Boy the economy is really helping you. We had Andrews do a pool in 2008, and we spent about 75K by the time it was done with no spa! The pool they built is beautiful, but it was a bit of a stressful time during the build, although, I think Andrews may be the best of the bunch when it comes to the whole process. A neighbor used Environmental and they plumbed the spa wrong and they are stuck with it. We also got a quote from South Shore, and just didn't like the salesman. Ferrari would have built a nice pool for us too, but the seemed handle their subs differently. Andrews said they use no subs, but they really do, they just report to Andrews, and Andrews keeps a close eye on what they do. Turns out their subs were great. The big worry for us was how much extra $ we could spend if they hit ledge. You don't know what is under your lawn. We totally lucked out, we just knew there was going to be ledge, but when they hit it, we just decided to flip the design of the pool - deep end to the shallow end, and they kept digging, No extra $ for dynamite or rock splitting. We got exposed aggregate decking which we love. We also did the Pebble tec, and love it. We have a little waterfall. We have the salt generating system, and a Polaris. Jerrith fencing surrounds the pool. We have an electric heater. Things I would change if I could: 1. Add a pool filling jet from our well, rather than dragging the hose over when the water level drops due to summer evaporation. 2. Deeper and wider deep end with a diving rock. Even though they tell you not to do this because of safety/insurance issues, guests and kids just assume the pool is deep enough for diving, and they dive off the side. 3. LED color changing lights. It would look so great at night. 4. Even though we paid extra for a significantly larger deck surround, I wish it was even bigger. You spend a lot of time there, and it feels smaller than it is. I can't think of more now. I don't know how to post pictures, but I could email you one. Good Luck!

On the tanning lounge do you plan on having lounge chairs there? I ask because the dimensions sound tight, you might want to actually measure it out and see what it looks like. When I had my pool built the design guy described a beach entry that serves as a lounge area like 6" deep it measures 3' X 16' . I wish I would have measured it out on paper it looked adequate but it really is more like a extra deep bench. In retrospect I should have had it measure out 6' depth and 16' length.

This is very helpful feedback. It sounds like I need to consider putting two lights on the house side, one near the deep end and one in the shallow end both pointing toward the raised beam. But I could get away with just one down the center with no major shadows. racket: the pool will have Stonescapes Tahoe Blue. I'm not sure I understand what you meant by "If its dark/pebble one length" Could you please clarify? About the drains....The engineering drawing (which I don't have a copy of right now, it may be out hanging on the fence) and my contract indicate only 2. The sketch always showed 4 though...not sure why. njfolks: At the rate we're making changes, it may be next summer before digging... Please let us know how your lighting works out. Anyone have an opinion about having only one skimmer with a vacuum side cleaner?

Company A has chemically sealed Schedule 40? LOL. That means they are glued and normal. Just make sure it's all hard pipe. Put 2.5" suction on the drains. Especially important for the spa. By keeping the returns open a little, a separate pool return in the spa can be eliminated as well as the dedicated 2 HP pump. Just use the pool pump for the spa. Its can go up to 2 HP also. If they bring in a heat pump, they'll more amps brought in. Company B likes to glue their plumbing fittings too! Shocking! You might think its an industry standard, And you'd be right! Heheh. Same issue with the drains, go to 2.5" pipes. Why only 6 jets? Why not an E-Pump? Only the spa will need it. The pump is normally slowed and run a little longer so it saves power in pool circulation. How big is the DE filter? I don't see that there is a controller. Since you're lighting it, putting in color LED fixtures in makes sense. Why is the 100W quartz in the spa and not a colored LED? A 12 year warranty has to be specific to them. Find out ahead of time what isn't covered. Both companies: Salt it. Its easiest to care for. Scott