WOW! Your pool is gorgeous - it looks huge! I also love the landscaping. We are doing ours ourselves so it is taking some time. I think I'm going to stop planting until the fall. In Georgia, we have to consider the drought and heat. Would you list some of the plants in front of the big rocks. They look great! Nikki

Amazing transformation. I love to see people's before and after pics. Love the red japanese maple next to your pool. Such tranquil plantings. Lovely pool.
Judy

Everything looks fantastic! What's the concrete decking around the pool? We are decided what to do with our patio and we are leaning towards concrete to save a bit of money but I'm curious what you used. Is it colored?

WOW! Your pool and landscaping look great. I really love how you integrated the sunshelf with your stairs.

Congratulations and enjoy!

Beautiful pool and the landscaping sets it off beautifully.

I love the look of the boulders in the landscaping! Beautiful job!

Thanks everyone for the compliments.... I think I drove my landscaper crazy making him move the boulders so they were just right and rotate the tree's etc... LOL.... but in the end we were both happy...

Nikkineel~ Most of the planting I used in front of the moss rock are a few varieties of Sedum.. they are a perrenial... the grass is called Blue Fescue...and there is some creeping Thyme as well... I picked up most of it at the local garden center only 2 weeks ago.... I find it tolerates the dry days pretty good, as I have some by my pond from last year that didn't get watered often. If you like Sedum you may also like Ice plant...

MrsMack~ It's stamped concrete, two colors with the textured pattern....I thought this pattern was not too busy and I wouldn't get bored of looking at it. I am very happy with the look and I was surprized to find it only warm (not hot like my paver patio) to walk on after a full day's sun...

momof3littleboys~ Thanks, I was a little worried about the flow of it on paper, but I am very happy with the finished look. :) I told my mom , it's a good spot for the "older" people to sit who have a hard time standing up..lol

Hi,

I live in Hunterdon County NJ and am now in the process of deciding what type of inground pool to go with (concrete or vinyl) and which pool company to go with.

Can I ask who you used to build your pool, is it concrete and would you recommend your builder?

By the way, your pool is beautiful!

Cmccarten~ Thanks....If you do a search you can find my older post which may be useful to you, and yes it is a concrete pool. After you read it you will understand why I choose not to post my PB name...but I can tell you overall the experience was smooth with minor complaints, which can always be expected.....

Good luck in your build.

I have some questions about stamped concrete, What were the two colors you used, it looks very close to concrete? The concrete does not look shiny like many stamped concrete surfaces do, did they seal it? Do you find the stamped concrete slippery when wet?

Thank you, you have a beautiful pool, good luck.

Very beautiful. You have a beautiful home, setting and pool. Thanks for sharing.

xtrema01~ The two colors I used were Rosemary & Smoke beige... It is sealed with a gripping agent to make it less slippery, but compared to my pavers it is a bit "slippery when wet". I've attached a closer shot that you can see the color & shine more... it is very neutral, but I would say a little more colored then standard concrete. The light seems to effect the shine as well, as you will notice below..

I know that's not a snake I see in the upper left of the last picture. Right???

smbnobles~ lol That is sooo funny that I didn't notice that... It's one of my sons toys... so far it's just been a few frogs in the skimmer... all alive.. I hope it doesn't go beyond that ! Especially snakes ! ;)

Moocat,
Love the pool and really like how you landscaped it. I guess all of the naysayers of a few months ago won't comment on the finished product.
I am using A&S right now, and they have been super efficient. It has been only 16 days and all we have left is about 3 hours of electrical, half day of grading, and then the pebbletec goes on. I am subbing the decking out myself.
A&S can't be all that bad. After all, they have built way more pools than any other PB in the country. Our designer was far superior than the other 3 quotes I got. They were not the cheapest nor were they the most expensive, but they were the most attentive to my wants and needs. If I asked for it, I got it.
Your pool is marvelous. Hope you are enjoying it.
Go check my build out. Lots of pics.

ncrealestateguy~ Thank you :) I am very happy with the finished product... LOL on the naysayers... Ya, I laugh reading back at some of the comments... I think that there are sure to be some offices that are no good...but that goes for any chain... whether it's Applebee's or A&S ...It's all different people working there.... which means a different experience.
I am glad that you are having a good experience and hope it continues... I am loving the pool... & will post more pics when the cabana is in....

I will check out your pics...

Moocat,

Beautiful pool and landscape! I am in NJ as well and we are in the beginning stages of talking to PB's and landscapers. If you don't mind, I was hoping you could answer a few questions for me.

We have a high water table and after speaking to neighbors that recently installed pools, we are leaning towards the vinyl. Why did you decide to go with a gunite pool vs vinyl?

I saw one of your earlier posts and I think you said the pool installation along with 500 SQ ft concrete was $55. Did your PB install the concrete deck as well as the pool for $55?

I received an estimate for $36,000 to install 900 Sq ft of pavers - pool not included. His whole estimate for the pavers, landscape and fence was $60,000. I figure the pool install will probably be around $30,000. I am beginning to wonder if a pool is worth it...

Did you have the landscape designed prior to meeting with PB's or was that done afterwards (it looks wonderful)?

We are having the the design/estimates done first - not sure if that is the right sequence or not. Could I ask who did your lanscaping?

Sorry for all of the questions. We have never had a pool before and I am trying to learn as I go.

Thanks

Rich

Hi Rich~

I'll try to answer your ??'s best I can.. :) but one question I will answer up front... the pool was definitely worth every penny.. :) The summer is not even in full swing yet & it's been great ! :)

As far as the pool decking, the PB included 500 sqft in that price.. the additional we added was done thru their sub at an additional 8.50 per sq foot. (stamped-two colors)I think we wound up with about 1200 total...

Also keep in mind our original estimate for the gunite pool was closer to $42,000, but I added alot of extras that brought it up.. a little higher...

As far as choosing gunite, it was for the design ability you have with it, as well as the quality... My inlaws have a 20 year old gunite pool that has been issue free.. they have re-surfaced it once, just last year...

The estimate you received for $900 sqft of pavers seems way high... I have a raised patio that's about 400sqft and a lower patio thats about 600sqft and my total cost was $10,000 lower then your estimate. I used the same contractor for both the pavers and the deck and pool landscaping, but our paver patio was done about 2 years ago.
I worked with the landscape guy to design the look I wanted ...but the norm is he designs for you (I am just a control freak..lol) I think that it's nice to have something planned beforehand for the 'Big picture'.. but sometimes like in our case, we just had an idea that we built on.. cause it seems what you want sometimes changes when you see the real thing....

Anyway I am happy to give you the name of the landscape/paver guy... I am not sure where you are located, but their office is in Monmouth County... (FGM is the company and Joe is who you should ask for 732 580-1967) You can say Lori referred you if you want.. :)

Here is there web site :
http://www.fgmlandscaping.com/home.htm

Good luck with everything and feel free to ask whatever ??'s you may have... The computer is such a great resource.... :)

Has anyone with a pool in NJ been required by their township to install a drywell to support storm water drainage? And if so, is it a big deal? i.e. does it cost alot?

Moocat, it looks very nice! The landscaping is really pretty. I tried blue fescue around our pool and it is not nearly as drought tolerant as advertised. After one summer almost all of it is dead. It can't tolerate the triple digit temps we get here in TX. I've had better luck with the Mexican Feather Grass and Pink Muhly. The Muhly is absolutely thriving in our weather.

ncrealestateguy, I've seen your posts here and elsewhere about A&S and I am really mystified as to why you take it so personally when someone gripes about them. This forum is all about getting unbiased info out to the public, both good and bad, so that buyers can make an informed decision. It's helpful to know that you had a good experience with them, but it's also helpful to potential buyers to read the bad stories too. No need to get so defensive, I don't think anyone disputes that your project went well.