Planning, designing new pool.

[Jeffski]

Hello, new member here, great site.

We are thinking of putting an inground pool in the backyard. I have lots of yard so no size restrictions at all. I'd like to keep it under $40k and it looks like I will easily be able to do that. My buddy in the fence business will help me keep that portion of the cost down. I have some questions to start with and certainly will add more as I continue to think this through. I don't do anything without a solid plan. I would appreciate any help with the following questions but also welcome any ideas that I haven't thought of yet.

1) Does size matter? The pool, that is. Considering 18 x 36, however why not go 20 x 40? Is it a lot harder to heat or clean?

2) My drawing has lots of extra cement on the ends but only 4 feet on the sides. Should I go wider on the sides?

3) How much will it cost to hook up the electrical and gas? Pool builder estimates $1000 each at most.

4) Anyone seen that diving board with the lights and waterfall? It looks cool on paper.

5) We wanted the lazy L shape but every single builder tries to talk us out of it. What are your thoughts on different shapes besides rectangle.

I'll leave it at that for now. Thanks in advance for your expertise.

[graciec]

We have no frills DIY 18x40 w/ spa step/liner. Glad it is no smaller lengthwise.Good for laps...Wish we put the lounge seat things in but no frills is less problems I am finding.

[duraleigh]

Hi, Jeff,

some thoughts:

1. Size does matter. Bigger pool...more of everything...especially your wallet. Chemicals, bigger auto-vac, more returns, skimmers, etc. Size will evaporate the 40k quickly.

2. I have really large decking around the pool. Decide how you will use the pool and decide your size on that. Never known it to be too big but again, it'll cost bucks.

3. Not sure what you mean by "hook up" utilities. If it's just to supply the junction box and the gas line, you're good to go @ 1000 per.

4. No opinion on diving boards...we decided not to use one.

5. I think shape is a matter of personal taste. I really like free form pools but mine needed to be a rectangle.

[SLS]

I have a 20 x 40 vinyl IG and really like the size of it. I've had 15 + people in it and we still had room to play. I never heard anyone say they wish their pool was smaller!! Well maybe while they were manually vaccuming it...ha. When I have parties the adults tend to stay in the deep end and the kids in the shallow end until its time to do cannonballs .
I've had a person with a L-shape tell me they wished their pool was rectangle due to safety reasons. They said kids loose track where their at and swim into a corner and bump their heads. I guess they can do the same on ladders, steps, etc too.
Make sure you get a diving board and make the pool as deep as possible. I turned 40 this year and still have a blast diving, flipping and doing cannonballs off the board. The kid in me comes out pretty quick ... no wife to tell me I am going to kill myself....ha. Good luck.

[Dr. Spike]

Hello, I am a new member and also new to owning a pool. So I really can't comment too much.

I think that for size, go with what would make you and your family happy that falls in your budget.

I have kept many types of aquariums over the years ranging from various fresh water, salt water, reef, and brackish. With these, the larger the tank, the more it would cost to run and maintain, on the flip side, the larger the tank, the easier it was to keep the system balanced and the tank dwellers happy.

I would think that the larger the pool, the higher the costs associated with it. But since I am new, what do I know?

I have an IG 21'X40' vinyl lined rectangular pool which is 4' deep at the shallow end and 9' at the deep end. (That seems like an odd size for a lined pool doesn't it?) I personally would like it to be bigger and deeper. But that is just me.

As a new pool owner I don't think a 21'X40' is all that hard to maintain. I do not have any robots or automatic anything. Just a soft brush, a manual vacuum, and a leaf skimmer (rarely used). Seems to work just fine.

I should mention that my pool is not really an outdoor pool, technically it is outdoors but it is fully enclosed. So besides bathers, I only get a few stray bugs, a few worms when it rains hard, and so far, 6 mice before I opened the pool (ick, glad to have the leaf skimmer though). No leaves (unless someone brings them in on their feet), rain water, or direct sun at all.

Sorry to go on so long. I guess I am just happy I found this place!

[georgiapoollover]

My husband and I built our own pool from a kit 3 years ago. I would NOT do it again. However....we had a 16 X 32 IG with deep end and diving board. Our daughter loved the shallow end to do hand stands and stuff. Our shallow end was small because of the slant to the deep end. To be honest, my 14 year old was 11 at the time and loved the diving board. I stayed in the shallow end, but we didn't have much of one. That sucked. I am only 5 feet tall, and I hate deep water. We are now doing a 14 X 28 Lagoon style vinyl IG pool 3.5 to 5.5 feet deep with a swim out. It is just perfect for us...not too big... not too small. To use it 4 or 5 months out of the year, it is just big enough. We are investing more in concrete, stamped and colored. Plus, we are doing a salt system this time.

[eljefe281]

1) Does size matter? The pool, that is. Considering 18 x 36, however why not go 20 x 40? Is it a lot harder to heat or clean?

I am only in the planning stages as well, so any opinion I express should be taken with a grain of salt.

Having said that, I would abandon the idea of heating your pool. Spa, sure, but I believe that heating a pool is an expensive proposition.

[Jeffski]

You must not live in Michigan.

Heating is a necessity, not an option. The heater is about $1,800 plus the monthly cost to run it which should be less than $100 a month.

[Davenj]

We had a 18x36 vinyl last year. Put extra money in spill over spa, swim out, filter setup, swg, Kooldeck/retaining wall, robotic cleaner. Drives the price up pretty fast. Check if the sub contractors (elec./gas line) are general estimates from the Pool Builder. The sub's actual cost will be slightly higher.

[CarlD]

Does size matter? Well, form follows function. If your pool is for dunking (cooling), playing and floating, you don't need size.

But if you want to swim laps I think you need a MINIMUM of 36' in length. I have a 40' long pool and that's great for lapping, but my parents had a 33' foot oval and even going long point to long point it wasn't really long enough. My pool is only 16' wide, but 16x40 is just great for us, seems big enough, and we don't miss AT ALL the 20' width we had originally planned for.