Oh yeah, nobody ever includes how much they paid. Well I will, because potential pool buyers want to know what their $$$ will look like. The pool builder is Texas Pools & Patios in Austin, TX. Total cost for everything above except that in "coming soon", with some good negotiating, including a gas line from another contractor, was $53K. The one thing I will tell you is I MADE SURE to get "Rock Excavation" included (they pay). Reason being, this is Austin, and most of my ground was pure rock. Seriously. It took 7 long days of excavation, and they probably hauled off about 2000 cubic feet of rock. The contract shows how much I would have been charged if I did not negotiate that up front... $20/cubic foot x 2000 = $40,000 extra. SO CHECK YOUR CONTRACT BEFORE SIGNING IF YOU HAVE ROCK IN YOUR BACKYARD! The palapa is being made by Texas Palapas. It's all hand-made and consists of 6" Juniper Ashe Cedar Posts at 8x10 spacing, and Woven Thatch roofing. They quoted me a little under $3000 installed. This is a deal considering most Palapa kits (would have to install myself) I've seen are screw-together, cost almost as much, and since they are not in or near Austin, are asking $1000+ for shipping due to the weight. NO THANKS! I'll take TexasPalapas.com anyday! Don, the owner, is a great guy and has hundreds of his Palapas installed all over the place. The outdoor kitchen will probably have me headed for the poor house so I might just stick with a Weber Jr. for now.. :) Palm trees and assorted plants, not to mention another 2000 sq ft of sod, will probably run me another $5K.. So overall, this backyard will run me like $65K when it's all said and done. But that's a small price to pay for a HOME IMPROVEMENT which I will get YEARS OF ENJOYMENT from. 3 short vacations in Cancun, Hawaii, & The Bahamas will probably cost my family of 3 the same, so I figure I might as well get this every day of the year right in my own backyard!

As I have said previously, recall that you posted abut your pond builder on a number of threads, most dead over six months. In those threads, I had asked you to stop. You didn't. That was spamming and what I found objectionable. There is nothing hateful or venomous in my last post. A swimming pond by that's site's description is not a sanitary place t swim. I was and still am quite sincere when I say I hope no one gets sick. If you've ever had a crypto infection, you would understand. That and other bugs in the water can and do kill people. This is a pool forum. Your pond is not a pool. There is a pond forum as has been pointed out. You are not stupid and I am not the Internet Police. I am not a jerk either. I am as straight a shooter as I can be. I try to help others. I expect nothing in return. That's how my parents raised me to be. If, by calling a strike a strike as a part one's life style philosophies, someone's toes get stepped on, I usually chalk it up to two things, you can't please everyone and not everyone can be pleased. I can look at myself in the mirror and know Mom would be proud. If I can't do that, then I need to and do make amends as soon as possible. I don't let things fester knowingly. Scott

We signed w/Austin's Clearwater Pools. We are spraying gunite today and have been very happy with service and flexibility. Call Jose or Abel for a bid. (512) 791-7131. We too interviewed multiple PBs and found that specifying the exact list of what we wanted, then adjusting to fit our budget worked well. After calling references from 8 years to 6 months, their customers have been happy. Our pool contract: 32 X 18 pool, w/9X6 spa, 12' neg edge, gratto w/slide, tanning deck, 400' decking, Pentair VS pumps, color lights - $55K. Good luck! jeri

we recently signed a contract w Claffey (haven't started actual build yet). they were about 4-5k higher than the other 2 bids we got, but i've had two friends use them and they had positive experiences. this is our 1st pool build so i felt better about going with someone with their reputation even if it cost a little more. so far i would summarize the pros as: knowledgeable salesperson, willing to stay in a budget range, willing to itemize estimate to help with trade-offs (not just a single 'bottom line price' where you can never figure out what costs what) the only real con is that their price was higher. but with the stories i hear about less reputable PBs adding on unexpected charges during the build or failing to live up to warranty claims etc, I'll have to see what the ultimate "total cost of ownership" is to find out if it is really more expensive or not we'll see how it goes...