Planning inground pool outside of Boston MA

First off I would like to say what a great site this is to have! Before I make any purchase I always research as much as I can, and I trust all of your opinions and experience over a builder or pool store any day of the week.

My wife and I own our business where we work full time and them some. She is on call most weekends so getting away in the summer is not that easy. A year ago we moved into our forever home. We do not plan on leaving for 30+ years. In the past we have gone to Aruba for a week each winter and find ourselves by the pool more than the beach. It just makes sense to us to put a bit of paradise in our own backyard. As we speak my wife is 36 weeks pregnant, so our family is expanding. I grew up with an AG and loved every summer in it. I am sure my son will as well. Below is a pic of my wife by the pool in Aruba that has inspired us to begin the process of planning. By the way, love the stone patio in this pic, anyone know what kind it is?

http://i59.tinypic.com/2vn2ees.jpg

Before coming to this forum, I thought I knew exactly what I wanted, now not so sure.

First off pool type. Because we are so busy with work I want to spend as much time in the pool, not servicing it. Fiberglass seems like a good option. Everything I read says fiberglass is good for the cold New England winters, and is lower maintenance. We have a small yard, and with the town setbacks the widest pool I can put in would be 12-14 feet in width. Length is no restriction. My wife and I both like kidney shaped the best. I have found a dealer by the name of Cherry Hill Pools who sells Viking pools, and they have a few kidneys to choose from. Cherry Hill has been out to the house, and the reviews on them seem pretty spot on. Anyone know of any other good fiberglass builders around the Boston area? Seems hard to come by. Price tag was a little on the higher side, and the depth of the pool is not exactly ideal for what we want. Now, I am starting to think that a custom vinyl pool could also work. In your opinions, given my region of the country, and how busy my wife and I can get, is fiberglass the way to go or would vinyl be just as good and cheaper? I know down the road vinyl will have more costs than fiberglass. However if the fiberglass is not done correct, I could have more cost with that. I have only come across two builders of fiberglass in this area that I would even consider. I have yet to research the vinyl.

A salt water system or not? I hear great things, and I hear bad things. I would mainly be worried about corrosion. We want to do the same stone around the pool that is in the above pic, and I am worried that the salt would destroy it over time. Also, safety is a big issue for us as we will have a baby in the house. My wife loves the idea of a automatic cover. How would the salt react with the tracks and the motor on the automatic cover? I do like the idea a lot of the SWG being easier to keep up on.

Automatic cover or not? My wife likes this idea, but it has a big price tag. Again, how would this react with the salt from a SWG pool, and what are the long term costs that may arise? I would still need to purchase a winter safety cover on top of this. However, I wouldn't need a solar cover, the temp of the pool would stay warmer, SWG would not work as hard, and the pool would be cleaner. Other option for safety is a child fence. The way the yard is setup I would not need to go around the entire pool, just a straight line to section off that area of the yard is all that would be needed.

We are still deciding on how much we can, and want to spend on the entire project. The yard needs a lot of work as well. A new fence needs to be put in around the yard, a new retaining wall, fill needs to be brought in, a new patio and pool deck, trees come down and trimmed, plus landscape. A heater would be nice too. We do not have a gas hookup, so a heat pump it will have to be. Not looking to extend the season, just don't want cold water for the season.

I thank you for taking the time to read this long winded post. I look forward to learning more from all of you, and look forward to hearing what your thoughts are on our project.

You're in the NE, where prices run on the high side of the pool market. Stone is both high cost initially and high maintenance. If your pool budget is under $60,000, I'm guessing you should rule out stone, and look at stamped concrete finishes, which are both more durable and less costly.

+ If you go stone, go concrete pool, too.

+ Stone is local - unless you're budgeting over $100K, I don't think it matters what stone was in Aruba. What matters is what's available in your local market. Hopefully, something that you like is available.

+ Finishes generally are VERY dependent on installer skill. You're much more likely to be happy with mediocre stone and great installer, than with great stone and a lousy installer.

I don't really know prices across the US, but my impression is that, in the NE you probably need to think like this:

$1,000 - $5,000 => Intex Ultra pool with landscaping and better filter.
$5,000 - 20,000 => Higher end above ground pool, with deck. CarlD, here, can talk about the elaborate AG deck common in the NE.
$20,000 - 60,000 => Vinyl or FG pool with various grades of concrete deck.
$60,000+ => concrete pool plus ??

In Florida, all concrete pools are built by the 10,000's each season for under $20K. But in the NE, it seems most concrete pool builders work at a much higher price level. Of course, Florida's pool construction season is 8 - 12 months, compared to 4 - 6 months in your market.

Pick your basic pool form, first, and then come back to us for equipment advice. We can help with that, but the info you need about the basic pool form is all local, and we can only guess.

Good luck.

PS. I'd be grateful if you can report back on the pricing you find, especially if my list turns out not to be accurate. It would help me help others in the future.

I will report back on the pricing for sure. We are ruling out gunite so its between fiberglass and vinyl for the pool. When you say if using stone for patio go with a concrete pool, is this for looks or does it have more to do with the safety of the pool?

Stone = expensive to install + expensive to maintain ==> matches with expensive concrete pool.

Also, it's tricky to interface a stone deck with a vinyl pool. You're almost forced to pour a full concrete deck, and then lay the stone on that.

Stamped / dyed / etc concrete deck = less expensive to maintain + more durable + low maintenance.

But . . . you need to verify actual LOCAL costs.

After much research and meetings with local builders, I have come to the decision to go with a fiberglass pool. Looking at a Viking kidney shaped 24x12, or 28x14 contingent on town approval with setbacks. In the decision process I spoke with several fiberglass builders, and several vinyl builders. Anyway you look at here in the Northeast, a inground install is expensive. A vinyl install for the size pool I am looking at was only $5k-$7k cheaper than fiberglass. One liner change with water fill, and you really are not seeing much price difference over the years. Gunite is about $3k-$5k more expensive than fiberglass. Fiberglass would be cheaper if not for the shipping costs added. Now, the builder does have some pools in stock which would lower my costs, but neither designs is something I am interested in. Glad I have decided on builder, and pool form. Now onto all the equipment, extras, and landscape!

I know I want to go with a SWG, but not really sold on automation cleaning as I can spend less on a good robot. We do not have a gas line so I am interested in a heat pump. Mind you I know a heat pump will not extend the season much here, but it will at least keep the water at a nice temp during peak season. I do not like the look of the tracks for a auto cover on the kidney pools, so I child fence will be used for a few years while kids are very small. Do not need much fence, just a straight line about 20-25 feet. Pool lights, maybe. Winter safety cover, for sure. Solar cover, not sure, would have to cut it to fit.

Decking and landscape is what we need the most help with. Not sure what to do for our yard based on the odd shape of it. Almost need a landscape architect to plan, but that can get pricey.

Any way I look at it, I know the rough budget of the whole project. Its not cheap with all the yard work that needs to be done in addition it doesn't help. The pool is half the cost of the project. Time to save! This will give us time to really research and plan, plan and plan.

Thanks for the pricing info.

I hope you'll keep posting to this thread, as your project continues. You may get some helpful advice, and I know that the account, as your pool develops, will both interest and help others.