep your pool clean and beautiful”. This includes bubblers, automation, VS filter, saltwater, large filter, 22x38x33 lagoon 3’6” - 8’. I think this is the way we’re going to go. I think?
 
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Granted this is Cincinnati, and pricing from about 5 years ago, but I got a 18x40 oval vinyl, 20 yards of concrete for large plain decking, 350 feet of split rail fence, VS pump and electric hook up all for under $40K. $75K seems like a lot. Of course mine uses steel walls not concrete. Not sure what the advantage of concrete walls is. In you are worried about corrosion, maybe consider polymer walls.

If you are doing vinyl over stairs, which you should, then look for an option like this for a more affordable tanning ledge that does not require the FB insert. These should be possible with perhaps $5K or less.

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRF_qsIhhfEcOcdK8aPQCtK817g1WzziLzQHQ&usqp=CAU

https://www.poolwarehouse.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Miller-Family-Pool-05.jpg
 
@Yev The vinyl PB that we like uses concrete for the side walls, tanning ledge and stairs. Then they cover tanning ledge/stairs with TredTec vinyl. We were considering a separate fiberglass tanning ledge, with an overflow into the vinyl pool. IMHO, not worth $20k.

As long as the tanning ledge holds tough, I’m still extremely excited with our pool choices! :paddle:
 
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