El Duderino makes a very good point - be very diligent in making sure your builder is financially stable, make sure you understand the Texas property code, specifically around obtaining lien waivers, holding back 10% of the price etc etc.

I went with one of the lower bidders on my build and it has been very painful... I ended up doing some of the work myself, I paid twice for some parts, I have two liens on my property and I am having to speak with an attorney for the first time in my life.

Don't get me wrong, there are good builders out there (some who post here regularly!) and they do fantastic work. But at the end of the day you have to protect yourself against loss.

UKMatt

el duderino wow your pool looks fantastic!but your bids were probably way higher because of:
1.spa(8-10 k)
2.3 decks of stone(13-15k)
4.pebble tech(5 k)
5.negative edge?(if you have one than thats another 15k)
6.much bigger pool 600 sq ft and higher (8 k)
7.water features(3-5 K)
bids must have been around 80 k.
i am talking a very basic pool with almost everything standard except for a saltwater system.
i also, uk matt, would like to go with the bigger companies like cody or some other bigger name as am worried about the pool companies running out of money.
My question is why are bigger companies asking 45 k to build such a basic pool?with no excavation?
thanks in advance to all for your input.

samiq,
My pool is built on a very steep/sloping lot and I had to build 2 retaining walls..pb bids were just too high (they subbed this part out anyway) so I built and poured the concrete walls myself.
Steep lots offer more challenges in construction and you should probably expect to pay more than on a relatively level lot..the slightest bit of rain caused my pb problems and I thought the backhoe was going to end up in the lake more than once.

can i just say how beautiful your pool looks!over looking the lake.would you mind sharing the cost of the 2 retaining walls?
did you also build a fence around the pool for safety reasons and passing inspection?
thanks.

Depending on the slope of your yard, you also have the option of no retaining wall and having a "raised beam" on the downhill wall.
My lawn has 5 feet of drop from existing deck to far edge of pool. We dropped 2.5 feet from existing deck to pool deck and build pool with 2.5 feet raised beam far wall. This would also be nice for infinity edge, but too expensive for me.

samiq,
It sounds like an engineered retaining wall must be built plus site preparation which probably includes importing soil prior to excavation. There is really very,very few times that no excavation is necessary.
A good plan will allow the PB to estimate wall cost and site prep cost. I assume you may have some engineering cost to justify the structural portion of the wall necessary to support the pool. Good preparation is key to a good and lasting end product. Good luck.

We too have a 5' drop in our backyard. Our PB in Austin did not charge us extra to build wall. It only took a week to build, frame, plumb and we had gunite sprayed yesterday. It's wonderful! Email me if you want to see pics - I can't figure out how to paste them in here...

Ditto on the finance piece - We've been extremely pleased with the fast progress and have stayed in tune with a tight draw schedule - we are now paying for work that has not been delivered.

samiq-

Good question and the quotes you shared sound reasonable based on my experience when we built our pool on a sloping lot 2 years ago.

Our PB charged $800 extra for every 1 foot of pool that was above grade. As golfgeek mentioned, even with the above grade construction, there was still considerable excavation needed. However, I did get some extras from our PB when I noticed that the contract included hauling away dirt from the jobsite. We did not have any dirt that needed to be hauled away but instead used it to build up a foundation for our decking around the pool.

Below is a link to our pool to give you and idea of our elevation, which turned out to be about 6 feet above grade at the deep end of the pool.

Hope this helps!

Here is a link that might be useful: Our Pool On Sloped Grade

OMG. When I hit the lottery...
trhough,, That should have been entered in a contest.

Thanks everyone!the posts have been really helpful.golgeek you,re right because of the grade there will have a wall of 72 inches.
jeris i dont know whow to use the email feature could you please email me?i would really appreciate it thanks.
thanks trthought your pool is awesome!

CHILCAT--any photos---
our lot has slope away from the house/patio...

We are in Kansas City, where there aren't as many pools and pricing isn't as competetive, so your bids sound quite low. Our lot is wooded, steep and sloped away from the house, and we also are sitting on solid rock.

Our first bid just for excavation and building a retaining wall to hold the pool was $35,000. That was for a 7 to 9 foot wall on the back side of the pool using 12" high natural rocks. Then a standard 16 x 32 kidney shaped pool (with deep end for diving) was going to be another $50 to $60,000 on top of that. That pricing included black plaster, the pool deck, SWG, in-floor cleaning and all equipment. No spa.

The second bid (which we ended up going with) was just over $100,000 all-inclusive for a 500+ sq ft natural pool (3.5 - 5.5 ft depth) including a negative edge with waterfall into a smaller pool below that is convertible into a hot tub. In this contract, the cost of landscaping included $22,000 to build a series of stepped dry-stacked retaining walls with planter beds on the backside of the pool to blend with existing retaining walls on the property, and boulder landscaping for $12,000 to bridge between the two levels of pools. The boulders also continue under the water line into the lower pool in one corner to tie into the waterfall. The cost of landscaping also includes removing existing dry-stacked retaining walls that were in the construction area, but not tree removal.

The third bid we got (just a general price with no detail) was $120 - $130,000 for a lagoon style pool with grotto, spa and waterfall, and included a large single retaining wall on the backside.

These bids were from the top 3 (high-end) pool builders in Kansas City, all with great reputations and highly recommended. Unfortunately, the company we ended up going with (Sun & Swim Pools, in business since 1958) ended up going bankrupt in April during our pool build, and we have contracted with another PB to complete our pool.

In comparison, your bid sounds very low, so be very careful in selecting your PB.