Hi, this is such a great resource! Don't you just love the web

Well, I think we've made a decision to go with "California Pools" after getting 5 quotes. Checked the BBB and CA contractor's board.

The pool will be rectangular, 35 x 13, raised spa, 18" rasied bond beam which is a retaining wall, we have a huge slope that needs to be pushed back. (I'd like it to be pushed back a LOT but that gets expensive!) SWG, 3M colorquartz - not sure which color - want it a deep blue.



The costs just keep going up and up as I'm sure you all have experienced

We have flagstone along the wall top and spa, grey colored safety grip along the 0 elevation. I'm going to choose a deep blue with grey colored tile for the pool wall face and the outside wall will have stucco to match the house stucco.

- I sacrificed a nice cascade in the center back wall to raise the spa but am wondering if I should just eat the extra thousand or so to have that feature. If you have a sheer cascade, do you use it a lot? Is it mostly turned off or do you regularly enjoy it?

- The retaining wall is straight across the back yard/slope but I'm trying to visualize this in 3D and am wondering if I should consider stepping the wall back or forward for more visual interest. (not so institutional looking)
(our house has a craftsman style so I was trying to keep the shape angular to match - and my husband likes the rectangular shape better)

- For $850 more, they will put flagstone for all the coping- not sure if I should do that or go with grey saftey grip.

I will probably have more questions but if there are any "designers" out there, I'd like some advice before I drop $50K on this thing