I love your pool design. Can't wait to see it progress. Is your house at the bottom of the diagram or the top?

Great pool design!! I can't wait to see it either!

Yes, I think you definitely want more than six feet. How deep is your backyard total? I think you might need more space around your firepit as well.

Since you have time to make changes, have you taken into consideration the view from inside your house from every room? We went to every window in the house to make sure the view was right.

Your light is facing the house, although I thought you had addressed that awhile back. Maybe it was somebody else.

I see your raised bond beam from left to right goes from 6 inches to 24 inches. What I don't see is where it comes back down. What am I missing?

Whatever changes you make will affect the next stage so make sure every sub knows!! We widened ours by only six inches at the dig, but forgot to make adjustments to the diving board and light. Although, nobody but me has noticed.

I love the design too! The back wall is going to look great with the wall on an angle like that...cool! I love the spa and fire pits. The only problem that I see with that many falls on the wall plus a spa spillway is noise. We just have one 2 foot sheer arc and my husband doesn't like it on. I do, but the sound that comes from it is enough. I know that yours is going to look great, just be sure about the noise. I know that they have some smaller water features that will also give you a great affect, like scuppers, fans, or jets. You may want to think about it.

Please keep us updated. I can't wait to see the build!

Kristen

Like before, my main hold up is the light facing the house. I know you said months ago that your builder said its the right way, but I strongly disagree. Especially with your main focal point being the sheers and that wall, you really dont want to be looking into your focal point with a bright light shining back at you. I would center it on the baja step facing the sheers to light them up, if not add another light and have 2 on the baja step facing towards the sheers to really light them up at night.
just my .02

Tyler

I agree on the light - it's probably a cost issue and he doesn't want to run electrical to that other side of the pool. BUT, i'd want it shining away from the house.

Gee, time for a pow wow with the builder. They are working FOR YOU, not running and doing what THEY way with your $$.

But, i can't wait to see it done - looks great!

Oh, I didn't see that! DEFINITELY change the light. I asked my builder if mine at the end of my pool would shine up and out and also the one in the spa and he said no in a, "Are you silly?" kind of way. Mine can both be seen. It would have been soooo much better the other way. I would have done two shining away from the house. It's worth it!

Kristen

Oh thank you SO MUCH GUYS and please keep the info coming!!!

The light was one of the main things I've been compaining about (told them "everyone on the pool forum thought it was ridiculous") to be basically told by the paternalistic saleman "I know best"!!! Well after I called this morning to inform the pool company of what happened with the water and such yesterday, THE POOL BUILDER CALLED, I had never spoken to him, only the pool SALESMAN (salesman on vacation)!!!

I told him about what happened, about centering the pool, the extra decking needed around spa and firepit and pushing it back from the house, all of which he completly agreed. I have 90 feet of land from the end of my patio to the back wall, and the pool builder's response was "then why does he have your pool so close to the house???" I also mentioned the light and what you guys had told me, he said "you're ALL right, that light's going to refract right into your face!!!" GLORY BE!!

He apologized and said, "we want to build YOUR pool, the way you want and to make you happy" (I guess so for 70K!!) He suggested lights on the shelf or below the shelf area (2 of the smaller spa lights since the shelf is not too deep) but said HE will meet with me on Tuesday 12/26 and will work with the salesman to redraw the plans- not changing the pool layout but it's placement on the lot and the extra decking stuff.

He also suggested I take a look at some pools with plaster vs. Stonescape pebble stating "the kids feet don't do as well on that and in the spa, etc, the pebble rub can get tiring." I thought I'd throw that question out for you guys, but it looks like I'm finally getting heard.

Houseful- the raised bond beam is supposed to curve around and down on the ends to fade in to meet the decking.

Kristen- I didn't think about the noise factor of the descents, I'll look more into that. THanks.

Thanks, please ask any other questions or things I'll need to tell the builder on Tuesday. Huskyridor especially welcome!!

Take advantage of your long backyard. You can't have too much pool deck. Our design was initially 5' from the house and we moved it out. You have a great design and you'll want to look out at your pool, not fall into it when you step outside.

We have Pebble Tec in our pool. My DH and I are in the pool for hours at a time. We never get any abrasions or soreness. There is no "pebble rub". It is very soft and smooth to the touch. I like the feeling so much better than plaster, which is what my parents had in their pool. Plaster is rough feeling. Pebbles feel smooth, but are bumpy.

Hi, Scrapula.

I'm building in FL, too, and my pool design is similar to your design, without the waterfall. I am also going with PebbleTec, but recently started thinking whether that's the most comfortable surface in the spa. How comfortable do you and your wife find sitting in the spa on PebbleTec? Have you tried it, ahem, without your suits on? Does anyone feel there is a better seating surface for the spa, and will that surface look OK with the PebbleTec pool?

Thanks,

Kevin

Hi Kevin,

I'm female. ;)

My husband and I don't find the spa rough at all. I think the pebbles feel nice on my bare skin. We spend a lot of time in the pool, so our skin gets all soft and wrinkly. Even then, we don't have a problem with it. We just love it. There's lots of color variation, too. We'd definately use Pebble Tec again if we ever build another pool.

Congratulations on your start.nice to have so much area to work with. We only had a 40x30 area to work with. Looking forward to further pictures during build. I agree with scrapula. Plaster feels rougher to me than PebbleSheen/Tech.(however imho it depends more on the installer.) We are going with the smaller pebble "Sheen" product which ends up getting buffed smoother after installation. Trying to talk my mother into redoing her pool with a Pebble product. Her plaster pool in Vegas is getting up there in age and it gets really annoying with the snags.
Happy holidays and wish you the best.

Hi, Scrapula.

Whoops! Sorry, missed the DH reference in your post. The screen names make it difficult to tell gender.

Glad to hear that about the PebbleTec against bare skin. We contracted for PebbleTec in pool and spa and I had been wondering whether it's the right choice for the spa. You've put my mind at ease.

When I get more work done on the pool and I can get down to FL to see it and get good pics, I'll post some. You'll see how we both have remarkably good taste. :)

Kevin

mdoceanblu,
I almost switched to PebbleSheen from PebbleTec after I put my feet in what I thought was a PebbleTec pool. I discussed this with my PB and she knew the pool I was talking about. Apparently it wasn't genuine PebbleTec and she said that particular brand was very abrasive. She directed me to a pool with genuine PebbleTec and there was a big difference, not rough at all.

Good luck,

Kevin

Thanks. Have been in numerous pools out here in Vegas and the Phoenix area with genuine PT/PS and have yet to notice any problems with roughness. However some poeple just don't like the "bumpy" feel of pebbles no matter how smooth. Good luck with your new home/pool. Mike

Thanks, Mike.

Merry Christmas to you and your family.

Kevin

I do have a nice scar on my knee from when I slipped on a friends rolled edge PT. I won't go in to detail, but the term "meat grinder" comes to mind :(

Osorry1, what's your progress? I hope it's not too late to convince you to push your pool back as much as you can. You will be glad you did.

Thanks for all the votes on confidence on the Pebble, I'm going to stick with that.

They were here again today, they centered the pool with the famly room for best views (I checked the back window views and all should be good) and they pushed the pool out from the house to about 12 feet from the patio, and built up the edges to prevent water run off today. They are supposed to come out again tomorrow and hopefully I can get some more details and information.

They will move the light so it's not facing the house!!

Any other suggestions that I should ask about with the pool builder.

Stats-

- 30 x 40 x 24 = 800 sq ft.; 118 ft perimeter; 26,900 gallons
- 4-6' depth (had to pay extra for 6') Cantilever kooldeck
- 5' bench across entire bottom 30' length of pool at 12" deep
- 8ft spa raised 12" with 6 jets on 1 1/2 HP Pentair pump open tiled spillway (I'VE TRIED TO GET CALF JETS AND THE SALESMAN SAID THAT WOULD'T WORK- I'LL CHECK WITH THE BUILDER)
- 5' fire pit raised 24" with bench seat on pool side
- Raised graduated height (6"-12"-18"-24") bond beam on 40' side with 4 sheer descents on 2 HP pump
- 340 sq ft. cartridge filter with 55K Gal ozonator (this company thinks this is better than SWG)
- 400K BTU gas heater and plumbed for electric/solar heating
- PCC2000 cleaner
- 2 pool SAMs or SALs, 1 spa SAL light- facing corret way!!
- Stonescapes Mini Pebble Midnight Blue
- Pentair EZ touch auto control
- booster pump for sheer descents
- gas and electric runs of 150 feet each.
- Modular circular bar-be-cue with 36" BBQ, sink, refridge and storage, tiled on top

THANKS GUYS- HAPPY CHRISTMAS MERRY NEW YEAR!!!!!

A couple of comments:

1) We don't have calf jets, either. But, I sit sideways in the spa and use the back jets for my legs. It works fine. It's usually just me in the spa, anyway.

2) I've never felt Stonescapes, which is not Pebble Tec. Our PB sells it and it looks similar to Pebble Sheen.

3) Ozonators only produce ozone when the pool pump is running. It immediately dissapates, so you will still need chlorine in your pool to kill bacteria while the pump is off. You can get a SWG with an ozonator. We went with a SWG alone.

4) Cartridge filters let in larger particles than a DE filter. Does your PB offer a DE filter?

I'm sorry I didn't see this thread earlier I'm usually here very early or very late, I always rush through the threads. Thanks for the email.

Your pool design is AWESOME!!!
I'll gladly give you my .02

Move the pool out to a minimum of 10' from the existing, 12 to 15 is even better.
2 Sam's under the benches centered between the pool beams aiming at your 24' distance marked on the plan.
On your big bench I'd go with 18" of water depth and place a step out on the equal but opposite end as the one you've got on the right.
I don't understand why your raises are from left to right.
IMO your pool will appear top heavy on the right hand side where the 24" raise meets the pool level while on the other side a 6" raise meets the pool level. I'd suggest rolling your tile runs to get a total allowance. Then I'd target 12" on the flanks where you currently have 6 and 24. Then place 24" where you currently have the 12 and 18. This'll deliver a look of symmetry.
The calf jets will work but toss them out and stick with 6 on equal spacing. You won't get good jet action out of 8 using 2 as calf jets and 6 as wall jets while keeping a 1 1/2hp pump/motor. An 8' of water spa is very big and your jets will be widely spaced even with 6. If you place 4 wall plus 2 calf the jets will end up 60" apart. If you place 6 wall jets they'll end up at 45" apart.
Don't raise the firepit 24" tall, that's to tall. Go either 12, or at the max 18" raised above the decking.
4 descents on a 2 hp will work great with either 24 (8 total feet of descent) or 36" (12 total feet of descent) descents. Don't try to get 4 48" descents out of this pump unless you step up to a 2 1/2hp pump on a 2 1/2 or 3" suction line with a 2 1/2 return pipe to the falls.
A 340 sq/ft multi-cart filter is to small, get 500+ sq/ft multi-cart or a 60 sq/ft DE filter.
A Pentair Intellitouch with the EZ touch personality center is a great digital controller. I'd suggest that you ask the builder to run you at least 60 amps of service to the equipment pad, this'll allow you some room to upgrade to a little extra amperage demand if necessary. At 150' of run from your homes (breaker box) you won't get more power back there affordably by running a new circuit.
Ask the builder to show you work by both the Stonescape and Pebbletec applicators. If you see a noticeable difference pay the upgrade to Pebbletec if its within reason. The truth of the matter is that, although a pebble is a pebble, your paying for applicator expertise.

Thanks for supporting the industry with your new pool purchase. It sounds like your builder is a great guy, my buyers and I second guess my salespeople all the time, and on occasion even wonder where their head was when they made comments that they did about placement or water features. I'm sure that he, like myself, can't be everywhere everyday. I'd rather spend my time fine tuning a closed deal under construction than chasing my tail trying to close some potential buyer with boatloads of questions prior to signing the contract. This may not make much sense to a potential buyer but it makes perfect sense to me.
See ya,
Kelly

quote" 55K Gal ozonator (this company thinks this is better than SWG)"quote

I'm sorry I missed this in my other reply until I looked at the reply after rereading your questions.

Don't trust this to be your only means of disinfection and sanitization, it must be used in conjunction with an erosion chlorinator, salt water chlorine generator, or bleach dispensed by an ORP controller with a peristolic pump or by hand.

See ya,
Kelly

Thanks so much Kelly!!

They have moved the pool out to 12 feet from the patio.

The design of left to right increasing heights was actually part mine, I wanted to follow part of the changes in the mountains behind me. I'll have to think about any changes to that, one pool builder gave me a quote and his drawing had the heights centered. I'll post the photo that gave me part of the idea for the non-symetric heights.

Bench starts at 15 then 18" sloping toward the pool. The opposite side of the pool on the left is the deep end (pool goes from 4 to 6 feet), let me know how would they be able to put steps in that and I'll ask the builder.

I'm getting similar statements about "no" to the calf jets, so I'll learn to be ok with that one.

I hadn't thought about the firepit height, thanks. I'll look at lowering it to 18" or less (any money I can save will be appreciated!!). Maybe even with the spa at 12" is better??

The descents are 2 at 2 feet, 1 at 3 feet and 1 at 4 feet= 11 feet total

I had mentioned the size of the cartridge filter before from a response on this site, the salesman said they use "a guide to tell them how much filter for how many gallons of water" and this was correct. I'll ask the builder and tell him I want a larger one. I hope the cost difference isn't too much.

I'll ask about the EZ touch amperage. The plan with the ozonator is to use it and add regular chlorine, not the SWG. The salesman had nothing good to say about SWG-"ruins the piping and kool deck, affects the pebble, etc." I'll ask the pool builder.

Thanks again for your suggestions. I love this forum for it's ability to put you in touch with other pool builders and pool owners in a "non-sales" environment so that you can really get good usuable information. THANKS ALL.

View of backyard mountains--

Original pool inspirations-

To give appropriate credit- all pool photos are from Bianchi design in Phoenix, AZ

Here is a link that might be useful: Bianchi design

The step out I described isn't a full set of steps. It's one step at 6" water depth that matches the one on the other side. It's in the bottom right corner and I suggest an equal one in the bottom left. Otherwise if stepping out on the other side it's a straight up rise of somewhere between 23 to 25" depending on your coping.
I think a cantilevered coping would be an awesome look on your pool.

See ya,
Kelly

OK, I get it, another 6" step onto the bench area. Will add it. That is a good idea.

What is cantilever coping, would that be expensive to do? Sounds interesting, will discuss it with the builder.

THANKS AGAIN. Merry Christmas ALL!!!

OK,

The Pool Salesman came by today, reports he talked to the pool builder about our conversation. He reviewed the changes they made so far-

- pool extended 12 feet from patio.
- extra kool deck added to firepit area
- firepit lowered to 18"
- extra step added to left side of bench area
- cantilevered Kool deck surface is included in the price
- will stick to 6 jets in tub.
- pool calculator only says 340 cartridge is needed, but he'll get the price for the higher model.
- we'll stick with Mini Pebble on pool

He continues to state that his way for the light is best, disagrees with the pool builder "he's old fashioned, two spa lights won't give enough ligt for this size pool." He states you can't put lights under the bench area in the swim portion because, "you can't put enough wire in there to bring the light out to the deck to repair it if needed.
But says he'll do what I say. I've repeated that EVERYONE on this site thinks the light should not face the house, "well it's your money you're the boss."

So the question is if I put the lights facing out from the house and near the bench area- Where can I put them and what size??

Thanks.

In the evening the focal point would be taken away from those nice water features and firepit you have designed and you will be blinded by that cyclops eye staring right back at you.

Hope someone here can help you out with the correct placement but you won't regret having the light moved. It will be worth whatever extra $ you will have to shell out imho. Have a Happy New year. Wish you the best on the build.:-)

Yes, I've decided to move the lights so they won't be facing the house, but now have no clue where to put them for best coverage, etc. Any ideas??

Yes houseful, the ends will slope into the kool deck like that photo. I thought it was pretty nice too.

The view helped me decide on this lot and builder (for those who followed my posts in the Building a Home threads-other house photos are on a thread in that forum).

Now to get the pool straight, Thans for all the ideas. Keep them coming, I need to let the builder know something end of next week, as they plan to have the hole in and start setting up plumbing, etc. next week.

THANKS!!

Oh wow - a southwest style pool - I can't WAIT to see it!!

Any updates, Osorry1?

Hi Houseful!!

I think you're farther ahead than I am. Last week they finally poured the gunite, I posted a thread about water curing, as it took them 3 days to finish pouring it all (they hadn't made the forms for the raised bond beam, so took extra time doing this). I've been soaking the pool- poolnerd said to use a soaker hose around the entire bond beam, and it's working, slowly the white calcium stuff has started to leach out meaning things are doing what they should do inside the gunite. I'm now waiting for them to start work on the deck, I'll have to get some photos and show you the concrete, but it's there, they are already over their 90 days per contract, so maybe will finish before Memorial Day but I doubt it.

Thanks!!

2 400watt lightson the bench if the deoth is there....have them put dimmers on them. Problem solved...wont be too dark. and never will be too bright since you can dim them.

Tyler

Yes, please post pics as soon as you can!

Three day for shotcrete? Is it because of your design or is it just really big? Are you getting any compensation for the extra time it's taking? You would think building in the off season wouldn't take so long.

Finally have a photo. They are no further along than when I posted in March. They say they should start again this week. I only ended up with 1 light, they insisted it would be enough, let's hope so.

Hi there! Got your email. Not sure how I missed these photos, though. Everything is looking good. I am anxious to see the finished product. Any more progress?