A few quick takes based on my own limited knowledge - I am not a builder, just a homeowner who has been learning about my new-to-me pool for the last few years. I'm sure you don't want to get into a drawn out discussion as to WHY your preferences are your preferences or debate their validity - so I'm going to look at this as if I were trying to build a pool that had the least "modern" interference on the assumption that we have adulterated so many things in our environment with substances that have short track records for safety that you'd like to use methods that are as pure as you can make them. The shell of your pool can be constructed of many things - concrete (gunite or shotcrete are terms often used) covered with plaster is a common one here. Other finishes can be things like PebbleTec (plaster with pebble additives) or Quartz (plaster with quartz additives) which are added to the plaster for a more durable finish. Different colors are possible - you would need to research what the additive creates the colors and if you are comfortable with it. Other kinds of construction are steel walls or concrete walls with vermiculite bottom and vinyl finish. Or even fiberglass that is dropped into a hole in the ground! If I was aiming for a "less advanced, less man-manipulated" type of pool I would guess gunite with plaster is pretty simple and more natural than products like vinyl liners or fiberglass pools, but that's a gut feeling. I sanitize my pool with chlorine bleach (from the grocery store) and use borax and baking soda to control other aspects of the pool chemistry. There are lots of ways to sanitize a pool, including a Salt Water Chlorine Generator (a machine that uses salt and a salt cell to manufacture chlorine and add to the pool - supposed to be a lower maintenance option, putting the pool more on cruise control). Pool decks can be made of concrete, wood, stone, manufactured vinyl woods like Trex, and on and on. Again, I'd lean towards stone or concrete for environmental chemical concerns. I haven't heard of a pool cover that isn't made of some sort of plastic base, but I don't personally have a cover to tell you if it touches the water all the time. I think in cold-weather areas, the cover rests on the water during the winter, helping to buoy up snow loads.

Congratulations on deciding build a pool! It will be a wonderful place for the family and friends to gather and have fun, quality time together for many years. The build process will be filled with ups and downs. There will be bumps. They often cost money to overcome. Things like water tables and rock during excavation can push costs up. I hate to say it but have an attorney review the contract before you sign. You have a lot of money on the table. Things like front loaded pay schedules, missing completion dates without penalty, and lien releases from subs, often put you at risk with little recourse. An attorney will catch that and propose changes. If the builder says "Thats how we do it" and won't change his position, find a different builder. You're the one paying, you have more control of the process. If they refuse to move off a front loaded contract proposal, or other area a review brings serious questions, you have to ask yourself how much risk are you willing to accept. If it wasn't written, it wasn't said. That's a lot of decking. For the price you've been quoted with the pool, it makes me go "Hmmm, how is it so priced so low?" As memama_gayle suggests, do a lot of due diligence. Visit pools he has built over the last 5 years, 2 years, and under construction now. Talk to the homeowners. Check any review boards like the BBB or state agencies. With a true "L" this size, I suspect you might need a 3rd light fixture. As has been stated here many times, ensure they are not pointed towards the house! Two returns are not enough. You will have at least a couple spots where the circulation will be very poor, resulting in low chlorine levels if the pool isn't used. You can't depend on the pool sweep to provide the additional circulation since it gets removed when people are swimming. Low chlorine levels can result in things such as algae, poor oxidation of bather wastes (sweat, tanning lotions, etc...) and biologicals not being killed quickly. Hayward's salt generator, even though it's rated to 40K gallons, will be hard pressed to keep the chlorine level up, especially in the NC summer sun. The Pentair IC-60 or Auto-Pilot SC-60 with their 60K gallon rating will both last longer and give you the added head room in capacity you will need. As described, your pool will be very close to 40,000 gallons. Are the walls to be galvanized steel, stainless, or resin? Are there steps? If so, are they liner over or thermoplastic? What size plumbing? Do they use flex pvc (IMHO, boo) or pressure rated hard PVC pipe (much preferred and termite proof)? Which filter and pump? I know you said Hayward but you didn't specify what size filter or pump. Are the rails to be stainless or plastic coated? I do like plastic coated and they come in different colors too. Please, make a photobucket account so you can post pictures during the build process. The account is free and easy to use. If you think this gives you a lot to consider, just wait till the process really gets underway. It's an exciting time but you need to keep a sound footing. I certainly hope everything is good to go and everything is smooth sailing for you. Scott

Putting an indoor pool in without a commercial size dehumidifier would be a huge, costly mistake that you would surely regret one day. They are extremely expensive to install so it is understandable that you are looking for alternative solutions but the reality is that you need one. Also worth noting is the running costs of these units. They are INSANELY expensive to run. You have not received much info about the rusting / corrosion concerns you have mentioned. You need to make sure that every last metal component in the entire room is on a bonding grid. Everything. Then you need to install sacrificial anodes inline in the pool system as well as mounting anodes basically everywhere to limit galvanic corrosion. You should also consider adding an automation system to regulate your chlorine levels. You do not want an indoor pool that occasionally has way more chlorine than it needs as this will make corrosion issues much worse. Indoor pools are a huge pain, and a huge expense, but if you have money to burn then they are obviously great to own. If you cant afford every protection for your house, such as a dehumidifier from Dectron, then you should not install a pool indoors. Maybe install one outdoors with a pool enclosure around it.

Sometimes the biggest risk in decorating is to go the safe, neutral, 'in-style', paint-color-of-the-year route. Now, there's nothing wrong in painting your living room the same beige as the model home you fell in love with when you bought your house. There's no harm in getting a microfiber couch that will stand up to the 4 kids and clean up well for company. There's no foul (yes, you know how I want to spell it...) in buying a beautiful painted rooster for your kitchen island because it ties in all the colors of the adjoining great room and you also have a set of chicken plates somewhere. There's not even a good reason to pull down your own mullioned, (as the case may or may not be!) ginormous mirror that just fills up that zooming wall in the entry and gives you that satisfied feeling that you found just the right piece for Your house, and looks very real since it's up way too high for your own visitors to suspect that it's anything but the real deal. Why? Because a risk for you may be entirely different than a risk for me. Painting a nerf football and using it as art would not be a risk for me. It would be an act of insanity. I can imagine visitors to the house of MV coming innocently close to the giclee-nerfe' and only thinking... "How cool is that sculpture?"--but in my own far more pedestrian/subdivision/cookie-cutter house setting saying... "What the hey?? What were you smoking when you painted a sponge football, Red?" And BTW, have you seen the football in question? Or the plastered table? Bet you could scroll through the photos fast in the link below and not spot it immediately. I've seen it before in the magazine and had a hard time picking out the makeshift art from the artist-painted. Fabulous. No, taking a decorating risk is not the sensible thing to do for everyone. And my risk might make you snicker. Your risk might make me shudder. Beauty is most assuredly in the eye of the beholder. And sometimes beauty is found more plentifully in areas where the shopping is more limited. I know for sure that my house in a small town in New Mexico, at the edge of the desert, next to a Walmart, had more interesting, 'found' items, than any place since. I had few options for furniture or accessories. Now, with stores surrounding me, and a truck to haul things with, I find myself bringing home a lot more cheese than I ever thought possible. Thankfully, most of mine comes with a return receipt and rarely makes it past the first few hours in my house. And interestingly enough, the things I find in the corner of a barn at an estate sale out in the country, are usually not risky buys at all. I know that old piece of rusted iron will work somewhere. The aging needlepoint with spider webs on the edge will make a great pillow. The chipped cobalt and white clay vase will be wonderful on the dresser. No risks and no regrets. It's the stuff I get the register receipts for that always prove to be the the question marks. Right now, I'm working on my own art project. I'm applying plaster and a coat of pink latex paint to a bottle of Nyquil. Then, when it's dry and perfect, I'm going to send it to a good home in Chicago. Watch for it next year in Expensive Home Magazine. Red Here is a link that might be useful: from Apartment Therapy