Good morning, would love to be able to do a OB in coordination w/ both of you but....I think I am a little too far away(Knoxville) and most importantly, although saving some money sounds great, OB seems like too much of a headache for me. I also don't have the confidence in my knowledge to carry that out. But, I certainly don't mind doing what to spread some of the info. I have collected so far if it helps you make some decisions. I think Alabama,GA, TN areas the markets for pools are similar. Unfortunately, I think yes, one could probably get a pool built in Florida for 20K less than here. Many more PB's there driving the market, also I think it is easier to excavate there(I might be guessing on that) but know it is sandier,less clay than here. The options one PB gave me for pool finishes are Marcite(included) Diamond Brite 4,500 Pebbletec 6,000 Durazzo 6,500. Of course that was for a 41x19 free-form, 3-10ft, so it is not comparing apples to apples. To do that I would have to figure surface area and break it down. The cost for that pool was to 70,500 which included everything but the decking. I had pavers priced, but he gave me option for broom finished concrete, which was $7 sg.ft. As I said, I couldn't afford that one, but it did include alot of upgrades, electric heat pump 8' diving board Letro pool cleaner SWG Durazzo finish Pentair 30"Sand filter and all the assumables like lights,skimmers, drains, excavation, plumbing, etc. Another pool builder priced a 20x 40 gunite rectangle at 50,000 here. including about 1,000 sf broom finish concrete gas heater(I don't want a gas heater so would have to add $$) SWG sand filter dive board and all the assumables. Have you considered a vinyl pool?? Nowadays, you can hardly tell the difference between a gunite and vinyl if you get a cantilever coping, vinyl over step and you have more money that can be put into decking or landscaping. Here a middle of the road price for a 20x40 rectangle 3.5-8ft deep was 41,000. Would be less if you want gas heat instead of heat pump, and that included 1104sg ft broom finish concrete, vinyl over step, SWG,dive board, heat pump, sand filter, skimmers, etc. I understand that a vinyl pool may be a little easier to heat and a little easier to keep the chemicals balanced. When polled, my sons said they actually like swimming in friends vinyl pools better. I don't think I will go vinyl since I need a more custom pool to fit in my space but I would definitely do vinyl if it would work for us. Takes a lot less time to install as well. Well, wish I could spend more time here, but have to get going, part two of celebration weekend, taking second son off to college today. If you have specific questions regarding costs of any options let me know, I will be getting back to this site late tonight probably.

I'm in south St Pete. Gulfstream was our second choice, and I'm sure they would have been great. I really liked being able to go up to their "showroom" and touch the finishes in their pools and see the pool deck finishes and colors, etc. Salt is the only way to go! I tell everyone that if there is one change you can afford for your pool, it is to convert to salt. It is so much easier to maintain (compared to all my neighbors with traditional chlorine pools) and feels so much better on your skin and in your eyes (no more burning eyeballs). I never get as tired swimming laps in a salt pool as I ever did in a chlorine pool (like the YMCA - ugh - but that pool is too hot to swim laps in to me). We have a gas heater, but we only heat the spa during the winter. We've accidentally heated the entire pool, but it didn't make a significant dent in our gas bill. Remember that cooling something 10-15 degrees (like a/c in your home) uses much less energy than heating something 25-40 degrees (like heating your home in the winter in the northeast). The winter was so mild last year, that we only missed about four months of swimming in the main pool with no heating at all. We are lucky that we've had enough rain to keep the pool cool this summer - we've only had one summer where the pool got too hot. Note: You probably shouldn't remove the ladder from the deep end unless you put in a shelf because that is a code issue. While it might not bother you (being to code or not) it can have a serious impact on the resale of your home. The pool is probably grandfathered to code in place when it was built, which is fine, so you don't have to meet current code. But for a remodel (not just refinish, maybe) you might have to permit and then of course you'll have to come up to current code. Your builders, if they have any sense at all, won't allow you to screw this up. Here is a link that might be useful: My pool

As a pool builder. I see two construction mistakes in your pool. 1) The rebar is not 3" off the dirt. Though there is no picture showing this when the shotcrete is shot, but the pictures above do not represent that. 2) The pool was plastered well before the pool was suppose to be finished. Pool is suppose to sit under soaker hoses for 30 days while the shotcrete cures. I hope your pool doesn't turn out with any problems. But if it does in the future, hopefully it isn't because of the above mentioned causes.

Eye friendly water comes from proper balancing and filtering. Eyes have a lot of salt. Non salt pools may draw some of the salt out but salt pools lower this tendency. Ozone oxidizes impurities such as skin oils, sun tan lotions, and a litteny of other things. Chlorine breaks them down also but may take a little longer. Pool salt is pure table salt with out anti caking materials and no iodine. It is just Sodium Chloride. Simply put, when the water with this added salt passes an energized cell, the salt molecule is split, freeing the chlorine. When water washes over tablets, they free chlorine. My point is that chlorine is chlorine. Both systems work. While chlorine is corrosive, the low quantities found in a normal pool chemistry is not sufficient to cause harm. Improper bonding can result in electrolysis, aka a stray voltage resulting in a current flow. This can cause corrosion. Improper pool chemistry can also cause corrosion or scale to form. This is a chemical change in the materials. Large temperature swings, whether rapid or gradual will not cause corrosion, but rather will cause erosion. This is a physical change in the material. Pure water, does NOT conduct electricity unless an extremely high voltage is present, such as lightning. Adding chemicals and minerals does lower the voltage required for water to become an electrolyte, that is a liquid conductor. Electricity is the the flow of electrons. It, like water, will follow the path of least resistance in proportion to the paths it has available. Bonding is method equalizing and dispersing of stray voltages that can create current flows. These are typically sent to the same ground and the main power source for the home. Having two grounds separated by some distance may be able to sink stray current in different amounts. This difference in potential may create a battery to form between them. It may not be much, but its enough to cause electrolysis. I have never seen a properly bonded pool have salt cell related corrosion. There has always been another underlying cause of the corrosion, if, in fact, it was corrosion and not erosion at work. Please also know that water is also know in the chemistry world as the Universal Solvent. Next to the sun, water is a pool's biggest threat. Water can carry many thing in solution such as salt, calcium, chlorine, silver, iron, copper and a litany of other substances. Scott