I am in Central TX. I need a quote on a 20 x 45 foot gunite rectangular pool with an in-pool spa located at the edge of the pool off the patio and steps going down into the pool on each side of that. The land has about a four foot drop off, so the back 1/2 to 2/3 of the pool will be out of ground. Negative edge with catch basin at back; tumbled travertine on back wall. French pattern travertine on side walls about halfway down. 5-foot concrete decking about 1/2 down on each side, with steps to back yrd from that. We want an in-pool Polaris cleaning system, with a regular Polaris as back up. 400,000 BTU propane heater, model DE Jancy filter system. There is black top soil, but hill country stone underneath that probably 6-8 feet down. Don't want deep end over 5.5 feet or so. I would prefer a Pebble Tec (probably Pebble Sheen) finish. I also would like travertine that is non-slip on the concrete decking.

OK, The pavers are done, and salt is in the pool. I am putting stone to match the house on all of the retaining walls myself in the next few weeks, then I will cap them off with bricks that match the house. Finish grading and clean up is tomorrow. I then have plenty of planters (4) to landscape too. Overall A&S was fine to work with. Like I was told in the beginning, their on site management could be better. Sometimes it seems they would rather have the subs do something wrong, and then fix it later, than to just keep a project manager at the site more often. But, they did respond quickly to all of my requests and changes. And I am a picky person when it comes to projects like these. Anyhow, I appreciate all of the ideas, suggestions, and comments from you guys and gals. Here are some photos. I will post others after the stone is on the walls and the landscaping is in. (BTW, the pavers are Dublin's Potomac 3 peice, and the water is very dirty from all of the paver dust... it actually is a much crisper blue than is appearing here)

With all due respect, ncrealestateguy, considering the definition of a troll, that is somewhat redundant. ;-) I will grant you that it was less than kind for me to tweak him like that, and it is true that his lack of manners does not justify ours. At the same time, if he is not made aware of how he comes across, how can he (hopefully) correct his behavior? Perhaps he was born in a different culture - that would be easier to let slide. Yet even then, he still would need to learn how to assimilate & he doesn't come across as the type of person who will accept a singular gentle correction - more like a plurality of bluntness - maybe. :-D At any rate, moving on to a more constructive line of thought, I not only do *not* disagree with your opinion about internet business for PB's, I would assert that it is already happening currently since I have been able to communicate successfully with at least one online about our interest. But note that this part is about the potential customer seeking out the PB who has put his internet shingle out rather than vice versa. The one point where we seem to differ is on the suggestion that good PB's are going to be cruising help wanted boards looking for pool jobs. If you want to grow your business, you are going to target the areas that will make the most of your advertising time & dollars rather than trying to hit up every possible avenue - because not many have that kind of time & money to spend with so little potential return on investment. Even if internet usage on that point changes in the future, it still seems on par with putting an ad in the paper - I can't see most people being willing to hire someone for a job like this based on who responded to their ad. There will always be those who prefer to go as cheaply as possible and cross their fingers, but I believe most of us would rather seek out the best and the brightest to increase our prospects for a quality job with greater longevity.

Bromine is better than chlorine for hot tubs, not pools, AFAIK. Bromine tabs are more expensive than chlorine and because the equivalent killing and oxidation power is at a higher level and that it doesn't have a stabilizer available like CYA does for chlorine, a pool's set of demands on bromine is higher, making it more costly. Bromine tabs are useful in that the bromine released is more resistant to heat and that combined bromine still has some (not much but that's more than combined chlorine has) sanitizing teeth to it. Since tubs have covers and are smaller, the filter cycle is often temperature based but still a lot shorter than a pool filter's, so only a few 1" tabs will be needed (not a big cost per week item, relatively speaking). Bromine is easier on most cover's foam inserts and their wrap compared to chlorine and ozone. Wood tubs do prefer ozone and being lightly shocked with lithium hypochlorite after use and periodically with a somewhat higher dose At the present time, I like chlorine for pools and bromine for portable hot tubs. If technology changes things for the better, I am sure we will hear about it. Scott