to the original poster (I think jacksonbird didnt mean to put that in here). It's hard to say whether or not youre getting apples-to-apples with just the equipment specd. A couple of things I notice- I would be skeptical about running 12 jets on one pump. The most I've really seen work with good pressure and efficiency would be 8 per pump, but I love sticking to 6 per pump for great pressure and true therapy feel. Im partial to Pentair equipment over Hayward 10 times out of 10....Im a builder and have you used both and simply prefer Pentair due to the product, feel, efficiency, and warranty/ follow up. One builder is doing gas heat only, the other is doing a heat pump and a as heater? Have them explain that more to you and tell them how you want to use your pool and spa and what months of each. As far as filtration....one is DE and one is cartridge. Do your research on how you want to clean your filter. One is backwashing and recharging the filter with DE (a little hassle and a little mess) and the other is breaking down the filter/hosing off/ putting it back together. Both do what they should and do it very well, I prefer cartridge. If you're not in love with your design, hire a landscape architect and pay for a great design that both builders have to bid off of. You'll get what you want and have much tighter numbers...my two cents. Good luck!

My opinion is you have every right to ask for a decent clean up of the job site. Nice IntelliFlo by the way. Initially I thought you were too picky but as the pictures scrolled by, there is enough bad work to hold them to every last detail. Gliu drops are normal and chalk that up to laziness. I lay a towel to catch drip but that's just me. Most glue drops scrape off too. The rest is pretty poor workmanship. You're no going to do much with the paint over spray on the pool sweep booster valve but get everything else fixed. That gauge is a vacuum gauge and should be removed and plugged anyway.

This is very helpful feedback. It sounds like I need to consider putting two lights on the house side, one near the deep end and one in the shallow end both pointing toward the raised beam. But I could get away with just one down the center with no major shadows. racket: the pool will have Stonescapes Tahoe Blue. I'm not sure I understand what you meant by "If its dark/pebble one length" Could you please clarify? About the drains....The engineering drawing (which I don't have a copy of right now, it may be out hanging on the fence) and my contract indicate only 2. The sketch always showed 4 though...not sure why. njfolks: At the rate we're making changes, it may be next summer before digging... Please let us know how your lighting works out. Anyone have an opinion about having only one skimmer with a vacuum side cleaner?

Company A has chemically sealed Schedule 40? LOL. That means they are glued and normal. Just make sure it's all hard pipe. Put 2.5" suction on the drains. Especially important for the spa. By keeping the returns open a little, a separate pool return in the spa can be eliminated as well as the dedicated 2 HP pump. Just use the pool pump for the spa. Its can go up to 2 HP also. If they bring in a heat pump, they'll more amps brought in. Company B likes to glue their plumbing fittings too! Shocking! You might think its an industry standard, And you'd be right! Heheh. Same issue with the drains, go to 2.5" pipes. Why only 6 jets? Why not an E-Pump? Only the spa will need it. The pump is normally slowed and run a little longer so it saves power in pool circulation. How big is the DE filter? I don't see that there is a controller. Since you're lighting it, putting in color LED fixtures in makes sense. Why is the 100W quartz in the spa and not a colored LED? A 12 year warranty has to be specific to them. Find out ahead of time what isn't covered. Both companies: Salt it. Its easiest to care for. Scott