Any Pool contractors?

[Happy]

We built our first pool after we bought this house in 2018. Started in Nov. swam in April. Salt system and love it.

Total cost was $77,000 for the backyard (pool and hardscape). Also bought a stand alone spa (A good Master Spa at about $10,000).

These are way more comfortable and I use it all year long. We designed a special spot just for the spa. Happy with the whole set up.

 

[ChEFF]

Filling it in is sounding better and better 

Been there done that. Peace

 

[zilla68]

Because you have yet to have an old pool. 

Tomorrow I will decide to have my pump and filter replaced/ fixed or fill the dam thing in. Have spent the last month trying to get somebody anybody to come out and get the dam thing so it stops leaking water. I have replaced every part and every time I replace one piece of the puzzle another starts to leak. Have had two guys come out and tell me to replace the entire filter/ pump , I say ok how much, they will get back to me,  I will get back to you is code for don't want to do anything or call you back. 

 Oh and I spent an hour cleaning the pool Saturday from Fridays dust storm and about the time I finished another storm hit. Got to spend an hour cleaning it again Sunday. Yesterday I guess I could of jumped in the pool but had other things to do but there is tonight, oh that's right another storm coming in tonight. So guess whqt I get to do tomorrow instead of enjoying the pool

Filling it in is sounding better and better 

so a guy at work transferred to springfield and rented his house. the pool pump went out. he called me to ask me to look at it. I've never owned one, and had no clue where to start. capacitor was ok, pump wouldn't work. he ordered the exact same pump from amazon. it came in and i installed it (ordered same one so i wouldn't have to replumb it). took the old one down to an electric motor shop and they were able to fix it for 50.00, so now we have a spare. Doesn't seem like there's much to them, where's your leak at? i swapped pumps in about 10 mins

 

[dbart]

We had an old that needed redoing when we bought our house.

We enjoyed the heck out of it even though it looked like kaka...

10 years later and almost $90K we did a full remodel and absolutley love it.

First, get multiple bids. 

2nd go with a reputable company.

3rd, make sure they are insured and bonded.

4th,When you pic tile, make sure YOU SEE A FULL SHEET of what ever color you pic. They come in 2' x 2' sheets and usually have multiple colors that may not be what you want.

5th, pic a finish that suits you and the color of water you want. We wanted the brightest bluest water and the smoothest finish...so we went with White Plaster.

6th, don't skimp on equipment...get the good stuff.

7th, if you can get the phone app to run everything. It's cool to be out to dinner and turn on the jacuzzi at the restaurant and come home and get right in.

8th, whoever you pic, go see some finish pools they have done.

9th, ask a lot of questions. like what will this finish look like in 1, 3, 5, 10 years down the road. Does this get hot and will burn our feet? What about water features...

There are lot of them, sheer descents, sheer rainfall, rock waterfalls, real rock, fake rock features (Look like crap if not done right) If you go fake, Look at Matrixrock.com

https://www.matrixrock.com/ They are the best, but expensive. We did not go this route since our pool is more of a modern look.

10th, Calcium...you can't get away from it so pic a waterline tile and Grout that minimizes how much it stands out.

11th, Stay away from glass tiles, they don't last and fall off.

12th and maybe the most important...GET A POOL MAN TO TAKE CARE OF IT!!!!  Best $105/mo I spend. I don't have to worry about the pool being cleaned or if the chemicals are off!

13th, if you go heat, use gas not electric!

Here are some before and after shots of our little remodel!

:lmao:

We love it and love having a pool and enjoy they heck out of it.

 

[dbart]

Oh and another thing...drains and drainage!

Think about how your yard is now with the rain and if you get flooding.

Our backyard used to get flooded near the patio, so we had a full drain system put in...18 drains in the backyard that lead to the street.

 

[dbart]

BTW, we went with CA Pools of Orange County.

They have been around since 1953.

We did have some issues that were taken care of. They actually shaped our spa wrong at first and put a step in the wrong spot. We wanted the Negative edge or Champagne edge which means it slopes back towards the spa interior. The water then fills up to the edge then spills over like a champagne glass spilling over. its really cool, but they shaped it flat on top! :kenk:  

You need to watch them carefully!

Also know that things are gonna happen...it's up to the company you chose to make it good.

 

[ChEFF]

Great suggestions dbart. Thanks. They'll be addressed Thursday at the TOP of our meeting. Peace

 

[MWB]

so a guy at work transferred to springfield and rented his house. the pool pump went out. he called me to ask me to look at it. I've never owned one, and had no clue where to start. capacitor was ok, pump wouldn't work. he ordered the exact same pump from amazon. it came in and i installed it (ordered same one so i wouldn't have to replumb it). took the old one down to an electric motor shop and they were able to fix it for 50.00, so now we have a spare. Doesn't seem like there's much to them, where's your leak at? i swapped pumps in about 10 mins

I have replaced the filter housing (DE) once,  Three times I have had to replace the DE filter screens. I cannot tell you how many times I ave re-plumbed the intake and output side of the pump.  Got to a point I would by 3 or 4 complete set ups at Lowes.  In the last two years I have re-built the pump motor and replaced the O-rings around the back wash valve. I cant tell you how many times I have to taken this apart and fixed one thing to only walk out the next day and find something else.

Right now the back wash valve is leaking at the top by the handle, The pump and impeller connection is leaking and the intake side of the pump is also leaking.  I can replace all of this stuff, actually I have it just doesn't last for more than a few months. 

 

[DUNEFLYER]

If building/designing new build. Skimmer location in important.

Take a small plastic kiddie pool and set in center of area that new pool will be built, fill it up and put some floatie things in there, maybe even a couple of leaves off of the trees around. Over the next days/week pay attention to where the floatie stuff is always at, it will blow to one corner/area of the kiddie pool. Place your skimmer in the same corner/area of your new pool.

 

[Nickman123]

I have replaced the filter housing (DE) once,  Three times I have had to replace the DE filter screens. I cannot tell you how many times I ave re-plumbed the intake and output side of the pump.  Got to a point I would by 3 or 4 complete set ups at Lowes.  In the last two years I have re-built the pump motor and replaced the O-rings around the back wash valve. I cant tell you how many times I have to taken this apart and fixed one thing to only walk out the next day and find something else.

Right now the back wash valve is leaking at the top by the handle, The pump and impeller connection is leaking and the intake side of the pump is also leaking.  I can replace all of this stuff, actually I have it just doesn't last for more than a few months. 

If you're constantly getting leaks at the inlet and outlet of your pump your doing something wrong. The fittings you thread into the inlet and outlet can't just be regular schedule 40 plastic. You need to use some type of HD heat treated material. They have Hi-temp unions you can use, or you can use Schedule 80 CPVC. Also, if you let the pump run dry for more than a few minutes, it gets hotter than crap. That will screw up your connections and cause leaks

 

[NIKAL]

Because you have yet to have an old pool. 

Tomorrow I will decide to have my pump and filter replaced/ fixed or fill the dam thing in. Have spent the last month trying to get somebody anybody to come out and get the dam thing so it stops leaking water. I have replaced every part and every time I replace one piece of the puzzle another starts to leak. Have had two guys come out and tell me to replace the entire filter/ pump , I say ok how much, they will get back to me,  I will get back to you is code for don't want to do anything or call you back. 

 Oh and I spent an hour cleaning the pool Saturday from Fridays dust storm and about the time I finished another storm hit. Got to spend an hour cleaning it again Sunday. Yesterday I guess I could of jumped in the pool but had other things to do but there is tonight, oh that's right another storm coming in tonight. So guess whqt I get to do tomorrow instead of enjoying the pool

Filling it in is sounding better and better
 

 I was mid build and ready to back fill it in! Rainy Weather kicked my ass! 

All joking aside about filling it in. 
Did you know you need a permit to fill a pool in now? Back in the day you punched some holes in it and filled it in. 
 

I have a real estate friend who had a client selling his house. They got several offers and were in escrow, when it was found out there used to be a pool in the backyard. Because there is no documentation on the fill in, the lenders pulled out. Per code you must have a permit, you need to remove the shell and steal. You then have to have soil compaction tests showing it meets spec, and you have to show water drainage is not leaving the property from that area filled in. 
 

That house is now off the market as the owners try to get an exemption to having to dig it back up, but will still need to show a soil compaction test. 

 

[Punchdrunk Monkey]

So any recommendations for pool companies in San Diego area? #comeonbitcoin

 

[dbart]

 I was mid build and ready to back fill it in! Rainy Weather kicked my ass! 

All joking aside about filling it in. 
Did you know you need a permit to fill a pool in now? Back in the day you punched some holes in it and filled it in. 
 

I have a real estate friend who had a client selling his house. They got several offers and were in escrow, when it was found out there used to be a pool in the backyard. Because there is no documentation on the fill in, the lenders pulled out. Per code you must have a permit, you need to remove the shell and steal. You then have to have soil compaction tests showing it meets spec, and you have to show water drainage is not leaving the property from that area filled in. 
 

That house is now off the market as the owners try to get an exemption to having to dig it back up, but will still need to show a soil compaction test. 

This is true.

My buddy did this and it cost him about $9k to fill in his pool.

They have to break up everything and pull out all the equipment.

They will have to disclose that there used to be a pool in the yard when going to sell the house.

 

[NIKAL]

So any recommendations for pool companies in San Diego area? #comeonbitcoin

Nope, owner builder and save (allot)  money. 

 

[zilla68]

I have replaced the filter housing (DE) once,  Three times I have had to replace the DE filter screens. I cannot tell you how many times I ave re-plumbed the intake and output side of the pump.  Got to a point I would by 3 or 4 complete set ups at Lowes.  In the last two years I have re-built the pump motor and replaced the O-rings around the back wash valve. I cant tell you how many times I have to taken this apart and fixed one thing to only walk out the next day and find something else.

Right now the back wash valve is leaking at the top by the handle, The pump and impeller connection is leaking and the intake side of the pump is also leaking.  I can replace all of this stuff, actually I have it just doesn't last for more than a few months. 

that's crazy and alot of work, good luck to ya, and i thought mine was bad lol. 

 

[SPODE]

Our pool is 45 x 22 x 8. It costs us $93K with 4 feet of decking. We then added enough decking to cover the entire area another $16K.  The 6 Palms installed with a 1 year warranty from MOON were $4k The 3 planters were $500ea cash to one of the workers. So we are near the $117K mark. 3 pump system, 4 LED color lights 3-pool 1-spa,  Mini-pebble coated. We went with the Ozone system this time. 

We loved our salt pools. I was hesitant about the Ozone stuff. All the salt guys told me they were joke. However after I have learned all about this system I prefer it.  I still use chlorine. But very little. A couple tablets a week. 

Get a medium grey plaster if you want blue water. Even our pebble coat which was "Tropics Blue Mini" came out slightly green.  This happened to one of our last pools as well. Tahoe Blue came out greenish. The last pool before this one we did Medium Grey and it was brilliant blue on sunny days. The one benefit to the pebble coat though is that it lasts longer. 

Get the LED lights. 

Get a system you can run on an app on your phone. I hardly ever touch the panel now. I can turn stuff on and off when I am not even there. Temps, features, lights etc. I can fire the spa and set the exact temp on my way home so it's ready when I get there etc. 

Get the new robot vacuum that run on 12V. The old suction vacuums put more crap in your filter, need the pump to run etc. 

Figure out where you are going to lounge and built your pool in a way that you prefer when considering view, sun, shade, wind, kids playing etc. 

If you are going to use a bubble-solar cover then make sure you design your pool to where you can easily take it in and out and store it off to the side etc.

Bring in greenery if you don't have it already. It is so simple to run some drip from the pump area to prospective planter areas. 

Talk to lots of contractors. Read all of  their reviews < < < ----- Important

Get everything in Writing !!!

See if you can structure the payment schedule where you get the last inspection and final payment is upon completion. 

 

[Dynamicdude]

Our pool is 45 x 22 x 8. It costs us $93K with 4 feet of decking. We then added enough decking to cover the entire area another $16K.  The 6 Palms installed with a 1 year warranty from MOON were $4k The 3 planters were $500ea cash to one of the workers. So we are near the $117K mark. 3 pump system, 4 LED color lights 3-pool 1-spa,  Mini-pebble coated. We went with the Ozone system this time. 

We loved our salt pools. I was hesitant about the Ozone stuff. All the salt guys told me they were joke. However after I have learned all about this system I prefer it.  I still use chlorine. But very little. A couple tablets a week. 

Get a medium grey plaster if you want blue water. Even our pebble coat which was "Tropics Blue Mini" came out slightly green.  This happened to one of our last pools as well. Tahoe Blue came out greenish. The last pool before this one we did Medium Grey and it was brilliant blue on sunny days. The one benefit to the pebble coat though is that it lasts longer. 

Get the LED lights. 

Get a system you can run on an app on your phone. I hardly ever touch the panel now. I can turn stuff on and off when I am not even there. Temps, features, lights etc. I can fire the spa and set the exact temp on my way home so it's ready when I get there etc. 

Get the new robot vacuum that run on 12V. The old suction vacuums put more crap in your filter, need the pump to run etc. 

Figure out where you are going to lounge and built your pool in a way that you prefer when considering view, sun, shade, wind, kids playing etc. 

If you are going to use a bubble-solar cover then make sure you design your pool to where you can easily take it in and out and store it off to the side etc.

Bring in greenery if you don't have it already. It is so simple to run some drip from the pump area to prospective planter areas. 

Talk to lots of contractors. Read all of  their reviews < < < ----- Important

Get everything in Writing !!!

See if you can structure the payment schedule where you get the last inspection and final payment is upon completion. 

Nailed it, great advice right here. I did a owner builder, finished mine in 45 days with the concrete "shortage" . I do construction project management for a living though 

 

[AlpineFunco]

A friend is having one put in right now. He is using Superior Pools. Sounds like a lot of problems. Poor communication, missed appointments. They are a bit cheaper though, he said he is saving about 40k compared to other companies he shopped. There could be a learning curve here too as it sounds like the company owner is retiring and the kids are taking over. 

 

[dbart]

A friend is having one put in right now. He is using Superior Pools. Sounds like a lot of problems. Poor communication, missed appointments. They are a bit cheaper though, he said he is saving about 40k compared to other companies he shopped. There could be a learning curve here too as it sounds like the company owner is retiring and the kids are taking over. 

You get what you pay for.

One of the 5 companies that came in for a bid...the owner said he was retiring the next year. I was immediately turned off and after asking a bunch of questions like warranty, bond...insurance...can I see some work.......Well, interesting he never came back with a quote or design!

Big Red Flag.

When my bro had his pool built...got a great deal. 5 years later the spa separated from the pool. They only built the wall the was between the spa and the pool at 6" thick. It should be 12". Oh and that company had gone out of business.  $13k later they had another company come in and rebuild the spa.

Save a little up front and pay in the end, or just suck it up and have it done right.

 

[NIKAL]

A friend is having one put in right now. He is using Superior Pools. Sounds like a lot of problems. Poor communication, missed appointments. They are a bit cheaper though, he said he is saving about 40k compared to other companies he shopped. There could be a learning curve here too as it sounds like the company owner is retiring and the kids are taking over. 

Sorry to hear your friend is using Superior pools. IMO that’s a big mistake. I’ve talked to them when I was looking to do our pool. I knew I was going to do an owner builder, but still talked to 3 companies to get quotes and input. San Diego Pools was a joke The guy through down a hard number and said if I’m not looking to spend at least that much money he was not interested in talking with me. This is as he’s standing in my backyard! Superior Pools while friendly and seem to promise allot, they are flakey and do questionable work with cheaper subs. The father is retired both kids coattail off his business name and license. Been told the sons jobs go smoother then the daughters. Personally know someone who was in a lawsuit with them and 3rd hand know another that had to fire them, and find another contractor to come in and finish the job.