Hi Packerfan, We are new to this, also in So Cal, and just posted our new pool build stats with some questions today; (North County San Diego pool + putting green). I'd love to see more pictures and any helpful websites you found in the process of building your beautiful pool! Nancy

jhmjr, Sorry for the delayed response. I actually made a completely different thread for the final product. Here are the pics and a youtube video for you: We opened up the Pool June 24th, and thouroughly enjoyed the pool the entire summer. East Coast Pool Concepts out of Manalapan NJ did an incredible job from start to finish. I would HIGHLY recommend them for anyone considering a pool in NJ/NY/PA area. I cannot say enough about the quality job these guys did, the attention to detail, and the follow up. Even after the job was done, and I finished my payments, they were still checking up with me and stopping by to make sure all was going well. They build a great pool, they are great to work with and they stand by their work. Here is a youtube video of our pool: Natural Style Pool CNJ by East Coast Pool Concepts Here are the completed pics of our pool: Here is the before pic:

Readyami, thank you! We have some "mixed metaphors" going on with the Texas star decorations and the un-tiki gazebo, but I've always been kind of eclectic anyway, LOL! :-) Tim, thanks! When I was putting the skull up I was thinking "This belongs on Tim's pirate ship", haha! The ball is a Japanese glass fishing float (this one is actually a modern replica), a long time favorite decoration in tiki bars and restaurants the world round. It's as required a staple as the traditional hanging puffer fish lamp (I have one of those too) :-) Mostly they were hung indoors in arrangements of different colors and different heights and sometimes were lighted from within. I can't direct-link the photos, but if you look at the thread linked below (photos of vintage tiki bars) you'll see what I mean. They were also popular as A-frame decorations. My A-frame is actually a little teeny version of the real thing, the traditional A-frames built on restaurants and bars were enormous and had gigantic glass fishing float replicas, period light fixtures or even outrigger canoes hanging under them. Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.tikiroom.com/tikicentral/bb/viewtopic.php?topic=29982&forum=5&13

Hi gang: Well I have been out of town for a few days and believe it or not between the rain and being out of town, I have yet to take my first swim. The kids on the other hand have to be extracted with great force at the end of the day. My sons party went as planned, one short rain shower, but otherwise great. The water is now fairly balanced, they started the polaris (thank goodness..the dust was insane!), they plan on starting up the salt system in about a week. birdbath, I see you have been absent also....must be living in that water....thank you for the compliment, but yours is still the coolest pool I have ever seen. Moo....thanks....we are planning to build up the area behind the waterfall, make it into a berm with plantings and lots of color. We are also going to use river stones in that area....and behind that will be the completed extension of the wall. Should be starting that in the next 2-3 weeks. Smb....agreed our colors do look alike, it still amazes me how it changes throughout the day. I think we ended up somewhere between midnight blue and tahoe blue. Thank you, love yours also...are you getting to swim or does it still belong exclusively to the puppy ;) Well, I have the weekend off...so I think today will be first swim...its 89 out there and the water has warmed up to about 82....here are the pics in full sunlight for Birdbath. oops...heres the waterfall on....