Building a pool

[Ruffdaddy]

Like a moron I got talked into building a pool. I wanted something smaller (80' perimeter) because I wanted a lot of play area, seating and green space to remain. But we did go with a heat pump/chiller combo. So I'm looking for any tips and have a few questions.

1 - how well do the heat pump/chillers actually work? Can I swim when its 70 out and not hate life if the water is at 80?

2 - Is a cover something I should get? Is it more trouble than its worth?

3 - I will be putting the child gate around our covered patio because that's where the backdoor leads. Any ideas on a decent iron looking gate that's cheap enough to discard in 3 years?

4 - I went with the automation package...but have heard mixed reviews...is it actually something useful? My main want was to be able to control the heater/chiller remotely.

5 - what is a realistic build time?

Thanks for any advice and tips!

[Big A]

I get why chillers exist, but I've never been in the pool when it was too hot.

Get a cover, even if you don't have trees, shit will blow in from the neighbors' when the wind picks up (or when the lawn is mowed).

Automation's cool, but a luxury really, you get to pull out your phone rather than walk over to the pad by the door. One nice benefit is the ability to start the spa remotely, say while you're out to dinner, so that it's ready to go when you get home.

I wasn't able to find a cheap safety fence, ours was just under 2 grand installed, but secure.

Ours was installed, can't speak to build time.

[Baron Von Crowder]

The pool at my old house would get hot about mid summer. I hated it.

[Big A]

To that end, see if you can incorporate shade into the design. Full on sun in the summer months can get unbearable, makes the deck to hot to be on, and pool unusable for little kids and anyone that isn't acclimated/tanned.

[Ruffdaddy]

I get why chillers exist, but I've never been in the pool when it was too hot.

Get a cover, even if you don't have trees, shit will blow in from the neighbors' when the wind picks up (or when the lawn is mowed).

Automation's cool, but a luxury really, you get to pull out your phone rather than walk over to the pad by the door. One nice benefit is the ability to start the spa remotely, say while you're out to dinner, so that it's ready to go when you get home.

I wasn't able to find a cheap safety fence, ours was just under 2 grand installed, but secure.

Ours was installed, can't speak to build time.

What kind of cover do you have?

Is your safety fence all the way around the pool? Since ours will just be a simple install from the beams of the covered extension I think it'll be less hassle to do myself than even dealing with a contractor to install. But I want to avoid too much welding if I can.

We figured the same with automation but if I'm about to fly back from a work trip or vegas it would be nice to be able to have it pre-warmed or pre-chilled. Without the heater/chiller we wouldn't have considered it.

[Ruffdaddy]

To that end, see if you can incorporate shade into the design. Full on sun in the summer months can get unbearable, makes the deck to hot to be on, and pool unusable for little kids and anyone that isn't acclimated/tanned.

Good point, we have it situated where the "deep" end and bench are in an area that gets more shade from surrounding structures and the other end is a huge tanning ledge that we want more open to the sun.

[Big A]

What kind of cover do you have?

Is your safety fence all the way around the pool? Since ours will just be a simple install from the beams of the covered extension I think it'll be less hassle to do myself than even dealing with a contractor to install. But I want to avoid too much welding if I can.

We figured the same with automation but if I'm about to fly back from a work trip or vegas it would be nice to be able to have it pre-warmed or pre-chilled. Without the heater/chiller we wouldn't have considered it.

I don't have a cover for the current pool, which is why I can speak from experience. The only tree on that side of the house is a Palm, so I know that what's in the skimmer and floating on top isn't from our yard.

Sounds like you have a much smaller span to deal with, and likely need a different set up for the fence. Ours goes around the pool, but only fence to fence. Pool's out by the back corner, so think 1st to 3rd base. Each of the posts is either in a hole drilled into the deck, or in concrete out in the yard.

The other nice thing about automation is the ability to remotely turn on the pool cleaner, if you can swing the cost do it. It's waaay overpriced for what it is, but options are limited from what I've found, it's all proprietary.

[Big A]

Good point, we have it situated where the "deep" end and bench are in an area that gets more shade from surrounding structures and the other end is a huge tanning ledge that we want more open to the sun.

Most of the playing is done in the shallow end though, especially when talking about younger kids. I'd suggest having the deck built in a manner that there's a space in the sun for tanning, that wouldn't be affected by shading the shallow end.

[jewozzy]

I have a giant bean shaped pool with diving board and 13 pecan trees around my entire lot, in other words I deal with a ton of shade and leaves. I have a cover for my pool but never put it on. I have an LED light that I really like and have on at night. I think it looks really cool and is nice for the back yard. In the winter yeah its a pain in the ass when the leaves start falling but I think the pool with the light on looks way better in the yard than with it being covered. Just my .02.

[Ruffdaddy]

Most of the playing is done in the shallow end though, especially when talking about younger kids. I'd suggest having the deck built in a manner that there's a space in the sun for tanning, that wouldn't be affected by shading the shallow end.

Good point. I can probably take care of shading the shallow end with some landscaping on the top of a retaining wall. As is about half the swim area will get shade from either the house or retaining wall and stone columns/bushes on top of it depending on time of day. I think itll take a season of seeing where the sun falls to know for sure.

The pool only goes to 5'.

[Ruffdaddy]

I have a giant bean shaped pool with diving board and 13 pecan trees around my entire lot, in other words I deal with a ton of shade and leaves. I have a cover for my pool but never put it on. I have an LED light that I really like and have on at night. I think it looks really cool and is nice for the back yard. In the winter yeah its a pain in the ass when the leaves start falling but I think the pool with the light on looks way better in the yard than with it being covered. Just my .02.

That's good to hear about the lighting. We are planning for 2 of the color changing LEDs and a "shear descent" on the raised back wall of the pool so I would certainly be giving up the aesthetics of that.

That's another plus of automation...I can control the lights from my phone IIRC.

[jewozzy]

Good point. I can probably take care of shading the shallow end with some landscaping on the top of a retaining wall. As is about half the swim area will get shade from either the house or retaining wall and stone columns/bushes on top of it depending on time of day. I think itll take a season of seeing where the sun falls to know for sure.

The pool only goes to 5'.

Yeah I'd def look into shading. With a pool that shallow it'll get warm pretty quick. For a cheap fix you can always go with a set up similar to this or they even sell big umbrella style shades that can be set up for the pool. At least for the first season or two until the landscaping comes in.

[Ruffdaddy]

Yeah I'd def look into shading. With a pool that shallow it'll get warm pretty quick. For a cheap fix you can always go with a set up similar to this or they even sell big umbrella style shades that can be set up for the pool. At least for the first season or two until the landscaping comes in.

We did add in an umbrella holder near the tanning ledge that I completely forgot about until you posted this.

[Rick Modena]

1 - Don't waste your money (heat for hot tub only, and only if you have health issues)

2- Yes on the cover

3 - I saw last week that Lowes has wrought iron 5ft. sections at around $60-70. per, both 5 ft. and 6 ft. a post hole digger and some bags of concrete and some elbow grease and your set, if not plan on paying $20-$30 a sq. ft.

4 - Yes on the controller, always nice to be able to control remotely and you can also turn off lights, pumps, etc.

5 - 8 months to a year depending on weather and the crew the company uses.

[Stephen]

Where the hell is svo? This is right up his alley