I experimented and wound up with something strange. I decided to leave the walls and surrounding patio intact when I filled in my pool. (I suppose I had visions of a humongous koi pond.) I had electricians and plumbers disconnect the electricity and plumbing, I drained the pool, then jackhammered holes in the bottom for drainage, then dumped 7 or 8 big truckloads of fill dirt into the pool, and finally dragged the old pool equipment to the curb. It cost only several thousand dollars, preserved the surrounding patio, and gave me soil deep enough for large trees to grow in it. But that huge underground concrete bowl tends to drain water very slowly. After really a heavy rainfall, the ground is covered with standing water for at least a couple days. Smaller puddles of water can sometimes remain for weeks. The soil can stay soggy sometimes for months. So what I effectively wound up with is what is called a "bog garden" or "rain garden". Only swamp-tolerant trees and plants will grow in it. It never needs watering, which is a positive. But it often looks like a swamp, which is not a common or even attractive appearance to many people. It is definitely providing a landscaping challenge! This post was edited by s8us89ds on Sat, Feb 16, 13 at 4:03

During the construction phase is the best time since everything is chewed on in the back yard anyway. As for specific remedies, without a soils report, survey and visual of the surrounding area, I couldn't offer more advice. Some of the remedies include dry wells, soil replacement, lawn drains and so on. Tanning ledges, BTW on a liner pool need a special, thick material to withstand the pounding of people bringing in lounge chairs and such and this will drive up the cost for the liner and replacements in the years to come. This thicker material is usually a solid white or blue. Most liners have a pattern and this section will not match. When a liner pool has steel steps instead of vinyl or fiberglass steps, the same material is used over the steps and, surprise, these liners cost more to purchase and install. Often, people opt for buddy seats with jets. They make some pretty neat ones that you can change the seat back and it changes the jets or the plain ones with or without jets. They are still comfortable and often have an umbrella stand built in. Scott

I cannot express how much I LOVE our fiberglass pool!! When we bought our home it had a very large 35 year old concrete pool (30' x 60'). After 15 years enjoying the pool (the pool was now 50 years old) we had to make big changes because the floor drain was bad. After many estimates (vinyl, gunite, fiberglass etc.),we decided on fiberglass. The old concrete pool was very hard to keep clean and it was way too big for us. We went with a San Juan fiberglass pool that is much smaller. The new pool was placed right inside the old pool and filled with stone all around. We did have to do demo work on the old pools coping & side first. We also had to put a line in to pump out if necessary because of the old pool floor underneath but in 5 years we have not had any problems. Everything was included except for the electrical work and we had our own electrician do the work for us. It included 4' of concrete surround but we increased it to 6' and added a pebble finish on top. The fiberglass is SO easy to clean and stains are not problem if you use a stain treatment at opening and closing each year and a metal treatment once a month. We have our fiberglasss 5 years now and it looks as good as the day it was put in. Each year we are amazed when we open it how clean it is. No water line marks, no algea problems,the steps are spotless and yes, the water does have a silky feel to it. We also have 2 labs who swim in it daily and other than empting the skimmer basket there is very little work. By the way, before we moved to this home we has a vinyl pool. So I have had the pleasure of taking care of all three types; vinyl, concrete, and fiberglass. Hopefully we will never move again, but.....if I had to put another pool in, it would be a fiberglass. hands down! I can't tell you enough how much we love it!

Good morning, would love to be able to do a OB in coordination w/ both of you but....I think I am a little too far away(Knoxville) and most importantly, although saving some money sounds great, OB seems like too much of a headache for me. I also don't have the confidence in my knowledge to carry that out. But, I certainly don't mind doing what to spread some of the info. I have collected so far if it helps you make some decisions. I think Alabama,GA, TN areas the markets for pools are similar. Unfortunately, I think yes, one could probably get a pool built in Florida for 20K less than here. Many more PB's there driving the market, also I think it is easier to excavate there(I might be guessing on that) but know it is sandier,less clay than here. The options one PB gave me for pool finishes are Marcite(included) Diamond Brite 4,500 Pebbletec 6,000 Durazzo 6,500. Of course that was for a 41x19 free-form, 3-10ft, so it is not comparing apples to apples. To do that I would have to figure surface area and break it down. The cost for that pool was to 70,500 which included everything but the decking. I had pavers priced, but he gave me option for broom finished concrete, which was $7 sg.ft. As I said, I couldn't afford that one, but it did include alot of upgrades, electric heat pump 8' diving board Letro pool cleaner SWG Durazzo finish Pentair 30"Sand filter and all the assumables like lights,skimmers, drains, excavation, plumbing, etc. Another pool builder priced a 20x 40 gunite rectangle at 50,000 here. including about 1,000 sf broom finish concrete gas heater(I don't want a gas heater so would have to add $$) SWG sand filter dive board and all the assumables. Have you considered a vinyl pool?? Nowadays, you can hardly tell the difference between a gunite and vinyl if you get a cantilever coping, vinyl over step and you have more money that can be put into decking or landscaping. Here a middle of the road price for a 20x40 rectangle 3.5-8ft deep was 41,000. Would be less if you want gas heat instead of heat pump, and that included 1104sg ft broom finish concrete, vinyl over step, SWG,dive board, heat pump, sand filter, skimmers, etc. I understand that a vinyl pool may be a little easier to heat and a little easier to keep the chemicals balanced. When polled, my sons said they actually like swimming in friends vinyl pools better. I don't think I will go vinyl since I need a more custom pool to fit in my space but I would definitely do vinyl if it would work for us. Takes a lot less time to install as well. Well, wish I could spend more time here, but have to get going, part two of celebration weekend, taking second son off to college today. If you have specific questions regarding costs of any options let me know, I will be getting back to this site late tonight probably.