Re: Advice for building in ground pool?
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!
South Florida - 16,000g Diamond Brite pool, 700g spa & waterfall, Jandy 1400 AquaPure SWCG, Jandy variable-speed 1.5H pump, Jandy 60 DE filter, Jandy heat pump - using Taylor K-2006 kit
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