Questions to ask pool contractor?

[laceylady]

We have decided to add a concrete in ground pool to our home in Sanibel. We have never had a pool and know very little about them. We got a few quotes, read everything I could find on TOTV and decided to contract with T&D. We have a meeting scheduled to go over their drawing, etc.

What questions do we need to ask? I can choose tile colors and such, just fine, but what about the other parts of the pool? My neighbor is having a lot of cracks in the concrete (not a T&D pool) and told me to ask about the warranty on that, but what else? This is a big expense and we don't want to pay for what we don't need. Thanks for your help.

The pool will be heated with a heat pump at this point- per T&D's recommendation.

[laceylady]

No one has some advice?

[keithwand]

Can I get this done between 50 and 100K?

[Steve & Deanna]

We have an in ground pool at our home up north with metal walls and a heavy vinyl liner. It is an 18' x 40' with walk-in stairs. We've owned the pool since '86. I suspect that your pool will be cement.
First of all, nix the diving board. We used it the first couple of years and I removed it. Too dangerous.
I would ask if you have to paint it every so often too. If so, where will you drain the water out of it? We have over a half acre up here so no problem to drain it down below the jets to close it (with a winter cover) for fall, winter and most of spring.
Find out if you have to hire out the electrical work. There are grounds and GFI switches to contend with. Do you have enough blanks left on your electrical panel?
We also have a light IN the pool. The bulb finally burned out just a few years ago. Waste of money for us now....but we used to go out at 1 or 2 in the morning an it was nice.
I would recommend a solar reel and solar cover to heat the pool if needed but you do need some space for that. Come to think of it, you could just buy a solar blanket to heat.
Where will you buy chemicals such as pool shock, PH up, water hardener if needed etc. etc. Usually, he pool company should start you out with chemicals (probably built into the price.
Who will fill your pool for you? A water hauler? Is it fresh water? How many gallons does the pool hold. I'm sure that you need a permit too.
You'll probably want stairs to enter and a ladder at the deep end (we're nearly eight feet deep)
Going back to draining the pool, we have some heavy rains down here so where will you be able to drain the overage of water? I'm sure that your neighbor would not want to see water headed his way should you need to drain it.
I'm sure that the pool will be screened in but you will have to clean it from time to time. We used to run a hose from the skimmer and vacuum it.....old hat. We've had a Dolphin pool cleaner for about ten years now. It is self contained as you only have to install the bag, plug it into an electrical outlet ad you and your wife can head out for a night on ...one of The Squares, a little dinner, a little dancing....while your pool is getting clean. It'll run for six to eight hours. They are pricey..about $1000.00 but has been oh so worth it to us.
Keep in mind that your pool is not going to be out in the weather like ours has been but it has been a fabulous toy a our family ad grandchildren were growing.
My wife still loves it and I'm just an old poop sitting on the stairs while I should be doing laps.
We were going to fill it in but were looking at $3,000 to $3500 to do so. I do not wish to be negative as we have had fun, fun, fun with ours but when you sell a house, it can become a determent as not everyone wants one. We've been in our VT home for forty six years.
Also, check and see if there is a Leslie's Pool Supply around. They also have a web-site. That is where we bought our Dolphin pool cleaner.
Forgive me for going on and on and on but we've owned an in-ground for 27 summers and replaced the filter once (we use DE -diatomaceous earth in the filter). We know about pools up north but not so much south. Those are questions that I would ask.
Also, my bet is that you're not doing an 18 x 40 pool and $50K sounds like a boat load of money for a pool. Get quotes and check out past customers that have used the same contractor. Time and patience.
So best of luck to you, do your homework, be patient and please pardon the length of my reply. Merry Christmas to you and yours and we're in TV for the coming New Year.

[laceylady]

Thank you, Steve and Deanna for your detailed reply. It helps a lot. I also found several lists of questions on the Internet.

[gustavo]

We have decided to add a concrete in ground pool to our home in Sanibel. We have never had a pool and know very little about them. We got a few quotes, read everything I could find on TOTV and decided to contract with T&D. We have a meeting scheduled to go over their drawing, etc.

What questions do we need to ask? I can choose tile colors and such, just fine, but what about the other parts of the pool? My neighbor is having a lot of cracks in the concrete (not a T&D pool) and told me to ask about the warranty on that, but what else? This is a big expense and we don't want to pay for what we don't need. Thanks for your help.

The pool will be heated with a heat pump at this point- per T&D's recommendation.


Make sure the placement of the pool light will not cast shadows on the walls. Consider an LED light. Very pricey but I believe worth the cost. Multi color, splash and light show modes make for very nice mood lighting in the evening.

Consider pavers as they look a lot cleaner without having to hose the deck down every few days. Unfortunately T&D will charge extra for pavers, my company the price was the same, concrete deck or pavers, same price.

Consider solar as your primary heating source. About $2000 cheaper than a heat pump and no monthly heating cost. Granted the winter months are chilly at 77 to 81 degrees but if you have a hot tub spa connected to the pool, you can actually get the tub up to temp, 95 with solar only, takes a few hours. We use gas heat to get it up to temp at night or quickly in the day time.

I don't use a thermal blanket for the pool or spa as I don't like the looks of it or the work associated with placing it on and off daily. Using it will increase water temp but as I said no cost to let it leak out so I'd rather look at water than a blue cover.

Forget the variable speed pump, the extra cost of this pump is not worth it. T&D will tell you that by code they have to at least install a two speed pump. Never, never use the low speed, it's worthless. You need to circulate 4 to 5 volumes of pool water a day to keep it clean. The energy required for that is a fixed cost. low speed would be a 24 hour a day event, high speed 6 to 8 hours a day.

T&D will install Haywood equipment. I prefer Jandy (Zodiac) equipment, personal preference, but I don't think that is an option with T&D, you can ask. Both are good though.

Consider floor sweeper jetting. I had it installed to allow warm water to enter the pool from the bottom (better thermal efficiency) but found that it absolutely cleans the floor, I hardly ever vacuum.

If your a fan of shutting your house water off when you vacation, and your getting an auto fill/drain system for the pool, consider tapping the water feed ahead of the house shut off so you can isolate the house water but still have a feed to your fill system.

Don't be fooled by thinking a salt water pool is a no chlorine pool. What you save with a salt pool by not having to use chlorine on a monthly basis will be eaten up by the cost (hundreds of dollars) to replace the chlorine salt cell when it goes bad and needs replacement. I use 1 ounce of chlorine a day average, costs about $8 a month. I also have an ozonator that helps reduce the chlorine load.

The previous post mentioned electrical, breakers etc. One thing I'll say for T&D is they appear to be a turnkey operation. They will take care of everything from what I've heard from neighbors who used them. As I said, I used a different company.


Hope this helps.

[RedChariot]

We have a pool built by T&D. I have a very large lanai and open concrete square area under the bird cage. The pool is over 20 feet kidney shaped. Someone mentioned about pool over flow with rain. The entire area has these grates that drain if it rains or pool water gets too high. I have never seen that happen yet. The flooring of this lanai and open area is the same color as the grates. It is painted with a material that does not get hot from the sun. T&D comes every week and cares for the pool for about $22 a week. Includes all chemicals. We do NOTHING. We just got Jack's Solar installed. Ask what you do if the temp goes down to freezing. You may want T&D to install a digital device so you don't have to worry about draining the water out of solor panels when temperatures go down to freezing. Jack's Solar does not install this. We do not use the solar blanket. Too much work on and off. We like the water at 86 so we have not been swimming due to water temp. Disappointed in that. That cost almost $4,000 so I am not sure this was a great idea. I think we have to realize we live in central florida and it is cool Nov-Feb. It is just wonderful though when it gets warm and all we do is step out the door.

[laceylady]

Thank you all for this great information.