Yes: Pools are worth it....

[Quagmire 2,147]

upfront cost of a swg is much more than an auto feed tablet chlorinator. probably ends up being a wash in the long run on actual savings between the two systems.
i’d much rather drain/refill my pool every 5 years than replace damaged patio furniture or risk damage to my travertine. it does happen despite whatever tfp says.  that said, i use liquid chlorine in mines and have zero issues with the 5 min per day maintenance that requires. 

had saltwater at old house for 7 years, no problems with patio furniture or decking . Suspect people with problems buy cheap patio furniture that rust just from being outside . Good cast aluminum furniture should last a long time.

[Quagmire 2,147]

Yes, the wives sit there with their sangria or seltzers.  Still waiting for view of the tits.
[mention=154]EE2B[/mention]

• Definitely go robot - won't need in floor cleaner with a robot
• I'm waiting to get my Salt Water Chlorine Generator activated.  Think of the upfront cost as pre-paid chlorine for 3-5 years at known cost.  The other advantage is that they are lower maintenance once you reach the right levels.  Friends with SWG say they add acid twice a month and that is it.
• I commonly hear the UV/Ozone systems are not necessary if you keep your chemistry right.
• I love the 6' depth it makes it more kid friendly, people say you can't play volleyball but thinking people are really going to play volleyball is like thinking they are going to play croquet... it happens a lot less than you would think but my kids and I are in the deep end a lot.
• I love the iAqualink system so far.  really adds a lot of usable automation.

 

I’m torn on the robot , I know they use a lot less electricity and clean better , but don’t like the idea of having run extension cord and take it in and out. I’ve heard they don’t last long and if they break aren’t cheap /easy to repair.

Are you able to set schedules on them so they keep cleaning while you are out of town ?

[fattyflattie 4,639]

They came and finished the tile work today. Equipment next. Started digging on Sept 2. Not too bad.








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[Poolflood 845]

54 minutes ago, fattyflattie said:

They came and finished the tile work today. Equipment next. Started digging on Sept 2. Not too bad.








Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Looking good.  Moving fast.  What's ETA on long plumb and equipment? 

[tokamak 6,411]

9 hours ago, Kilgorehorn said:

We've been waiting all summer. Finally got started last week.

What am I looking at here? Does your back yard have a moat?

[fattyflattie 4,639]

3 minutes ago, Poolflood said:

Looking good.  Moving fast.  What's ETA on long plumb and equipment? 

Don’t know yet, will try to get an idea tomorrow.  Old man texted equipment was next and we didn’t want to text back late so will return in AM and see.  But he told us last week we probably had ~4 weeks left.  We haven’t been hounding, he’ll I’m about to be at the ranch and wife can have the pool. But it is nice that it’s moving along. 

[Kilgorehorn 308]

2 minutes ago, tokamak said:

What am I looking at here? Does your back yard have a moat?

That is the table top that the camera is setting on.

[PantsTent 2,002]

What am I looking at here? Does your back yard have a moat?

You’re not alone. Looked like water to me too.

[Kilgorehorn 308]

46 minutes ago, PantsTent said:

You’re not alone. Looked like water to me too.

Took me a minute to figure it out when I first saw it.

[kmac30 416]

14 months out before building a pool? What if the company goes out of business before then? Are all builders that far off?

[TexasEd 8,066]

13 hours ago, Quagmire said:

I’m torn on the robot , I know they use a lot less electricity and clean better , but don’t like the idea of having run extension cord and take it in and out. I’ve heard they don’t last long and if they break aren’t cheap /easy to repair.

Are you able to set schedules on them so they keep cleaning while you are out of town ?

Yes, I figured that out through the iAqualink app on Wednesday.  First glance looks like I can schedule 1 time per day.  I am looking into how I can do more but it is a one button start from the controller or my phone and it works when out of town too.  With acorns falling now I run the robot twice a day or when shock is added.  It also can be steered to places but has a memory map of the pool and gets good coverage.

Photo of what it picked up after the cool deck was installed. 

Edited September 17, 2021 by TexasEd

[Buzzrock 14,918]

So with the robots do you have to walk to the pool and drop them in? I like the fact that I can leave the Polaris in the pool.

[Quagmire 2,147]

So with the robots do you have to walk to the pool and drop them in? I like the fact that I can leave the Polaris in the pool.

I believe you can leave them in but you have to take them out to empty out the debris.

I’m sure they last longer if they aren’t left submerged as well.

[Kilgorehorn 308]

Gunnite going in

[RMac5 1,551]

Both pools look fantastic!

They marked ours out yesterday and will start digging next week. We are in the panhandle so we can ice skate on it as well come January.

[EE2B 1,565]

14 months out before building a pool? What if the company goes out of business before then? Are all builders that far off?

I live in a decent size town, but there are only 3-4 pool builders. I’ve had 2 at my house and can’t get a quote. I’ve heard not so good things about both so no loss. I’ve called a third builder four times and can’t get them to call me back. The fourth is out of town and has 88 pools already on the schedule. The designer took me to a pool in my neighborhood that they built when he was there last week. It was damn impressive and probably a 300k+ project.

I would rather wait on someone who I can get to come out and be honest with me on where they are at schedule wise than one who won’t even send me a quote. It’s pretty damn frustrating to want to spend that much money and have someone who won’t do what they say they are going to do.

[Brew 3,049]

Not a fan of the ozone system we have. It puts air bubbles into one of the returns so you have a constant stream of bubbles coming into the pool and the incessant noise that goes along with the air. We had UV on our old pool so if you went out at night after the pump cut back it was almost perfectly quiet outside. Now I have the sound of popping bubbles 24/7.

[Poolflood 845]

2 hours ago, EE2B said:

I live in a decent size town, but there are only 3-4 pool builders. I’ve had 2 at my house and can’t get a quote. I’ve heard not so good things about both so no loss. I’ve called a third builder four times and can’t get them to call me back. The fourth is out of town and has 88 pools already on the schedule. The designer took me to a pool in my neighborhood that they built when he was there last week. It was damn impressive and probably a 300k+ project.

I would rather wait on someone who I can get to come out and be honest with me on where they are at schedule wise than one who won’t even send me a quote. It’s pretty damn frustrating to want to spend that much money and have someone who won’t do what they say they are going to do.

Where?  I may be able to get you recommendation.

[fattyflattie 4,639]

4 hours ago, EE2B said:

I would rather wait on someone who I can get to come out and be honest with me on where they are at schedule wise than one who won’t even send me a quote. It’s pretty damn frustrating to want to spend that much money and have someone who won’t do what they say they are going to do.

I think we called 12 places, only 8 found it worth their time to call back. Of those 8, about 6 of them gave the impression we were lucky to be stroking them a near 100k check.  We landed on the most non-sales, pure contractor type. So far, we’ve been happy. Hope we can finish strong.  

[EE2B 1,565]

Where?  I may be able to get you recommendation.

Texarkana. The one we are leaning towards is Morehead Pools out of Shreveport.

[Poolflood 845]

1 hour ago, EE2B said:

Texarkana. The one we are leaning towards is Morehead Pools out of Shreveport.

Kk.  

[BTW 370]

And so it begins …

[Poolflood 845]

On 9/18/2021 at 5:32 AM, EE2B said:

Texarkana. The one we are leaning towards is Morehead Pools out of Shreveport.

Sorry didn't get any good responses

[williemackgarza 1,826]

These all look like the same groups of mexicans doing all the work.

[fattyflattie 4,639]

8 minutes ago, williemackgarza said:

These all look like the same groups of mexicans doing all the work.

I don’t know but we’ve yet to get a white guy yet, and we have been killing the schedule and it has been quality work.  

[Surly Bevo 24,908]

SWG cell is something like 700-1000 bucks depending on model needed for your pool size (you're still going to have a control board with any pool sanitation method so I don't consider that part of any added up-front cost).  When you are sinking 50-150K into building something it's not some big up front cost that's making it pricier.  I spend like 125-150 bucks a year on salt, acid and a refresh on the stabilizer and as others have said barely have to touch it from a chem perspective other than occasionally adding some acid to lower the pH .  The damage angle is overblown if you get your coping sealed and you know run a hose on it for like 2 minutes if it's seen a lot of action.

[HouTex 1,866]

SWG cell is something like 700-1000 bucks depending on model needed for your pool size (you're still going to have a control board with any pool sanitation method so I don't consider that part of any added up-front cost).  When you are sinking 50-150K into building something it's not some big up front cost that's making it pricier.  I spend like 125-150 bucks a year on salt, acid and a refresh on the stabilizer and as others have said barely have to touch it from a chem perspective other than occasionally adding some acid to lower the pH .  The damage angle is overblown if you get your coping sealed and you know run a hose on it for like 2 minutes if it's seen a lot of action.

This. Also, many (most?) homeowners and pool builders are just obsessed with soft flagstones for coping and decking. If I ever build another pool I would design it with hard travertine (which was my coping material) and other materials that would not be a problem with a SWG assuming proper sealing and care.

[billfromlaketravis 11,456]

Has anybody installed a pool chiller? A friend of mine swears by them. 

 

 

[fattyflattie 4,639]

1 hour ago, billfromlaketravis said:

Has anybody installed a pool chiller? A friend of mine swears by them. 

 

 

I’m building now and including one.  Plumbing completed today.  Hoping we can wrap this up in the next 4 weeks or so.  

[williemackgarza 1,826]

Has anybody installed a pool chiller? A friend of mine swears by them. 
 
 

I have 1, but we never hooked it up. Didnt need it this year.
May tryand offload it

[Chet Steadman 940]

Question for those who have done it recently.  I have what most would consider to be a large pool, approx 35’ x 20’ and a depth around 9’ which I’ll be draining and re-tiling this winter.  When it’s time to refill this thing, should I plan to simply drop in a couple hoses or do I need to have a truck come fill the water?

My pool guy told me it should only cost a couple hundred to fill from a hose but that seems awfully low.  I had a leak a few years back which couldn’t get repaired for about three weeks and I was needing to fill my pool up 2-3” every few days.  My water bill that month was around $1500.   

Just trying to determine whether or not I need to be preparing for a several thousand dollar water bill after dropping some serious coin for the redo.  

I’m City of Austin, fwiw.   

[BTW 370]

Two feet of dirt, then it’s been limestone the rest of the way.

[LebongJames 1,801]

Been about a month in the new house with a pool. I can’t believe this our 3rd house we’ve bought and the first one with a pool.

Absolutely love the pool and the vibe it brings to the entire backyard.

[PantsTent 2,002]

5 hours ago, Chet Steadman said:

Question for those who have done it recently.  I have what most would consider to be a large pool, approx 35’ x 20’ and a depth around 9’ which I’ll be draining and re-tiling this winter.  When it’s time to refill this thing, should I plan to simply drop in a couple hoses or do I need to have a truck come fill the water?
My pool guy told me it should only cost a couple hundred to fill from a hose but that seems awfully low.  I had a leak a few years back which couldn’t get repaired for about three weeks and I was needing to fill my pool up 2-3” every few days.  My water bill that month was around $1500.   

Just trying to determine whether or not I need to be preparing for a several thousand dollar water bill after dropping some serious coin for the redo.  
I’m City of Austin, fwiw.   

I think mine was about tree fiddy (really) for 12k gallons. Yours might be twice that.

Edited September 27, 2021 by PantsTent

[williemackgarza 1,826]

Local guy in gtown delivered me 2000gal per truck at about $250 per load last year. The truck had a lined tank with drinking grade water. I used it to supplement my hoses running. I needed it filled asap,for a party.

As for the pool with rock just under the natural ground, your neighbors must love you. Was similar on our build and they hammered all day for like 3 days. Had em work 7:30 to damn near dark, just told the neighbors the longer they worked the less days it would take.

[TexasEd 8,066]

21 hours ago, Chet Steadman said:

Question for those who have done it recently.  I have what most would consider to be a large pool, approx 35’ x 20’ and a depth around 9’ which I’ll be draining and re-tiling this winter.  When it’s time to refill this thing, should I plan to simply drop in a couple hoses or do I need to have a truck come fill the water?

My pool guy told me it should only cost a couple hundred to fill from a hose but that seems awfully low.  I had a leak a few years back which couldn’t get repaired for about three weeks and I was needing to fill my pool up 2-3” every few days.  My water bill that month was around $1500.   

Just trying to determine whether or not I need to be preparing for a several thousand dollar water bill after dropping some serious coin for the redo.  

I’m City of Austin, fwiw.   

Maybe I'm bad at math but our water bill was $90 higher the month we filled our 18.5K gallon pool.  I did not compute the cost per gallon.

The main thing to watch out for is your sewage rate is set by usage in the early spring (Feb - Mar?) and you can pay a higher rate all year for filling up in that window.

[harold 81]

Our small 10k gallon pool was about $70 to fill from the hose.  This was in Frisco in 2019.

Edited September 27, 2021 by harold

[Bevo 13,576]

Glad I fired my pool company. This whole year has been a disaster so I finally sucked it up and fixed everything myself. Amazon for the win. With that said, are there any pool repair companies in Austin that y'all recommend? I have a chiller that has never been used because it was set up incorrectly - It really needs to be on its own circuit. I don't think that can happen easily, but I feel like I should at least get some quotes. OTOH, it seems like my waterfalls do a pretty good job lowering the temp when needed. Plus, my pool gets a decent amount of shade.

[boilerhorn 1,375]

On 9/26/2021 at 3:59 PM, Chet Steadman said:

Question for those who have done it recently.  I have what most would consider to be a large pool, approx 35’ x 20’ and a depth around 9’ which I’ll be draining and re-tiling this winter.  When it’s time to refill this thing, should I plan to simply drop in a couple hoses or do I need to have a truck come fill the water?

My pool guy told me it should only cost a couple hundred to fill from a hose but that seems awfully low.  I had a leak a few years back which couldn’t get repaired for about three weeks and I was needing to fill my pool up 2-3” every few days.  My water bill that month was around $1500.   

Just trying to determine whether or not I need to be preparing for a several thousand dollar water bill after dropping some serious coin for the redo.  

I’m City of Austin, fwiw.   

Highlighting what stood out to me: winter and City of Austin.

Years ago CoA would allow you to self-report pool fills and not consider that amount for wastewater averaging.  I believe they no longer do that.  Regardless, you should check, as you DO NOT want to be paying monthly wastewater fees for any of that.

[williemackgarza 1,826]

If you are going to call them for a reduced rate for refilling they may ask if you have a permit for any work.
I guess you could tell them you drained to get the chemicals under control.

Pool guy gave me a tip to cool the temps down was to run the waterfall and/or slide fountain all night to get it cooled down some.

[freyguy 4,267]

They also trim your high usage months, so there's no advantage trying to game the system.  If you can afford to maintain a 47k gallon pool, you can afford the water to fill it....

[BTW 370]

On 8/19/2021 at 9:03 AM, BTW said:

Someone talk to me about coping/decking ...

We got some samples dropped off yesterday.  The most popular one seems to be a fairly porous Mexican travertine that I would describe as cream colored.  That shit is not gonna fly with the Mrs. One, because it looks too "every 1980s pool I've ever seen" and 2) because it being a more earth tone, won't jive with our white/gray color scheme (see photos in previous post).

The other option in Travertine is indeed white/gray but almost looks like marble and is too "busy".  So it looks like we are either looking at going with just plain concrete, or a manufactured stone/tile to give the clean/modern look she is looking for.

Onto the questions:  Does anyone have anything like that around their pool?  Does it get really hot in the sunlight? Do you love it, or wish it was something different? Has anyone heard of peacock pavers and do you have them around your pool?

TIA

Okay, I finally go a formal proposal from the peacock paver people.  And holy fuck it's expensive.  The pavers themselves actually aren't that bad, but shipping is adding 40% to the cost.  Plus the labor to put them down looks like it's going to be quite high.

So now the wife wants to do Teak decking instead of having the hardscape everywhere.  Something like this picture that she found on the internet:

Does anyone have anything like this at their pool?  Do you love/hate it?  Are we crazy?

Edited October 4, 2021 by BTW

[BTW 370]

Also, here’s a progress pic:

[Dutchrudder 11,137]

Going through design phase with a few pool companies before we decide what to do. Anyone have tips, things they wish they did, anything to avoid? I can share some mockups for feedback once I have them.

Speaking with one builder, they refuse to do salt water installation. Apparently the salt ruins metal and lots of other stuff around the yard, and they don't want the liability of it. They said that chlorine cartridge filters are the most common, but that a DE filter is much cheaper in the long run. Anyone have opinions on DE filters?

[boilerhorn 1,375]

18 minutes ago, Dutchrudder said:

Going through design phase with a few pool companies before we decide what to do. Anyone have tips, things they wish they did, anything to avoid? I can share some mockups for feedback once I have them.

Speaking with one builder, they refuse to do salt water installation. Apparently the salt ruins metal and lots of other stuff around the yard, and they don't want the liability of it. They said that chlorine cartridge filters are the most common, but that a DE filter is much cheaper in the long run. Anyone have opinions on DE filters?
 

 

I'd avoid the popup in-floor cleaners.  They break and are inferior to a robot or a Polaris.

We had a salt system in our previous house.  The "problem" with the salt systems is that the cells did not last very long; I have read they are better now.  The salt does tend to erode limestone faster and that's well known.  I have never heard of a pool builder cautioning about ruining metal and other stuff around the yard.  That was never my experience and almost zero of what your pool water will contact should include metal.  Perhaps he's worried about spillover or splashing ultimately challenging the integrity of the rebar used under the concrete decking, but I think we'll all be long gone before that becomes a problem.  OR, he's worried about premature aging of the heating elements, should you choose to add a heater.

I've only had DE filters and recommend.  They do a really good job at filtration.  I have never used a cartridge filter, but the cartridges require frequent cleaning and flow/pressure needs to be lower than in a DE filter.  This means full turnover of your pool water may take longer.  Faster full turnover will keep your pool cleaner, in general.  Backwash/clean/replace DE in your DE filter is a little more involved and dealing w/ DE is not that great, but you get used to it.  Just do not inhale it.

Recommendations:

• Get as big a pool as you can tolerate
• consider adding an integrated spillover spa/hot-tub.  You will use it.  Plus, the heater option allows you to consider heating your pool a couple of degrees to give you a few more weeks of swimming early and late in the season.
• Consider a design that incorporates forms of water features.  Shears add visual appeal and additional audible ambiance.  Make sure the design includes an option to separately turn on/off shears.  In other words, if your main pump is running, shears could be on a secondary pump or on a controllable valve.
• Don't allow them to cheap out on the above ground plumbing in the equipment area.  Use Jandy valves (not cheaper ball valves).  Make sure the filter, pumps, chlorinator, or anything you might have to work with is easily accessible.  In fact, you should ask for a plumbing schematic early in the process so you can evaluate.

Feel free to ask more questions here...

[Quagmire 2,147]

Doesn’t DE require frequent backwashing which is a bit of a hassle ?

I hosed down my cartridge filters only twice a year.

[DaysOff 7,947]

In theory, once a month. It's a five minute job.

[freyguy 4,267]

Regardless of what filtration you have, you want to backwash/clean it every few months, as it becomes a major source for organics & algae food.

[HouTex 1,866]

Doesn’t DE require frequent backwashing which is a bit of a hassle ?

I hosed down my cartridge filters only twice a year.

Same here. And I could have waited even longer. There was only one pecan tree about 60 feet away from my pool so it stayed very clean most of the year.

[El Tri 412]

i have the quad DE and i do a cleaning in spring and fall. it's super easy.

i've never done the backwash