Advice for building in ground pool?

We are about to build an in ground pool and am looking for any advice. This will be our first pool and would love to know what is best. We have 2 girls ages 2 and 7 and want a pool that is great for these ages and for them to grow into.

For example, chlorine or salt? and why?
What accessories would you suggest are must haves?
How big and deep would you suggest? We have plenty of space for any size and want a decent size but not spend a fortune.
Really, any advice to help make this process easier?

Hi, and welcome to the forum!!

What type of pool you get is entirely up to you, but I can tell you what WE did....

When we built our pool, my girls were 2 and 4. We built a vinyl liner, IG, 18 x 38 hopper shaped with 4 ft shallow end, 8 1/2 foot deep end. We have a slide and diving board. Our kids are now 10 and 12, and our back yard is the place to be for all the kids down the street during the summer--5 of them total that don't live here but spend most of their day in the pool, plus any school friends my girls happen to have over, so my average bather load on any given day is 5 or 6 kids, plus our German Shepherd. The size of our pool has been fine, never really had any desire for anything bigger, although if we had gone smaller, it would have been too small at times. If you have a diving board and/or slide, you have to make sure there's enough depth in the deeper end to keep from hitting heads on the pool bottom, and I wouldn't go any more shallow than 8 1/2 feet, but it's been plenty deep for us. If I had to do it all over again, I would definitely keep the diving board and the slide--they've been indespensable for keeping kids from getting bored from swimming every day. I guess the only thing I would change is I would have added a SWCG into the package when we built it. I know a lot more about pool keeping now than I did then, but I would recommend the SWCG for two reasons: 1)in our climate (I'm in Northwest Louisiana, don't know what part of Texas you're in, but I think we'll have similar climates) a SWCG would keep a more even, consistent chlorine level in the pool, reducing the possibility of getting an algae outbreak because the sun or bather load consumed more chlorine than you thought, and 2) With kids, anything you can do to save time and money is a sure bet--and having an SWCG will save you time on your pool maintenance.

Again, what works for your family is entirely up to you, but that's the experience we've had so far. Never regretted putting it in, and one so far my kids are nowhere near outgrowing what we have. Plus, the girls and their friends are always here, where I can keep an eye on them and not wonder what they're up to. Just be prepared for your food bill to go up during the summertime!! :)

Adding my welcome as well. Another piece of advice for you. Many places will sell you a pump that is too big for your set up along with a too small filter. When you figure out what volume pool you are going to get, run the pump and filter size past our equipment gurus before you commit so that you don't get suckered into something that is mismatched. We see it here all the time. When it comes to pool pumps, bigger is NOT always better.

Thanks so much for the Welcomes. :)

Janet, what does SWCG stand for? Do you use those for both chlorine or salt pools? I am definately looking for our house to be the hang out for the same reasons. I want to know where my kids are and what they are doing.

Watermom, thanks for the tip on the pumps. I will definately run that by on here. We have 3 companies coming out this week and 2 the next. Being this late in the game unless the price is right we may wait till spring to break ground. I can't wait to hear what the companies have to say. My oldest daughter is really excited. She has taught my almost 2 year old to say "more pool" which is so cute since she is just starting to talk.

Sorry...SWCG stands for salt water chlorine generator. Salt pools and chlorine pools are the same thing--it's just that the chlorine in a salt pool is generated from the salt instead of being added by the users via bleach or other forms. So having a SWCG means that once you have the water balanced and have the SWCG set to produce the level of chlorine you want to maintain, then it's pretty much maintenance free, except to lower the pH occasionally. Without a SWCG, you will have to add chlorine manually, pretty much on a daily basis. It's no big deal and it only takes a few minutes a day, but it is still a necessary step.

Janet

SWCG stands for salt water chlorine generator.

One year ago, we began planning our new pool which got built this spring and opened just before Memorial Day. We took our own sweet time throughout the whole process, from soliciting bids with a few ideas of what we wanted, to refining our vision based upon the bidding process, to working out the fine details with the builder we selected. The general vision remained the same, but the particulars changed a lot along the way. Here's what we did....

We added a heated spa, somewhat late in the game. Why? Well, we can easily heat a spa (using a heat pump) for more year-round use. I've seen kids and spas, and they're a good thing together. Parents, of course, like them, too! It's just a different area in the pool to be in, and it makes for a great place to have a conversation together. Great family place to be. But that added almost $8000 to our project! But if I'm taking the long view of things, that $8K will provide many years of enjoyment, and it'll extend the use of our pool (I live in So. Fla.). Nice benefit, too, of having a heat pump is that using it will extend our swimming season on both ends, so we'll be in the water for about 10 months a year.

As for water features, we considered lots of options but only ended up with two: the waterfall spillover from the spa (which, btw, is a 12" raised spa -- don't get the 6" raised as it's too uncomfortably low to the ground for adults to sit on the spa edge), and a bubbler with injected air (for a white, foamy appearance). We have the bubbler on a small sun shelf, which is another thing I'm glad we got -- a big area for very small children to play in safely, and also an area for adults to sit-n-soak underneath an umbrella.

We opted not to get the pricey LED lights (to help pay for the spa). I'm perfectly happy with the white light coming from the old-style incandescent lights, and we could always retrofit into LED lighting in the future if that's what we want to do. For me, the only color light other than white that I think I'd like would be the blue color; I wouldn't want my pool to be red or green!

We used natural marble decking around the pool. I love the look, but I doubt that it'll hold up well over the years. I think I'd consider a different, manmade material that would stand up to Mother Nature better than natural marble.

I got Diamond Brite Super Blue finish for the pool interior. I wanted the look of an aquamarine jewel when the pool is viewed in direct sunlight, and the Super Blue finish gives just that look -- it's stunningly gorgeous.

I got the DE filter over other types because a friend who supervises all the public pools in the City of Fort Lauderdale recommended that to me. I think it's great now that I've got it! The water is so clear and sparkly, all the time. And I don't have to backwash frequently to keep the filter clean -- it's been about a month now since I last backwashed, and the pressure gauge on the filter has hardly budged upward since that time (I'm supposed to backwash when the pressure rises to between 7-10 lbs over the starting pressure following a backwash procedure). It may be several months before I'll need to backwash.

I got the SWCG to reduce the maintenance and to keep an even measure of chlorine in the pool. I'm still learning how to set the chlorine production on the pool to match the weather/bather load I'm faced with for that day. But it's been easy to maintain chlorine levels, and I don't have to make regular trips to the grocery or pool store to bring home jugs of bleach or liquid chlorine.

Our backyard is small (urban setting), so we went with a freeform shape that's 3.5' at one end, 4' at the other end, and 5.5' in the middle. That makes it fun to play water volleyball! I always wanted to put the steps into the pool away from the swim lane, so I can swim laps without having steps interfere with my swimming.

After using the pool for three months now, I can say that I have no regrets about our finished project, but I would've considered other decking options rather than natural marble. I don't like brick pavers, so it'd have to be something that looks like marble decking, but is more of a concrete material instead. And I might've chosen slightly deeper depths: 4' x 6' x 5' (although that would have made it harder to play volleyball with kids who aren't that tall yet).

Hope that helps!

One of the things that I would do is require all piping under/around the pool, especially fittings, to be sch 80 PVC. I have had a few leaks through the years, and they can be a major PITA to fix. They are mostly caused from our gumbo-clay shrink/swell soil. Right now, since it is so dry, the soil shrinks as the moisture is cooked out. Then in the wet season it will absorb water and swell. This repeated action causes the piping to shift, and sometimes break. Sch 80 PVC, especially in the fittings, might save you from having to repair a cracked fitting in the near future.

Also, don't know if this is still done or not, but my pool had flex pvc installed in places like the skimmers and bottom drain. Stay away from PVC flex, it can't handle the chlorine. My skimmer return lines were flex and were completely choked/collapsed due to the chlorine "decay". Don't know how else to explain it.