Pool Builders?

As part of my pitch to not move from the damn near paid off house in a nice neighborhood close to good schools and everything else I have been leaned upon to do some remodeling. One of the things my wife is interested in is getting a pool. I'm hesitant because of the money and upkeep requirements, but if momma's not happy, noone's happy.

Has anyone installed a pool? Good or bad experiences? Cost? She wants the backyard makeover. Pool, spa, small outdoor kitchen, remove our not-used above ground spa, some vegetation. I have a feeling I'm going to be burying a new M3 back there...

How bad is the maintenance?

My in laws have a in ground saltwater pool with a spa that waterfalls into the pool, They live out of state now so Ive been taking care of the pool while the house is on the market. Up keep isnt too bad I empty the filters every other day (Takes a few seconds each) and once a week I have to add 16oz of acid, and a cap full of fos free , Once a month I add 1/2 bag of salt. It's a lot easier than a chlorine pool IMO . But after you add the chemicals the pool can't be used for 8hrs . The pool also has a Vacuum that cleans it soon as the pump turns on every day

Ya, we'd definitely get salt. Our neighbors have salt and it's much easier on the eyes and skin. Was in a chlorine pool this weekend and my eyes still burn.

I had an in-ground pool at or last house that was surrounded by lots of trees. Upkeep was a pain thanks to the trees. I had to have empty the skimmers and pool sweep twice a day to keep it looking good. Chemical maintenance was not that bad though. For ongoing cost, figure about $50-100/month in chemicals (depending on size of pool), $50-100/month in electric (again size dependent), and $200-500 a year in equipment maintenance after a the equipment is a few years old.

When we moved in to our current house, we wanted to put a pool in here. I visited with a few different pool builders and found that a bare-bones pool would run me somewhere in the low to mid twenties, but the minimum I would really be willing to accept would cost me at least $30k. If you start adding options like hot-tub, waterfall, LCD lighting, pebble-tech, heater, etc, it is really easy to get well over $40k. I had a hard time swallowing this so did nothing for 2 years.

This year, I decided I needed to do something to get me by, so I started looking in to above ground pools. 2 weeks after first visiting Crown Pools in Allen (and 5 days after writing the check), we were swimming in partially buried above ground pool. We got a ton of options including a 7' deep end, steps instead of ladder, padded bottom, upgraded equipment, partial bury (it only sticks out of the ground about 20 inches), and more. Once We put a deck around it, it should blend in to the yard almost as much as an in ground pool would. Pictures of the build are here. Now it is definitely not as nice as the pebble-tech in ground at our last house, but for a fraction of the cost, and a 5 day install instead of a 5 month install, we are happy to live with it.

Crown Pools was excellent, and there installer was even better. They also do in ground, but I have no idea what there reputation is on that side.

Most people I know loved their pool when they first got it and then wanted to fill it in after a few years. My neighbor curses his pool and very rarely uses it. Just remember it cost $7-10K to properly have a pool filled in with dirt! My neighborhood HOA has a pool right down the street which we used when the kids were younger. I never go down there now that the kids are in college.

There already was a pool here when we bought our current house. It's in-ground and non-salt water. Pool maintenance isn't a big deal, and even easier with a salt-water generator. The only 'chemicals' we use are liquid bleach for chlorine, baking soda to lower akalinity, and muriatic acid to lower Ph. People that run down to Leslie's and spend $500 on junk to dump in their pool don't understand the basics and are wasting their money.

There are a few great pool forums out there, such as - http://www.troublefreepool.com/

Depends on what the tree situation is in your backyard. My folks have a beautiful pool shaded by majestic live oak trees that make an absolute unholy effing mess out of the whole backyard every spring. Invariably, the skimmers have to be emptied four times a day, the pool sweep commits suicide, and the hole where the water goes turns into a swamp - with snakes and toads and everything!

They finally switched to a salt water system a few years back and that's made summer maintenance a lot easier, but spring cleanup kills the fun. Screw a pool... just make friends with somebody that has one. I used their pool until high school, but now it pretty much sits unused. The folks have barely touched it in the last 18 years since I graduated from HS.

And, yes, you'll be burying an M3 back there. But if momma has to have a pool, tell her she can pay for it and take care of it... ;)

From what I understand, it is better to buy a house with an existing pool than buiding your own, since you do not recoupe your money. However, if you want to stay where you are and you want a pool, then...

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Originally Posted by sammm

There already was a pool here when we bought our current house. It's in-ground and non-salt water. Pool maintenance isn't a big deal, and even easier with a salt-water generator. The only 'chemicals' we use are liquid bleach for chlorine, baking soda to lower akalinity, and muriatic acid to lower Ph. People that run down to Leslie's and spend $500 on junk to dump in their pool don't understand the basics and are wasting their money.

There are a few great pool forums out there, such as - http://www.troublefreepool.com/

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The liquid bleach you buy from the grocery store is very dilute. You'd be better off getting the 3" chlorine tabs from the leslies. I go through one $80/35lbs bucket about every 6 months(more in the summer, less in the winter). I spend about $50 on upkeep every month with the inclusion of the Nature 2 cartridge(which will reduce the amount of chlorine used) and the extra amount the electric pump running will cost you. My pool is 11 years old.

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Originally Posted by goofygrin

Has anyone installed a pool? Good or bad experiences? Cost? She wants the backyard makeover. Pool, spa, small outdoor kitchen, remove our not-used above ground spa, some vegetation. I have a feeling I'm going to be burying a new M3 back there...

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Talk to ken o. His momma wanted the same thing, and his backyard turned out very nice. I think he ended up burying a Carrera S back there, though...

Pools are fun in the summer, but no way would I foot the construction bill. I'd rather let someone else take the hit and buy a house that already includes one.

Thankfully we live ~100 yards from the neighborhood pool, so this is a non-issue for us.

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Originally Posted by Radio-Active

The liquid bleach you buy from the grocery store is very dilute. You'd be better off getting the 3" chlorine tabs from the leslies. I go through one $80/35lbs bucket about every 6 months(more in the summer, less in the winter). I spend about $50 on upkeep every month with the inclusion of the Nature 2 cartridge(which will reduce the amount of chlorine used) and the extra amount the electric pump running will cost you. My pool is 11 years old.

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Wrong, but thanks for playing! I buy Walmart bleach at 6% strength. The problem with chlorine tabs is they are constantly adding 'stabilizer' (CYA) to your water chemistry. The more stabilizer in the water, the higher the chlorine level is needed to sanitize your water. The only way to lower stabilizer is to partially drain your pool....it doesn't evaporate and dissipate. Liquid chlorine (bleach) has no stabilizer in it. You do want some stabilizer in your chemistry, but once you reach a certain level (generally 50-60 PPM) you don't want/need more.

Check your CYA level and get back to me.

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Originally Posted by Radio-Active

The liquid bleach you buy from the grocery store is very dilute. You'd be better off getting the 3" chlorine tabs from the leslies. I go through one $80/35lbs bucket about every 6 months(more in the summer, less in the winter). I spend about $50 on upkeep every month with the inclusion of the Nature 2 cartridge(which will reduce the amount of chlorine used) and the extra amount the electric pump running will cost you. My pool is 11 years old.

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Actually, both Clorox Regular Bleach and Walmart Value brand bleach is 6% Sodium Hypochlorite, and run about $1.65/gallon. Liquid chlorine from the pool store usually runs about $5/gallon and is around 12% Sodium Hypochlorite. With tablets, you are also adding CYA and they will slowly lower the PH. Eventually the CYA will get too high, and the chlorine stops working. I ran in to this problem at our old house. I was shocking the pool weekly to keep the algae at bay, and eventually had to replace about 1/3 of the water to get CYA back down. With the new pool, I add about a gallon of bleach each night and all is good. No algae, water tests come out perfect. I am also floating a table at a very low dose (1 a week) to make sure I have something in there on days I forget to add bleach, but I am watching the CYA, and if it starts creeping up too high I will stop using them.

Too much chemistry for me!! :)

We did a chlorine over salt. The builder said that if you have heavy use on the pool the salt cannot maintain the chlorine level and you end up adding chlorine. We did the traditional white bottom. I didn't want a dark bottom pool in the heat. We also had it landscape. Now I want to add or build a water chiller because the pool is like a warm bath. Let me know if you want to see it and show the ministry of finance.

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Originally Posted by ken o

Now I want to add or build a water chiller because the pool is like a warm bath.

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I have heard that running a fountain overnight can lower the temps 5-10 degrees. I am considering trying something like that next year.

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Originally Posted by Titus

I have heard that running a fountain overnight can lower the temps 5-10 degrees. I am considering trying something like that next year.

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It's evaporative cooling. It also raises your akalinity level.

EDIT-
A little PVC and you can build one to put on an existing return jet.

http://www.mistcooling.com/pool_cool.htm

I run mine at night and it does cool it down, but I was unaware that it affected the ph. Wouldn't the PVC mist cooler do the same thing?

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Originally Posted by cam76034

Wouldn't the PVC mist cooler do the same thing?

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It would...any type of evaporative cooling will cause it. Running a waterfall for example.

Here's an example of a simple DIY -
http://www.troublefreepool.com/my-ae...?hilit=aerator

Thanks for the feedback guys. We don't have a neighborhood pool. I'm not a people person so chumming up to the neighbors isn't something that's going to happen. We did that for the last couple years but you do begin to feel like a mooch after a while. If we were to move (which has it's plusses like a 3 car garage), we'd end up buying a more expensive house (about $60k+ more than this house) and then have to remodel/tweak it to our tastes. Plus this house is fully networked which we aren't going to get unless we build again. I really don't want to move until the kid is out of the house (he's 4).

I have had two pools built and my family has enjoyed them both. They are expensive to build, $30K to $50K depending and do require attention. My wife loves the pool and that's that. It is a good attacktion to keeping your kids at home (and there friends) and now a good attraction for the grand kids. They do require maintenance. I spent Sunday morning relpacing the wheel barrings on the pool sweep. You should check with your homeowners association before building. An above ground pool may not be alowed in your neighborhood. If you decide to have a pool built, please contact me and I can give you some good advise in what you will want in your pool that the builder will leave out to save them money.