Yes: Pools are worth it....

[Hate 20107]

On nights like this, I generally have the spa at 96 or 97. It’s 52 degrees right now where I am.

[BradInATX 9208]

This is the correct line of thought.  I just watched the Cowboys game from the spa tonight and it was fantastic.  I watched the game last night from the spa as well.  It will be money very well spent. 

My builder needs to hurry his ass up

[joe dirt 285]

for those who have a service, what are y’all paying per month?

the company our builder set us up with to open the pool and do the pool school wants to charge $200/mo. that seems high af to me considering i only see this guy out there for maybe 15min at a time. was gonna roll with them for a while until i figured out the chemistry but fuck all that noise time for some on the job training haha. 

[El Tri 412]

12 minutes ago, joe dirt said:

for those who have a service, what are y’all paying per month?

the company our builder set us up with to open the pool and do the pool school wants to charge $200/mo. that seems high af to me considering i only see this guy out there for maybe 15min at a time. was gonna roll with them for a while until i figured out the chemistry but fuck all that noise time for some on the job training haha. 

fuck that noise. buy this test kit https://tftestkits.net/TF-100-Test-Kit-p4.html, download the PoolMath app, and watch some youtube videos.

It's the easiest thing in the world to maintain your own pool

[BradInATX 9208]

Dig is finished, plumbing going in today, rebar next week. Progress!

[PantsTent 2002]

Oh, yeah...Laying pipe!

 

[Armybrat 40824]

15 hours ago, Hate said:

On nights like this, I generally have the spa at 96 or 97. It’s 52 degrees right now where I am.

Mrs. Brat -1984 (Northeast Austin). We kept it at 98 then.

 

[DaysOff 7947]

for those who have a service, what are y’all paying per month?
the company our builder set us up with to open the pool and do the pool school wants to charge $200/mo. that seems high af to me considering i only see this guy out there for maybe 15min at a time. was gonna roll with them for a while until i figured out the chemistry but fuck all that noise time for some on the job training haha. 

They do a shit job brushing as well. Checking water chemistry once a week during our hot summers with a heavy bather load is insufficient. Take control of your own pool; you'll be happier and richer in the end.

[freyguy 4264]

You can get all your chemicals at home depot, and order the titration test kits online.

[billfromlaketravis 11448]

On 12/8/2020 at 11:34 PM, Hate said:

On nights like this, I generally have the spa at 96 or 97. It’s 52 degrees right now where I am.

I'm a 104 guy at all times if possible. And I wish it could could hotter. 

I remember older spas could go up to 110 degrees. I assume the lawyers won and they made 104 the arbitrary limit? 

[billfromlaketravis 11448]

On 12/9/2020 at 11:56 AM, joe dirt said:

for those who have a service, what are y’all paying per month?

the company our builder set us up with to open the pool and do the pool school wants to charge $200/mo. that seems high af to me considering i only see this guy out there for maybe 15min at a time. was gonna roll with them for a while until i figured out the chemistry but fuck all that noise time for some on the job training haha. 

Clorox chemicals have how to guides on YouTube. It's pretty easy. My wife had the pool cleaning/chemical treatments down within a month. 

Don't waste the money. Do it yourself. 

Others in this thread, how often should have your pool pump checked out by a "professional"? 

[Hate 20107]

Goddamn...that’s pretty warm. I’ll crank mine up to 99 at times if it I really cold outside, but I will usually turn the heat on and off to adjust the warmth as necessary. I don’t know if I could even get into the spa at 104.

[billfromlaketravis 11448]

2 hours ago, Hate said:

Goddamn...that’s pretty warm. I’ll crank mine up to 99 at times if it I really cold outside, but I will usually turn the heat on and off to adjust the warmth as necessary. I don’t know if I could even get into the spa at 104.

It gets pretty damned hot. I usually have to jump in the pool or pound beers to cool down. 

[troph 24781]

I’ll do 102-103 if I need a heat treatment but otherwise I can’t stay in more than 10 mins. 99-100 is great for chillaxing for a half hour with a tasty beverage. 

[troph 24781]

On 12/9/2020 at 11:56 AM, joe dirt said:

for those who have a service, what are y’all paying per month?

the company our builder set us up with to open the pool and do the pool school wants to charge $200/mo. that seems high af to me considering i only see this guy out there for maybe 15min at a time. was gonna roll with them for a while until i figured out the chemistry but fuck all that noise time for some on the job training haha. 

We were about that. I loved the service at first they were great.  We had some enzymes added which I’m sure can be done on your own to make the water silky and they also never over dosed the pool. It was perfect and luxurious. Then the guy sold and it was a mess.  We are probably doing our own maintenance when we move into our new place. 

[troph 24781]

Pool is almost done, now we can build a house.

The bottom left quadrant there is going to be a 55,000 gallon rainwater collection cistern under the garage.

Edited December 17, 2020 by troph

[Brew 3049]

Damn that is a lot of concrete.

For those that live in rainy environments, building a pool during that time period royally sucks. My builder has made one hell of a mess of what was a pretty nice tract. I told him last week I wished I would have fenced in a small backyard area they had to work within instead of them just going wherever they wanted. They should drain the mud puddle in the next week and put the finish on and install travertine. Then I get to figure out the cost of repairing their mess.

 

[TexasEd 8066]

What finishes are you all going with? 

Our builder includes NPT Stonescapes Mini Pebble in the base price but it is a heavy texture.  We have 2 friends with that and 2 friends just finishing their pools with Quartzscapes.  I was just reading about PolishedScapes but it sounds more expensive.  They polish it after install.

I would rather have smoother than the mini pebble but the Quartzscapes is supposedly less durable due to the higher marble content.

[Poolflood 845]

9 hours ago, TexasEd said:

What finishes are you all going with? 

Our builder includes NPT Stonescapes Mini Pebble in the base price but it is a heavy texture.  We have 2 friends with that and 2 friends just finishing their pools with Quartzscapes.  I was just reading about PolishedScapes but it sounds more expensive.  They polish it after install.

I would rather have smoother than the mini pebble but the Quartzscapes is supposedly less durable due to the higher marble content.

Quartz is smoother but a cheaper product and susceptible to mottling.  How long are you going to be in the house?  If longer than about 10 years do pebble.

You get used to the texture.

[Dbeasy 15042]

Quartz is smoother but a cheaper product and susceptible to mottling.  How long are you going to be in the house?  If longer than about 10 years do pebble.
You get used to the texture.

I had pebble in our pool as a kid and always hated it. What’s the next best surface to put in?

[TexasEd 8066]

6 hours ago, Poolflood said:

Quartz is smoother but a cheaper product and susceptible to mottling.  How long are you going to be in the house?  If longer than about 10 years do pebble.

You get used to the texture.

we've already been here 15 years and not likely to move until the youngest is in college.  He's 7 now.

[Poolflood 845]

9 hours ago, Dbeasy said:

I had pebble in our pool as a kid and always hated it. What’s the next best surface to put in?

If you don't want pebble then quartz to stay in same price.  Then you get to polished stone and glass bead.  Both are more expensive.  Your builder should have options.  Also the finish you had as a kid may have been a rougher aggregate or over exposed.

[Poolflood 845]

3 hours ago, TexasEd said:

we've already been here 15 years and not likely to move until the youngest is in college.  He's 7 now.

Pebble is the long term finish.  Quartz might make it 12-15 years.

[TexasEd 8066]

On 11/18/2020 at 10:45 AM, DaysOff said:

Partial drain today. Get your CYA and calcium hardness in check boys.

Is your edge a spillway or just a spillway look?  Our designer put a spillway look (Faux spillway) in our design but we are leaning towards traditional coping there.

[TKthunder2 4985]

Did any of you guys get a model of your pool before you built it?

[TexasEd 8066]

Who has Saltwater Generator and Travertine?

Think we are going this way.  I will seal it.  Friend with SWG and Lueder coping has had some disintegrate that was not sealed but Travertine is harder and we'll seal it.

[HouTex 1866]

Who has Saltwater Generator and Travertine?
Think we are going this way.  I will seal it.  Friend with SWG and Lueder coping has had some disintegrate that was not sealed but Travertine is harder and we'll seal it.

I did at my previous home. I loved it and I had no problem with the salt and the travertine. I sealed it every year and every few weeks during the summer I would hose down the coping and decking with fresh water. I wouldn’t own a pool without an SWG. I also was always careful to keep my salt level at the lower end of the range.

[DaysOff 7947]

Is your edge a spillway or just a spillway look?  Our designer put a spillway look (Faux spillway) in our design but we are leaning towards traditional coping there.

It's a faux infinity look.

[TexEx15 17509]

7 hours ago, TexasEd said:

Who has Saltwater Generator and Travertine?

Think we are going this way.  I will seal it.  Friend with SWG and Lueder coping has had some disintegrate that was not sealed but Travertine is harder and we'll seal it.

With a SWG it’s important to stay on top of the PH.  The process of converting the salt into chlorine gas as the water goes through the SWG raises the PH.  Unchecked the high PH will do more damage than the small amount of salt in the pool.

[TexasEd 8066]

2 hours ago, DaysOff said:

It's a faux infinity look.

Have you had issues with water loss over the spillway?  We have a bunch of kids and I don't think it will work in a high activity pool.  Seems like much easier to loose water there than a traditional coping edge.

 

[TexasEd 8066]

1 hour ago, TexEx15 said:

With a SWG it’s important to stay on top of the PH.  The process of converting the salt into chlorine gas as the water goes through the SWG raises the PH.  Unchecked the high PH will do more damage than the small amount of salt in the pool.

Tell me more about this.  We already have high pH water with all the limestone in it.  I've heard about the calcium build up on the SWG cells.  Is this just adding acid to the water or what?  Friend with SW pool says he gets his in balance and doesn't have to do anything for weeks at a time.

[Hate 20107]

I have a salt water pool and I add about 1/4 gallon of muriatic acid every week or so to keep the Ph in balance. It isn’t difficult to maintain the right balance.

[HouTex 1866]

I have a salt water pool and I add about 1/4 gallon of muriatic acid every week or so to keep the Ph in balance. It isn’t difficult to maintain the right balance.

This. My pool was around 20k gallons and I needed to add about a quart of MA every couple of weeks or so. Add borates to the pool and it helps with the pH upward creep but it will still creep up. The beauty of the SWG is that if you like doing everything yourself it’s a very low maintenance form of pool maintenance and chlorination. But you still need to check your chlorine and pH often. Get a very good test kit. With the SWG and the Polaris 280 I didn’t need a pool guy and my pool was always perfectly clean and balanced. After paying for the SWG I probably averaged about $15 per month in chemicals (mainly acid). If you don’t want to be bothered with doing things yourself, then you might as well use chlorine pucks and pay a pool guy $200 or so a month and hope he doesn’t let the pool get over stabilized with too much CYA.

[BillyBadAss 189]

If I'm thinking of putting in a pool, what am I looking at cost-wise in (SW) Austin right now? 

I'm thinking around 12k gallons is likely about the size I could fit.

Prefer rounded corners over square, but could possibly compromise if square is much cheaper. 

Prefer salt water.

Basic decking.

Want a Spa.

6' depth in deep end would be a plus.

 

Also, any recommended companies or ones to avoid? 

 

 

[TexEx15 17509]

17 minutes ago, BillyBadAss said:

If I'm thinking of putting in a pool, what am I looking at cost-wise in (SW) Austin right now? 

I'm thinking around 12k gallons is likely about the size I could fit.

Prefer rounded corners over square, but could possibly compromise if square is much cheaper. 

Prefer salt water.

Basic decking.

Want a Spa.

6' depth in deep end would be a plus.

 

Also, any recommended companies or ones to avoid? 

 

 

We are getting bids now.  We are in the 100-120k range but that is for something in the 18k gallon range.  I would imagine you are looking at 75-100k

[Quagmire 2147]

Only bad thing about SWG is it stops making Chlorine when the temps drop below 50 or so

[BradInATX 9208]

If I'm thinking of putting in a pool, what am I looking at cost-wise in (SW) Austin right now? 
I'm thinking around 12k gallons is likely about the size I could fit.
Prefer rounded corners over square, but could possibly compromise if square is much cheaper. 
Prefer salt water.
Basic decking.
Want a Spa.
6' depth in deep end would be a plus.
 
Also, any recommended companies or ones to avoid? 
 
 

Mine is about 13k gallons, free form. Spa, 8 foot natural stone waterfall along one side, 5.5 foot deep end. A few other bells and whistles. $95k, but that included a small flagstone deck around it which I think was a $6k addition.

Not saltwater.

[HouTex 1866]

Only bad thing about SWG is it stops making Chlorine when the temps drop below 50 or so

I assume you mean water temp. I had mine in Houston for 4 years without a problem. But the water temp probably only went below 50 a handful of times. Still, unless you live in the panhandle I would do the SWG and if I had to supplement the chlorine I would add Clorox every few days. When the water is that cold the chlorine demand is very low.

[TexasEd 8066]

5 hours ago, BillyBadAss said:

If I'm thinking of putting in a pool, what am I looking at cost-wise in (SW) Austin right now? 

I'm thinking around 12k gallons is likely about the size I could fit.

Prefer rounded corners over square, but could possibly compromise if square is much cheaper. 

Prefer salt water.

Basic decking.

Want a Spa.

6' depth in deep end would be a plus.

 

Also, any recommended companies or ones to avoid? 

 

 

Biggest cost adders are spa and decking.

 

 

[joe dirt 285]

3 hours ago, BradInATX said:

 

 

Mine is about 13k gallons, free form. Spa, 8 foot natural stone waterfall along one side, 5.5 foot deep end. A few other bells and whistles. $95k, but that included a small flagstone deck around it which I think was a $6k addition.

Not saltwater.

 

we’re in that ballpark as well price wise. 16k gallons rectangle with spa, sheer descents, travertine etc. 

 

[BradInATX 9208]

we’re in that ballpark as well price wise. 16k gallons rectangle with spa, sheer descents, travertine etc. 
 

Yours looks a bit different than mine...



Nice looking pool my man!

[BradInATX 9208]

Double

[BradInATX 9208]

Triple. Furk

[BradInATX 9208]

Quad

[TexasEd 8066]

you can stop now, Brad.

[Hate 20107]

We get it Brad.

[BradInATX 9208]

I blame immamac

[HookEm 2463]

I need more information on the 50,000 gallon rainwater collection cistern. That is a lot of water. Was that a typo??? Damn.

[Balcones 317]

On 12/9/2020 at 2:52 PM, Armybrat said:

Mrs. Brat -1984 (Northeast Austin). We kept it at 98 then.

 

Frosty

[TexasEd 8066]

What are y'all doing for tile?  I find the selections lacking.  Half the catalog gives me an 80s vibe.