[MandoMan]

Originally Posted by mneumann02

Wife and I made our decision. New pool from Fiesta pools starts construction Feb. 3. Finalize design next week. Looking for advice (no anti-pool people please, don't want to hear it). What should I look out for? e.g. dimensions (I want to swim laps), depth, deck area, pump, filter, no-seeums birdcage, spa, heating, payments, contract terms, experience with Fiesta, etc. It is a tight fit for the pool. All good hearted advice wanted. Thank you.

My pool is 15x30 feet. I consider that too short for satisfying laps. If I wanted to swim laps, I’d go to a sports pool. I have a combination of solar water heating panels, a heat pump, and (very important) a roll-away pool cover that looks like blue bubble wrap. I like my pool around 90°. The solar water heating takes car of that most of the summer. Adding in the heat pump makes it happen all year at a reasonable monthly cost (heating with natural gas gets very expensive, even in Florida). The pool cover doesn’t ADD much heat, but it keeps a LOT of heat from escaping in the night. (It also saves a lot of water lost in evaporation all year and cuts chemical use in half.) Even without the heat pump being on, the solar and the pool cover keep the water around 80° in the winter. (Too cold for me.)

Salt water is very nice. I hate smelling like chlorine, and that doesn’t happen with a salt water pool. The water is salty, but much less so than the ocean.

If I were putting in a pool instead of using what was there when I built the house, I would put in essentially a 10x15’ entertainment pool three feet deep with built in benches along the side. Great for having friends over to sit in the pool and eat and drink. Maybe put a couple little tables in the pool. Be sure to have steps down rather than a ladder, and a very sturdy railing for those steps, because many people can no longer climb ladders or even steps without a good railing. (I don’t like hot tubs because they are too hot. A little pool like this at 92° is perfect.)

[PoolBrews]

I did my pool project backwards... we installed the bird cage (1,300 sq ft) and poured concrete. A year later we decided we wanted a pool. Out of 6 pool builders (PB) , only the 3 would even provide a quote that didn't involve them taking down the bird cage and putting up a new one. Between the cage and the canvas covering, I had over $40K tied up and didn't want to do that.

If I had to do it over again, I would do it all at once - it's way cheaper. The pool company doesn't have to use special equipment for excavation and removal, and they don't charge nearly as much for the cage - it's an add-on to the pool.

I provide this background before sharing what I paid for my pool. There was a $10K upcharge to work inside my cage as it involved a lot of manual work to remove material. (Note: this upcharge was even more from other PB's)

My end cost was $65K for a 12.5' x 24.5' 7,000 gallon pool (no bird cage in this cost). There were a lot of upgrades which impacted this price:

- WetEdge upgraded mini pebble interior (+$1.4K)
- Variable Speed pump
- 40,000 gallon Salt Water Generator
- 140K Heat Pump (+$5K)
- OmniLogic automation (+$3K)
- Autofill/Drain (+$1K)

A new 1,300 sq ft birdcage from our pool builder would have added ~$20K.

My pool was finished in 10 weeks from ground breaking.

Hope this helps!

[PoolBrews]

I see you are going with Fiesta pools. Make sure you ask them about autofill/drain and automation. I have two friends that went with Fiesta, and this never came up during initial discussions. Both of them have no autofill/drain, and only manual timers.

It's very difficult and expensive to add autofill/drain after concrete is poured. If you go with pavers, it would be easier, but still more costly to do after the fact.

With automation, you can set the pump speed to automatically ramp up when heat is called for. Heaters require a minimum flow to operate. On my pool, the pump needs to run at 75% for the heater to operate. I normally run my pump at 35%. At 35%, my pump draws 67 watts. At 75%, it draws 435 watts. At 100%, 980 watts.

The most expensive things to run on your pool are the heater and the pump. Automation allows you to run your pump at minimum setting, yet supply the heater when needed.

[Chi-Town]

A salt system, gas heater if a spa is included, sitting ledges, remote for pool functions, nice lighting, and a seating area inside the cage if space allows

[Dan M]

I advise you add a bathroom near your new pool area. You will not be sorry.

[Luckytwo]

What model cleaning robot you recommended.

[PoolBrews]

Originally Posted by Dan M

I advise you add a bathroom near your new pool area. You will not be sorry.

If you have room that is a fantastic suggestion! We added one in GA at our pool and it was used all the time - no tracking in the house. No room for us down here.

If I were building a new home, I would look put one of the bathrooms near the pool area with access from outside and inside the home.

[Tony Curinga]

If you want to swim “laps” in a smaller pool look into a Super Swim Pro. “Makes your pool an ocean”. I love mine!!

[NJSonja]

whatever you do, please make sure you get approval from ARC on everything. That's for sure. And if anyone has privacy options to share, please let me know. Bushes won't work. Those scenic screens are not for us. So now we are thinking about Florida Glass.

sonja

[Dana1963]

Originally Posted by mneumann02

Wife and I made our decision. New pool from Fiesta pools starts construction Feb. 3. Finalize design next week. Looking for advice (no anti-pool people please, don't want to hear it). What should I look out for? e.g. dimensions (I want to swim laps), depth, deck area, pump, filter, no-seeums birdcage, spa, heating, payments, contract terms, experience with Fiesta, etc. It is a tight fit for the pool. All good hearted advice wanted. Thank you.

I’d go with an above ground hot tub more comfortable and more jets for relaxation. 2nd automatic overflow. 3rd automatic pool cleaner/vacuum. Solar pool cover to retain heat over evening with roll up for storage easily covers and uncovers.
Enjoy your investment

[PoolBrews]

Originally Posted by Dana1963

I’d go with an above ground hot tub more comfortable and more jets for relaxation. 2nd automatic overflow. 3rd automatic pool cleaner/vacuum. Solar pool cover to retain heat over evening with roll up for storage easily covers and uncovers.
Enjoy your investment

I agree with this. That is what we did. Our last pool had a built in spa - very uncomfortable to sit in, and you need to heat it separately. In the summer, the heated water bleeds over to the pool and you don't want that in the summer here.

If you add an above ground hot tub, there is no need to get a gas heater. It's far more expensive to heat with gas than electric, and if you don't have natural gas at your home, propane is considerably more than natural... plus you need to add a propane tank somewhere on your property.

[PoolBrews]

Originally Posted by Luckytwo

What model cleaning robot you recommended.

You want a model that will clean the floor as well as scrub the walls and the tile line. Most will not do the tile line.

The Dolphin S200 (also sold by Pentair as the Warrior SE) is the model I have, and comes heavily recommended on Trouble Free Pool by a lot of owners. Mine has worked extremely well.

I just set it in the pool every week or two, and hit the power button. 3 hours later the pool has been cleaned and brushed, including the tile line.

Note that no cleaner (including in-floor cleaners) will get your steps or bench seating very well, so you should manually run a brush over these areas once in a while.

I guarantee that no cleaning service does much of a job of brushing your pool.

[DAVES]

Originally Posted by mneumann02

Wife and I made our decision. New pool from Fiesta pools starts construction Feb. 3. Finalize design next week. Looking for advice (no anti-pool people please, don't want to hear it). What should I look out for? e.g. dimensions (I want to swim laps), depth, deck area, pump, filter, no-seeums birdcage, spa, heating, payments, contract terms, experience with Fiesta, etc. It is a tight fit for the pool. All good hearted advice wanted. Thank you.

Something to ask. They will try to duck the question. Assuming it is not an in door pool.
Right now we are in our dry season. Rain will obviously fill your pool. Where to dump that water? The reason they will try to duck the question is it is chemical laden water. Legal, i do not know. I doubt it is LEGAL to dump it in the street or in your yard for that matter.

[mneumann02]

Originally Posted by mneumann02

Wife and I made our decision. New pool from Fiesta pools starts construction Feb. 3. Finalize design next week. Looking for advice (no anti-pool people please, don't want to hear it). What should I look out for? e.g. dimensions (I want to swim laps), depth, deck area, pump, filter, no-seeums birdcage, spa, heating, payments, contract terms, experience with Fiesta, etc. It is a tight fit for the pool. All good hearted advice wanted. Thank you.

Thank you all for giving us such great suggestions. Lots to ponder.

[chuckster]

Originally Posted by Grill Meister

Also....after you have your new pool installed and operating, you will need someone to service it weekly. Scrubbing, vacuuming, adjusting chemical levels, etc. I originally went with T&D, which became Patriot....lots of turnover of personnel, no shows and just plain old poor customer service. One of their original technicians LaTonya Marshall, started her own pool service, Touched By Angels Pool & Spa. She did such a good job, previously, I hired her again....in a heart beat....she's that good. Give LaTonya a call (352) 304-3447 or email her touchedbyangels333911@gmail.com. DID I MENTIONED THAT HER RATES ARE BETTER THAN ANY OF THE OTHER COMPANIES I RESEARCHED? But, the main thing is have you pool served regularly and professionally.

Glad you have a reliable pool tech. Word of caution, verify liability insurance and worker comp (if needed) insurance. Techs can be injured in slip and fall accidents. I can verify that and the expense involved but covered fortunately by worker comp.

Also if no CPC license restricted to pool cleaning and filter cartridge replacement. No repairs can be legally done. Hope this helps