1) Prices are somewhat location sensitive.

2) Your concrete charges are confusing.

3) What is a 10'x10' tanning shelf?

3) Is the "Future W/F plumbing" an extra set of bottom drains plumbed to the equipment pad?

4) A ladder on the deep end will save you $3000 and make any future liner changes less expensive.

5) I am not an In-Floor cleaner fan. A pressure side robot like a Polaris or Legend or corded unit like a Dolphin or AquaBot can save you substantially.

6) I am not a big fan of spas on vinyl pools. They have a tendency of popping up when empty if the water table is elevated. A portable spa on the deck would be my choice.

7) Total cost for the safety cover seems steep.

Enjoy your dream!

Thanks for your reply poolguy - tanning shelf is an 18 " deep (10 ft X 10 ft) entrance to the pool (one step down), then there are 3 more steps after the 10 ft going into the pool. The rest of the pool is then 40 ft long (so the tanning shelf does not lessen the 40 ft length for swimming). Made of steel and covered with vinyl liner. Essentially an area for little kids to play or adults to hang out (I have several young children). Sorry I don't have a picture.
The waterfall plumbing was explained as an additional pipe (rigid PVC is used everywhere) that is capped off at the location of future WF. We want a nice one, but it is not in the budget this year.
On the cleaner - thanks for the info - DH actually said he did not know how that could really clean the pool - the other option they offered was Blue Diamond @ $1400 - is that comparable to the Polaris or Aquabots?
We have nixed the spa and deep end swimout.
We are confused too by the concrete charges - basically 3 ft wide regular concrete is included (no cantilever). Tan tint on 3 ft around pool is additional $583. If we want the cantilevered edge it is another $1500. If we want stamped concrete 1 ft perimeter it is another $1860. So in summary, if we want tan concrete 3 ft surround with stamped concrete 1 ft perimeter and cantilevered edge the Upcharge for that is: $3043. For comparison a bullnose TRAVERTINE edge was quoted to us (from a mason- not pool company) at approx $3600. The charge to add 407 sq ft of additional tinted concrete adjacent to pool area is $2950.

Really appreciate your input!

The idea of little children "playing" in 1-1/2 foot of water is not what I would consider safe play. Chatting wives sometimes lose focus. Kids do things as a result of their "I'm invincible" mentality and accidents happen. Nothing personal. It happens every year to someone.

Shallow water is a pain to manually vacuum. Pool sweeps and in-floor systems don't do it all.

And it's all too easy for the liner to float when/if the water table rises.

WRT the W/F plumbing, if you are really going to do a nice one, it'll need it's own pump. Get the additional main drain set. Skip the return side plumbing. It can be added later a lot easier than adding suction lines.

The Blue Diamond will probably work fine.

I recommend a 4' concrete or stamped deck. Lasts longest. Ask for footings too. Travertine doesn't like the temp changes in NJ.

Expect tribulations. Industry standard is 70% of the home owners won't continue the relationship with the builder.

Have the contract reviewed by your attorney.

Ask lots of questions.

Good luck.

trying2buy -

Have you considered a gunite pool? Your total costs come very close to our estimates for a similarly sized gunite pool with a tanning ledge, heater, spa, raised bond-beam with sheer descent, jandy color lights, and Jandy PDA for automation.

They did come down on the cost of cleaning system and concrete work and also threw in a few extras, so we are much closer to budget and think we are going with them. They did a nice job on the design as well - we made a small adjustment to it, but are pleased now. We are going to get the additional main drain set for the WF and are going with tan concrete cantilevered with diamond blade cuts. They did a pool like this last year and it really looked great. We did look into gunite but base quotes for this size pool were starting at $60,000 before adding in "extras". Thanks poolguynj for your advice - any advice on picking a liner? With the tanning shelf they told us the bordered liners do not always come out right and suggested an all over pattern liner - any thoughts? Where can I see liners with the water in them? It is hard to judge just seeing the liner - they did show us some photos, but I am struggling a bit -

WRT the line, don't go with the thicker liners (28 ga.). The step areas will seat neater with the slightly thinner (16ga. wall 20 floor)liner.

Best of luck. Post pix as it developes.

Turboritas for all!!!

Thanks - they did recommend 20 mil - will definitely post pix once we start!! Also, do you know anything about the pool railings? We saw a photo of a pool that we loved that had the railings in a bronze look - we asked them and they said they did that for the customer but it was ridiculously expensive (I think they said $700 each - they had to be powder coated or something like that). It was a few years ago and I am wondering if there are any more affordable options out there with the "old world" /Tuscan feel? If not we would be fine with stainless steel - just wondering...