Swimming Pool Install

IWreckALot
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Fort Worth, TX US
8/8/2016 6:18am Edited Date/Time 5/5/2019 5:40pm
The wife and I are buying a new house and it's got almost an acre of land. It's a huge backyard and these 100+ degree days of summer really have me wanting a pool. Has anyone had a pool installed? Anyone have experience with subbing it all out yourself? Can you get a deal on getting it installed in the winter months? What does it do to your electric bill? What price should I expect to pay? I know that's a loaded question. Just looking for general pricing and what you got. In my head, I'm wanting an L shaped pool and the lower part of the L, I want to be a beach entry sorta like what is pictured and the rest of the pool to be a 4' to 5'6" in the middle recreation pool. Any features that are worth the extra investment?

My neighbor (who is an alcoholic) had his pool put in. He's saying to sub it all out, but part of that process is knowing when to have each trade on site and what order things should be done in. If it saved a substantial amount of money, I'll be willing to sub it out myself. Just not real sure what to expect.

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UpTiTe
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4000th
8/8/2016 6:38am
Whats to sub? You hire a pool contractor, he puts in the pool. you hire an electrician to hard wire the pump and lighting than you hire a concrete guy to do the deck, its easy.

I dont know how your area works, but you wont get a deal during winter months around here.

My pool cost around 15 a month to run the pump, its the chemicals that are expensive.

The cheapest in ground pool I found when I was shopping was 32k.

As far as options, there are so many, lighting is probably the area you want to look closely at. Now they have pumps that clean the water without chemicals, sea water pumps etc.
motosmith
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Washougal, WA US
8/8/2016 8:30am
Go to your local home and garden show or county fair. There will be a few pool contractors there to speak with.
whyZ
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Phoenix, AZ US
8/8/2016 9:02am
There's a web-site forum you should check out Troublefreepool.com Tell you everything you need to know, and the regulars are really pretty helpful. They have a thread titled "Under Construction". People building a pool will take you through the process, and the contractors they used. A good number of them are in Texas.

The Shop

IWreckALot
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Fort Worth, TX US
8/8/2016 10:09am
whyZ wrote:
There's a web-site forum you should check out Troublefreepool.com Tell you everything you need to know, and the regulars are really pretty helpful. They have a...
There's a web-site forum you should check out Troublefreepool.com Tell you everything you need to know, and the regulars are really pretty helpful. They have a thread titled "Under Construction". People building a pool will take you through the process, and the contractors they used. A good number of them are in Texas.
Awesome reference! Thanks for that.
TX24
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San Antonio, TX US
8/8/2016 10:10am


Here's the drawing of our pool, 16 X 32. They finished it in March. I also don't see how someone could sub it out.
Even the stone guys somewhat have to be pool experienced.
What adds a lot to the expense is water features, heaters, type of stone for decking ect.

I would say your starting at $40,000 -$60,000. Our is considered 15,000 gl. and about five feet deep.


newmann
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US
8/8/2016 10:37am
I made the mistake of having a pool done in early spring right when pool building season was getting going strong. Contractor told me two to three weeks and ended up getting put in line with all the subs for digging, gunite , plastering as well as the stonework and patio work. Took a few months to complete and the subs were so busy with other jobs that they made zero effort to clean up after themselves. Doing it in the off season here in Texas would be highly advisable, don't let a pool guy in Texas tell you different.Wink

Subbing it out yourself requires digging a hole, plumbing, lighting, and electrical, shooting gunite, plaster and whatever tile or stone work you want done along with cement and cooldecking or whatever your choice for patio finish is. Unless you are a contractor type, I would just hire out the entire job. Get plenty of references, and some of them up yourself by asking around locally to anyone you know that has a pool. There are some serious hacks out there.

Upkeep is pretty minimal. Get you a good robot and keep your chemical levels good. Once you get the hang of it it's a breeze. Mine is about 17 years old now and finally getting to the point it needs fresh plaster. Probably going to change up a couple things when we do that to update it a little. Been a lot of fun and a good way to keep the kids around growing up as all their friends came to our house.
hillbilly
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Afton, TN US
8/8/2016 10:42am
I put mine together myself. 24 foot round,lots of run on cussing .

But,when i get tired of it ,and it gets old keeping up with chem level, i will just roll it up in a ball and wont have a concrete hole.

It building out of concrete I'd contour it for skateboarding so atleast you could do that when you burn out on green water.
8/8/2016 3:44pm
Wheres the pool fences?
Big brothers laws here in oz make us instal an approved pool fence for anything over 30cm/ 1ft deep.

This includes pop up or blow up pools kiddy pools!!!!!
dmm698
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NY US
8/8/2016 8:16pm
Parents in the DFW area put in a nice outdoor patio with kitchen/fireplace and over hang and a kidney style pool with the ledge type beach thing your talking about. It's a salt water pool, SOOO much easier than the chlorine style they had in NY. Way easier on the eyes and skin too
IWreckALot
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Fort Worth, TX US
8/9/2016 4:33am
Wheres the pool fences? Big brothers laws here in oz make us instal an approved pool fence for anything over 30cm/ 1ft deep. This includes pop...
Wheres the pool fences?
Big brothers laws here in oz make us instal an approved pool fence for anything over 30cm/ 1ft deep.

This includes pop up or blow up pools kiddy pools!!!!!
Insurance companies require at least a 4' fence. But my entire back yard is fenced which counts as "fencing" it in. I was asking if the pool itself had to be fenced to keep kids from getting too close unsupervised and she said "as long as the backyard is fenced in, it's good".
IWreckALot
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8/9/2016 4:38am
TX24 wrote:
[img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2016/08/08/146283/s1200_Pool.jpg[/img] Here's the drawing of our pool, 16 X 32. They finished it in March. I also don't see how someone could sub it out. Even...


Here's the drawing of our pool, 16 X 32. They finished it in March. I also don't see how someone could sub it out.
Even the stone guys somewhat have to be pool experienced.
What adds a lot to the expense is water features, heaters, type of stone for decking ect.

I would say your starting at $40,000 -$60,000. Our is considered 15,000 gl. and about five feet deep.


I never would have thought about subbing it out myself until my neighbor said it. My dad contracted his house to be built and is a commercial fire alarm contractor, and I've worked for his business and did a lot of the work on his house so I know enough about construction contracting in general. However, a pool is a different animal and I doubt I'll really consider subbing it out. I thought it was bizarre that my neighbor was suggesting it so I thought I'd ask if anyone had experience. Reading through that forum that whyZ posted, it seems like some people do sub it out themselves and from what they say, it saves 20-30%.
hillbilly
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Afton, TN US
8/9/2016 5:34am
Direct link between swimming pool and alcoholic.

I made a solar heater out of black irrigation pipe, we swim well into fall.

Built my deck around about a third of the pool and made a big slide out of a large playground slide.
8/9/2016 6:42am
One of the cost run-ups is how much concrete you want on the outside. It seems for the smallest addition of concrete patio, the cost is huge.

Make sure you get the chemical that turns purple when someone pees in the pool.
IWreckALot
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8/9/2016 7:23am
One of the cost run-ups is how much concrete you want on the outside. It seems for the smallest addition of concrete patio, the cost is...
One of the cost run-ups is how much concrete you want on the outside. It seems for the smallest addition of concrete patio, the cost is huge.

Make sure you get the chemical that turns purple when someone pees in the pool.
That's what I was wondering also. Concrete work isn't any trouble for me. I've poured slabs for shops and sidewalks in the past. I'll probably ask for minimal concrete work from the builder and do my own additional concrete work.

TX24
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San Antonio, TX US
8/9/2016 9:12am
Wheres the pool fences? Big brothers laws here in oz make us instal an approved pool fence for anything over 30cm/ 1ft deep. This includes pop...
Wheres the pool fences?
Big brothers laws here in oz make us instal an approved pool fence for anything over 30cm/ 1ft deep.

This includes pop up or blow up pools kiddy pools!!!!!
Our back yard is fenced. I see pools with no fences in rural areas sometime, I would not have that.
3/23/2017 5:53am
Hi there, congrats for your new house. My friend have a pool in his house and we also have fun on weekends specially in summer. Last month he renovated the pool and installed glass fence from sloane accessories which is good and elegant.
sumdood
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San Clemente, CA US
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3/23/2017 8:18am Edited Date/Time 3/23/2017 8:20am
To sub it yourself you need to know who to call and in what order for every phase, and those subs will have never heard of you before and aren't going to help you with anything other than doing what's on the plans. A pool contractor will have the time to go over different options and ideas, should have a list of good reliable subs (who will call him back and show up on time because they have a history of working together) know the most efficient order to schedule the subs, and have the experience to recognize a problem when it's still fixable. The subs just do what's on the plans. Lets say you want a float type automatic water leveler installed (which you should imo) and the plumber missed it for some reason, the gunite guy won't stop work because the auto fill is missing, know what I mean ? It's worth it to have some experience on your side. A pool contractor will handle design, plans, permits, know all the codes, plus have knowledge about cool things you might not think of on your own. Things like.... pvc sleeves in areas of the pool where you might want shade or a small table in the pool, what kind of equipment is best etc. Just my $.02. Oh did I mention I have a C-53 license ? lol. You can do it yourself for sure but there's a lot more going on than just a concrete hole in the ground, and once it's in yer stuck with that baby. You've already received some wrong info just in this thread. (unless the codes in Texas are different from Ca.) you need a 5' (from the outside) non climbable fence with self latching spring loaded gates that open outward from the pool. It will go a lot smoother using someone who does it all the time. Or you can do it yourself obviously but buy lots of Advil beforehand, you'll need it LOL Good luck !
TXDirt
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Plano, TX US
3/23/2017 12:27pm
Definitely go with a reputable pool builder. Either pay a bit more now by using a pool builder, or take the risk of paying a lot more later when shit goes wrong on the DIY plan.
captmoto
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Rancho Cucamonga, CA US
3/23/2017 5:34pm
A friend of mine did an owner builder thing himself. He found a pool designer that spec'd the pool to his design. He got a hold of a plaster guy and that guy put him in touch with all the other subs. His pool was done 3 weeks ahead of mine and he saved about 10k over what I got. He was very happy with what he got. When a sub doesn't have to wait for the contractor to pay up they have lots of time to work with you. Offering cash got him deep discounts. It was all to code as well. At the time I had my pool built, all the contractors were flush and weren't all that interested if I didn't want every last special feature.
ed921reyes
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Las Vegas, NV US
3/25/2017 12:51pm
thread from 2015 guys............

newmann
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US
3/25/2017 2:21pm
ed921reyes wrote:
thread from 2015 guys............

Yeah, but iwreckalot still hasn't pulled the trigger on his pool and I am just finishing up the remodel I mentioned above. Spent damn near as much on the remodel as the total project was back around 1998/99.
newmann
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3/25/2017 2:57pm
Getting close. Final coloring on the new cement decking and the water is getting tuned up. Still running all the old equipment until the water is right and all the constructing debris has been filtered. Then the old equipment will get replaced with all new automated.





AHRMA361
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3/25/2017 4:00pm
^^Cue Robin Leach!
1
ed921reyes
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Las Vegas, NV US
3/25/2017 4:18pm
i failed! zoom was way out on the computer
newmann
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US
3/25/2017 5:14pm Edited Date/Time 3/25/2017 5:16pm
AHRMA361 wrote:
^^Cue Robin Leach!
Not quite. I'll name drop and let my friend here explain it a little more accurately.Laughing

Beans and BBQ for the win.

https://youtu.be/osiNI2Y6wA4
rutcross
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New York, NY US
3/26/2017 4:34pm
can always count on newman posting personal pics of his own shit
MR. X
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North Tonawanda, NY US
3/26/2017 5:51pm
rutcross wrote:
can always count on newman posting personal pics of his own shit
I know ,like totally ,the dude has the balls to post a picture about his swimming pool in a thread about swimming pools of all things .
2
3/26/2017 6:00pm
newmann wrote:
Getting close. Final coloring on the new cement decking and the water is getting tuned up. Still running all the old equipment until the water is...
Getting close. Final coloring on the new cement decking and the water is getting tuned up. Still running all the old equipment until the water is right and all the constructing debris has been filtered. Then the old equipment will get replaced with all new automated.





just looking at that makes me want to jump in that pool and take a piss.
I never understood what the difference between pissing in a pool while standing outside on the edge, or inside the pool hanging out. Some people are so touchy.
newmann
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3/27/2017 6:27am
rutcross wrote:
can always count on newman posting personal pics of his own shit
Go make me a hoagie, man.

New week, new screen name, but still the same angry little man. Now stop hating your mother, it isn't her fault.
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