Hi mcdaisymom,

We too, are in Texas (Arlington( and just finished with the whole pool design thing. Will sign contract Monday and get on the schedule to re-route some electric that runs thru our yard and get on dig schedule.
We did not know what size to go with either. We have never built a pool before and had no concept of how many gallons or SF. We just had an idea of what we wanted. Diving pool, grotto, tanning ledge and volleyball area. We also had the pool area master plan drawn up - things we would like to do in the future, so we did not have to tear out in order to add. Then we held our breath. Amazingly, the whole master plan came back at a price we thought the pool alone would cost. In the end, we did have some other related expenses-like the re-routing of electricity-which costs $1761 (no quoted in pool price) and we are going with pavestone decking to tie into our existing patio (pool co. does not do pavestone) which is an added expense and more expensive than the exposed aggregage decking-so we eliminated some accessories to the pool, like a fire pit, that we can always add later.

Really talk about what you want in a pool and then discuss with the builders you get bids from. Go with the whole master plan and then add or delete as necessary.

Good luck

We have an acre lot, but we wanted the pool close to the house so we could see it from indoors and also have pool parties that could utilize the indoor kitchen and existing covered patio behind the house. I laid the whole site plan in on CADD and tried various pool sizes to see how they worked with the existing (and future) conditions. Surprisingly despite the huge lot we found that once we had located all the existing paving, underground utilities and future expansion work that we were pretty well locked in on a certain pool size. So I would suggest that you first do a drawing of your existing conditions (including utility lines), then lay out various pool sizes to see how they fit. You should also try to locate anything else on the drawing that you may have planned for your backyard no matter how far in the future it may be (patio, outdoor kitchen, garden, kids' play area, garden shed, sunning patio, etc.)

If you go with a pool company, good representative/company should ask you for a survey of your lot/land with your house sitting on it. That will show any easments you cannot build in plus they can plot your pool plan based on room you have. It will probably take several meetings with your pool people before you bite the bullet. You will think of questions you did not think of before, plus adding or taking features away and discussing specifics about features. You don't want design surprises later on for failure to communicate and ask questions. Even if you already went over something, go over the drawing again over all specifics. Have fun and good luck