Seems really high. Does that include decking?

I live in SoNH and got quotes from Quality Design, Custom, Pools by Andrews, and South Shore Gunite.

25x40 with similar equip but no decking was $35K.

That is disappointing to hear. It does not include decking. It does include an automatic pool cover and the other Pentaire intellitouch system products listed? What finish did you specify? This includes a pebble sheen finish etc. The cleaning system includes the pool valet floor cleaning system and the legend pool cleaner too. Are the specs of yours similar. Hard to compare just on the size. The individual components mater. for instance the auto cover alone is expensive and close to 20K. thanks in advance for the reply

So the pool cover and pebble sheen add 25-30K. A few equipment upgrades adds maybe 10K. So I guess apples to apples, not that far off.

Which PB are you going with?

We have not decided on the color of the pebble sheen finish but it will be on the darker side

The costly options are these:
$5K = Pool Valet automatic floor cleaning system. Includes (1) load of stone pack & hydrostatic relief valve
$2K = Custom manufactured mesh safety cover shaped to pool
$3K = Gas Heater
$1K = Automatic Fill Levelor
$7500 = Pebble-Sheen pool surface finish
$2K = chlorine generator from salt water
$1.5K = Pentair Automatic pool cleaner
$5.5K = Pentair Intellitouch Automatic Control System.
Includes: 1 Load center, 125A, 110/240v with 5-3hp relays and 8-breaker i9 + 3S for filter plus 8 functions and 4-3hp relays 1 indoor control panel wired to center and a Pentair Itellichlor IC 40 Chlorine generator
$3K = for electrical work

Sorry, I meant who's your pool builder?

Looking more closely, your prices don't seem out of whack--you just got a lot more options! You're paying a little more for the gas heater and SWG, but less for the safety cover (probably because we're doing a free form).

All 4 companies we looked at were reasonably close on a roughly comparable basis, so we went with Quality based on personality and referrals.

$ 1 k for an autofill is out of whack. This should be a throw in on a project of this scale.

Rico,
It came from one of the vendors you cited. I only have two quotes and am trying to decide on whether I should take the time to obtain a third one from south shore. They are a good distance further away, so I thoguht I might get better service from a company that is close to me. The quote also includes a sun shelf in the pool which is why I increased the size from 18x36 to 20x40. Both builders seem competent. I rounded up things to the nearest thousand so that could explain small differences.

Even though it was a PITA, we found getting 4 quotes valuable. First, each one had a different area of expertise/POV and so I think our final plan is the "best of the best." Second, provided good negotiating leverage. From the first quote to the final quote, I saved ~20% in price decreases and "throw ins"

I agree with Stret-
1K for auto leveler is crazy-
(the part is only about $75-$100)-
Install cost is negligable when building

Agree on the leveler. Hose, piping, housing for float can't cost more than $100. It's a toilet float in housing connected to your water line or garden hose fitting....my PB out this in without me even asking for it....

So other than the levelor, it seems that 78-80k is a fair price for this pool in this market.
Thanks

I don't know if you saw my response to your previous post, but we have almost exactly the same pool, size, equipment and pool cover that you have.

The auto fill cost us $390, which included installation.

Please double check the combination of an automatic pool cover with a salt water system. My pool builder highly advised against it because of corrosion problems. I called 2 pool cover companies and neither would warrant the pool cover with a salt system. I suggest you do a little research, as there have been reported problems. With the 10K cost of the pool cover you don't want to have problems 5 years from now from corrosion. I decided to not take the chance and nixed the salt system. :(

We went with pre-cast stone coping in 24" x 16" x 3" with a bull nose finish. We love the way it looks. Keep in mind that the coping end with the pool cover will not be permanently grouted in case of the need to pull them up to for maintenance of the pool cover mechanics. The custom made brackets to hold the coping cost us $5K. Our pool builder prefabricated them in his shop. I have pictures of them if you'd like to see them let me know. We are looking to use a rope rolled in silcone and sand stuffed in between the coping pieces for a finished look. I think that it will look fine when its done. It's too cold out now to do it.

The coping needs to stick out a minimum of 3" if you are going to have an undermounted track, which is what we have. It is a nice, clean installation and you really don't see the track much at all. We don't regret spending the extra $10k on the autocover & $5k for the custom brackets - we love it.

We also love the in-floor cleaning system. There are several on these boards that say they are a waste of money. I disagree. Ours works great and I don't have any hoses or creepy crawly things running around and laying around the pool area. And the pool stays VERY clean.

The costs of the Pentair Intellitouch i9 is high. We paid $2500 for the same model and that included a wireless remote as well as the indoor pad. We love it. Definately worth the money.

And no, ours didn't include any decking.

Price $80K. Amost apples to apples here.

Also - small things not to forget: A drain in the pool cover vault. Ours ties into our storm drain.

When planning your utility trenches plan for everything, electrical, gas, water, speaker wires, low voltage garden lighting and drainage. Once you cover it with your decking theres no going back to add something.

Once you have a drawing of your plan - post it - you'll get lots of great feedback here.

Good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: Our Pool Photos

One more thing. You didn't go into detail about your coping. Our coping was an extra cost because they are custom poured pieces. Our pool builder wanted them larger than the standard 12" because of the overhang for the pool cover undermounted track. So they are 16" in width.

Also if you go with a custom coping beware they can take 4-6 weeks to get so get an early start. I didn't and it delayed my pool completion by a couple of weeks :(

Hi Missy,
Thanks for the info. The water fall filler and the decorations (stars and fish)in the pool look nice. Were the decorations and the waterfall included? And did you opt for only the floor valet and not the crawler vac as well? thanks your last post was really helpful.
Sccoter

Scooter,

The pool builder plumbed the water features and added the separate pump and programmed them with the Intellitouch. We are building the rest ourselves.

The 24" waterfalls with fiberoptic lighting were $500 each with the remote operated power tower another $500.

The concrete pots were ordered out of arizona for $300.00, which will contain the fire feature. We will then wrap the bases in stackrock.

Hope that helps.

Missy

Also,

The pool builder provided the crawler vac and hose as a back up. Haven't tried it though.

Thanks Missy,
I am contemplating having a custom coping done using some natural stone so that is why I didn't include it. The spec includes a brick or equivalent. How about the starfish and fish decorations. How did you specify those and were those included or an extra?

The mosaics were an extra cost. I ordered and paid for them over the internet. I'm happy with my choices. They can be pricey. The japanese (3) starfish were bout $350. Little ones should cost from $5 - $20. Very large ones can cost over $1,000.

I had to pay my PB the extra labor time for the installations. I also had to pay the PB extra labor for adding the spot tiles along the steps and sun shelf.

All together about $1,500 extra.

The mosaics are a hit with everybody.

Don't forget an unbrella sleeve in your sun shelf if you want one.

Missy :)