Build your own Gunite Pool

[lynaskin]

We are about to go the owner/builder route here in Louisiana. . .
I'm only just getting started, but i'm going to document the process along the way. I hope to share our experiences with the board.

Wish me luck.
Lyn

[PoolDesignnet]

Hi There,

Rob, there are several reasons why the estimates on your pool were $ 10,000 apart. Every pool company is making an estimate based on their drawing or sketch of a pool. While you thinks the bid is on an identical pool there are variables. There is also the quality of the job. While some companies will make the pool with a min. requirement to meet the code, others will exceed it. Some may give you only 2 inlets others will include as many as it takes for proper circulation. Some will include a separate cleaning line, while others will not. Same with the equipment they use. Better pump, filter and valves. And so on....

I'm in Florida and I sell pool plans world wide. We have done over 4,000 plans and many of them in California. Our plans do meat California requirements and are sealed by a California engineer.

Most of our business is from homeowner-builders. The feed back we get is that the savings are around 40 to 50%.
And while it's not for everyone to GC their own pool it really is not that complicated. The subs you use are the same as the pool company does. You need to know the order in which to schedule the subs. You need to know when to call for inspection and your building department will tell you that. Also, this forum is a great source for information.

And Lyn.... How nice it is to run into you here!!!!

Zina
www.PoolDesign.net

[RocKKer]

I was going to build my own but decided against it. It would be my first time ever building a pool and I was busy enough at my real job to have a second one of overseeing the building of a pool.

I chose instead a coordinator. His job was to design, plan and organize the subs. He knew the order of how to build pools and he knew the subs, he was in business for 20 years. I was skeptical at first, but the more I checked his references the better he looked. He was also less expensive than the official pool companies.

I figured it would take me longer to finish, possibly all summer of learning the steps and that particuler step (excavation, steel, plumbing, etc.) at least enough to understand what to expect and when they were done. Ulitmately when to pay them for their work.

The horror stories I heard about pool companies made me wary of them too. Length of the build time (some were 6 months to years) and sub par work scared me to death. Mine took 5 weeks (dig day to water day).

I usually paid the subs when he said, I trusted him to tell me when they were done. (Except for the guniters - see next paragraph). I paid him in phases, something like $2K for a design and then $1K at agreed upon completion phases (excavation, gunite, plaster, etc). I figured that if for some reason the relationship soured I wouldn't have lost that much money and could either find someone else or attempt to finish it myself. I also made him pick a completion date and let him choose the penalty for not meeting that date. BTW he chose to pay me $500 penalty a week for every week past the completion date. He met his completion date so no problem.

Above all, DO NOT PAY THE SUBS UNTIL YOUR SURE THAT SUB HAS COMPLETED HIS JOB SATISFACTORILY, once they get the money you are instantly low/no priority. Example: The guniters left about a 1K to 1.5K lbs. of excess gunite on the backside of the wall the runs the length of my pool. I paid them and gave them a bonus, as they were there until 11pm working on my job. Little did I know the surprise they left me later. I complained but ended up breaking it up and dumping it myself, just to be done with it.

Another thing I learned was most subs allow you to pay several days after they complete the job, so no worries of waiting until closer to that date to pay them, gives time to review the quality of their work.

Overall I think I got a good deal, he was flexible, attentive (he was there everyday something important happened) and true to his contracted word.

I also supplied an ice chest full of cold sodas and water for the workers, I don't know if it made them work faster/better but I know it didn't hurt.

[PoolDesignnet]

Our plans do meet California..... (not meat)

[mmcguire]

I am about to start GC our own IG pool. I am counting on a 30% savings or so. About 10% of which I am dumping back into the pool on things I would not have done with a pool builder. I am currently designing the pool myself. I am using Visio. I will post how things go.



It's not done but getting closer.

[PoolDesignnet]

mmcguire,

FYI To get a permit in your Rancho Murieta you will need a site plan (3 copies I think) that shows all property lines and two sets of structural plans wet stamped by an engineer. Your drawing looks great!!! Want a job??

[mmcguire]

mmcguire,

FYI To get a permit in your Rancho Murieta you will need a site plan (3 copies I think) that shows all property lines and two sets of structural plans wet stamped by an engineer. Your drawing looks great!!! Want a job??

Thanks. It took us a while to put this drawing together, but that was because we tried several different configurations. Have you dealt with pools in Rancho Murieta before?

[ttfn92]

We have just begun our pool being owner/builder. Tomorrow our pool is getting dug. It's pretty exciting! Someone in an earlier post had asked why a sub would want to do work for an owner/builder over a pool builder and that was one of my initial concerns. We have a pool consultant who has done this many, many times and when I asked him that question he said it is because when they do work for an individual they get paid right away. When they are working for a pool company they have to wait to get their money. That made sense to me.

We aren't really planning on saving a huge amount of money, we are just planning on being able to get all the things that we want for our budget. We talked to 4 pool builders and we couldn't get what we wanted. We tried all different kinds, really big, 2 medium, and one small. I was really opposed to being owner/builder at first, but when we couldn't get what we wanted with builders, I figured it would be worth the hassle. Our consultant looked at our bids and said we could save about $12,000. So I figured that even if he is off by a few thousand, we should be able to get the things we want and stay on budget. Plus, I was able to get the pool that I wanted. One builder wouldn't put in an in-floor cleaning system. One wouldn't put a rock waterfall in w/o boulders and transitional flagstone. One wouldn't give me a 7' deep pool. Now we are getting all of those things and feel so much better about it.

[PoolDesignnet]

Thanks. It took us a while to put this drawing together, but that was because we tried several different configurations. Have you dealt with pools in Rancho Murieta before?

Funny you should ask.... Yes, we have done pools all over California, several in Rancho Murieta. Most of our customers are owner-builders such as yourself.