I'm also a big-time DIY'er, have done some pretty substantial work on my own homes and homes owned by others. But when it came time to do our pool I didn't think twice about hiring a PB because my wife and I hold down full-time jobs and didn't have the time to babysit subs. I have no regrets about it, but certainly if you do it yourself you will save a lot of money. As long as you pick the right subs it should be a relatively painless process as well. If you check out TroubleFreePools.com there are a lot of DIY'ers over there, that might be a better place to post your questions.

Hmm, I'm a DIY too. In fact, I'm building my own rock firepit as we speak.

I would not suggest it....

I would probably tackle it now that I've built two pools but until you have actually built one, you don't know what to look out for. Building a pool is essentially a "project management" job...you are right about that. But the problems the PB has is keeping the contractors from doing a poor job and ripping them off. In many cases, a lot of times its not the PB's fault...its the subs... The PB's are just between a rock and a profit. Their subs are more important than their customers in saying in business.

How are you going to know when the sub isn't blow smoke up your shorts unless you've seen one built before. There are a lot of gotchas in a pool and once you're past the step, there is no easy going back. There is NOT the case in most DIY things. In addition, I don't know about your area, but here all the workers will be spanish speaking and will play dumb like they don't know any english as soon as you start what sounds like a compliant.

Do you speak spanish?

I envy the DIY pool guys. From what Barco said, even if you do know when they are blowing smoke up your shorts, when you are a one off job, they (subs) dont have a whole lot of incentive to take care of you. They have all the incentive when working for a contractor due to future business. If you know what you are doing and can perform the majority of the work yourself, excavation, plumbing, tile, decking then I would consider doing it. If you have to sub it all, I would get a contractor. Your budget is more than enough to get what you want. There are so many issues encountered when building something that only experience can handle. Im in S Florida so prices are different Im sure but my 14x28, 4' rock waterfall, 500sqft tumbled marble, 2 pumps, gem finish, 3.5-5.5 depth was 28k plus electric @ $850. Other prices were in the mid $30's which was very reasonable. IMO, its not worth the risk to DIY at this price considering the costs involved if there were any problems such as a major structural cracks etc.

Hello sub110,

Don't mean to hijack here...but I am up in the Tampa Bay area and was wondering when you did your pool. Just starting to get quotes and curious to know what is reasonable. We are looking at a 15x30/game pool also. I do want the sheer decent waterfalls. Got a price of around 5K for (3) 2 ft waterfalls. I am going to dig around about having DH DIY the waterfalls...

Well, I'm NOT a "DIY'er" and we built our pool ourselves. The process is pretty straight forward. The hardest part is figuring out what you want. Since you already know, then half the battle is over.

The key is getting good referrals. Talk to others in your area who have built pools themselves and ask their feedback. Plus, use this site and you will get plenty of assistance. The people on here are AWESOME! Good luck!

This pic is 2 years old

Puterputz,
Its in the process now actually. I did have an in with the contractor but, even if my own brother built my pool he would need to make a profit too. The prices on the waterfalls look fine to me. I thought about doing them myself too but after looking into it quite a bit, I think it is a little more difficult and time consuming than what I would save and chances are it wouldnt look as good. I judged what was reasonable by the numerous mailers for the $18k pool. It gives you an idea of a base price for a very basic package, usually a 12x24 w/ 400 sqft of concrete pavers. Then I got 3 quotes from recomended PB's. The first guy was it, he gave me what I felt was a smokin price at 20k, basic 14x28 pool all inclusive, then haphazardly added options on as I requested at a fair price. Although not the most professional, seemed very genuine in wanting to give me a fair shake. Half of the contractors I met with, sent the survey and requirements to never called back. As far as fair price with the PB I picked, he quoted a guy I work with from my recommendation on a 12x16, no features at all and went in at $23k... go figure. It may help to try and deal direct with the owner too, not the sales rep. Good luck and remember, check the BBB, check the florida department of professional regulation, check references and also pull up a list of current permits and recently completed permits for the PB. If he has no work and hasnt in awhile, it could be a red flag. Dont rush it, dont expect it to be perfect cuz it wont be and within reason "it is what it is" helps alot.

aquaman!! Did you make logs or blogs of your pool build? That looks awesome!! I have 50k budgeted but I wanted to get a fair amount of concrete decking and a arbor style bbq for my dh...oh and did I mention a small changing/storage house at the end of it! I figure my storage house with outside shower would run me 5k and the arbor would run me close to $3500 so for the pool and enough decking to fill in an area of 50x 25 leaving room for a decent sized pool would put me at 40k...I do speak Spanish, but I am lucky to live in an area that has local workers who all "know" each other and get great referrals..you wouldn't believe the awesome subs I had for my house remodel...people would really faint with what they charged me..I live in a rural enough area that folks still work hard for the money and their word means more than their profits...a rare find indeed and I treat my subs very well, I also wanted to build it after the 'rush' of summer when I could get the better crews as they slow down. Thinking of starting in September and finishing in December, if it takes that long, I'm really considering composite pools..there's a manufacturer just 20 miles away in Tennessee and I hope they'll work with me doing it myself...even though I speak Spanish, the Latin American crews actually had higher bids than my local guys...I need to create a spreadsheet to figure all costs up front and see if my acting as contractor will be worth the effort...my kids learned a lot helping with the remodel of the house, I'm sure we could create some science projects like raising tadpoles in the pool while it's being completed! :)

Thanks everyone! I will get my worksheet out and bring it back to this thread to see if you think I'm missing something...thanks!!
Tara

lmhall, I would do a fiberglass or vinyl lined pool myself without thinking twice about it. I actually had every intention of the DIY fiberglass but towards the end really wanted the flexibility of the gunite. As aquaman (your pool looks great BTW) said, the people on this forum are great and VERY knowledgable so if you do decide to DIY at least you have a good consulting source. Good luck in your build.

Well contract out the pool then...and you take on the deck, arbor and bathhouse.... Your only problem there is you need to get some things straight with your pool builder up front. 1) Your building all these other things and need coordination with them and communication about what is happening and when. 2) Because these other things are going in, facets of the pool may have to adapt to them and opposed to you always having to adapt to them....so you need final approval on things normally perhaps the owner would not want to be bothered with...like where exactly the skimmer(s) are going and the fact that plumbing not under the deck must be below grade to code and you don't want to hear that since they aren't doing the deck its not their problem. Not every PB will want to touch this but there are plenty that will.

barco, thanks! I know I could easily handle the the exterior finishes...have done a good deal of hardscaping and landscaping not to mention I've repaired many a pipe (fittings/pvc glue/have my own cutters ya get the drift) and designed/installed an underground sprinkler addition to my last home...I have 2 pool contractors coming out this week and I'll pose this to them, I'll also show them what I've done on my own so they take me seriously...it's amazing how many people just look dumbfounded when they see what you've accomplished...I don't know if it's because I'm of the weaker gender or the southern accent that makes folks think I'd want someone to do everything for me...I've replaced my own disc brakes, repaired and learned how to drive a column shift, just had a Dad that did it all and he had girls first so we got the grunt and experience to keep us motivated to tackle anything...I'm also blessed with a great deal of patience and "stuff will happen" attitude...looks like I may need another measure of that tackling the pool! :)
Thanks!
Tara