Hi folks - my wife and I recently moved to west central Florida after spending our entire lives (40 years) in Michigan. We both grew up with the standard Michigan above ground pool but are now embarking on building our own in our new home, which is currently under construction and will be ready to move in (and we want to start pool ASAP) in October'ish.
We've spent some time talking to the locals and have several recommendations for reputable companies, one of which we're leaning towards, but this post isn't about choosing a pool builder, but getting input on design... here are the conditions and concerns:
We've spent some time talking to the locals and have several recommendations for reputable companies, one of which we're leaning towards, but this post isn't about choosing a pool builder, but getting input on design... here are the conditions and concerns:
- Priorities
- We spent A LOT to get the best lot in our neighborhood, which has a pond/preserve view along the entire back (each side is other houses/neighbors), so we want to orient/optimize pool stuff for that view we paid so much for (hence the design orientation you're going to see)
- Spa is a must
- Sun shelf a must - ideally with a bubbler/LED for visual as well as audible water noise
- There will be an outdoor kitchen along the Lanai wall adjacent to the sliding door
- Ideally, outdoor entertaining/hangout space on the pool deck is on the same side as the bathroom that exits to the Lanai (pool bath, I guess we're calling it?)
- Cage is a must for us - bugs here are brutal - but will have the clear view along the back 50' span
- We'd like to be able to see some focal point aspect of the design - be it the shelf/lighted bubbler or the spa - from the main seating area/Grand room, which is just inside the center/centerleft of the larger opening of the Lanai
- We'd like to control water temp - heat is definite must, not sure if a cooler is needed, but quoted it that way
- Maximizing actual swim space is important to us - I'm a little concerned about the 9'6" width, which is why we bumped deep end side out to 15'6" - note that local code and lot placement makes this design (at a max of 15'6" wide the absolute widest possible - need 5' before edge of property at back of lot)
- Concerns/questions on design and otherwise
- How much deck space is needed between the pool and the cage, if any, along the long edge of the pool for maintenance/cleaning?
- At least one of us is concerned about the 3' between the spa edge (6" raised wall) and the house before it moves out to 4'... thoughts? We were considering moving the entire pool rectangle to the left about 2' to make the decking on each side symmetrical (at 9' on each side) to help offset the 3 ft. space - is 9' large enough for two chaise loungers and an umbrella/table?
- Currently leaning towards pavers for all decking given that we don't like Travertine and that Shell Lock doesn't seem to be as good as it used to be. At least one company is trying to push leathered marble but several don't seem interested in working with Shell Lock for some reason. Input on decking material?
- We paid the builder for 60a pre-wire AND gas with the thought that we'd heat the pool and spa with either as needed - we understand that gas will be crazy expensive for the pool, but is faster. Thoughts on equipment for heating? Other suggestions?
- We're from Michigan and don't like pool water that feels like a hot tub, which is why you see a cooler in the equipment list -- we don't really know what temperature the water would naturally get to in the peak of Florida heat with this size pool to know if it would even require cooling or not, but guessing that our threshold for too hot it probably 90F. Thoughts on a cooler?
- We do not intend to get an in-floor cleaning system despite it being pushed pretty heavily by one of the contractors we talked to - is it really needed? I'm a change my own oil, mow my own lawn kind of guy. I was also the maintain my own hot tub guy in Michigan with 2 jacuzzi spas over the years... so, while I'm all for minimizing maintenance overhead, I'm not a fan of introducing more complexity at a high cost to do something that I can do myself or, at worst, pay a company to do for me. Open to input, though.
- Here is what our front runner is including (for ~115k with pavers) - no idea if this is good/bad or otherwise, so we appreciate any/all input or suggestions on what to consider or ask here
- Pool/Spa
- 32’ x 11’ rectangular shaped pool with a 12’ x 6' sunshelf/stairs (388 sq. ft./. 3’ – 5.5’ depth)
- 10’ x 5’ spa raised +6” with 6 jets and (1) 1 hp blower
- 3 pool returns, 1 vacuum line, main drains, 1 umbrella holder, 1 skimmer with overflow
- Deck/Tile/Plaster
- 103 LF Concrete footers
- Belgard paver deck – Color/Pattern TBD – (Approx. 863 sq. ft.)
- Belgard bullnose paver coping to match
- 6” waterline tile – $8.00 per sq. ft. material allowance (includes glass tile)
- Level 2 pebble finish
- Cage/Safety
- Bronze aluminum pool cage (20’ 6” x 50’ x 20’ 6”) based on 10’ lanai wall height
- 50’ clearview on back wall of cage with 1 or 2 posts
- 20/20 noseeum screen on pool cage walls only
- Mansard roof
- 7” super gutter
- Door/window alarms
- Equipment
- 80 amp electrical service provided to panel
- Hayward Omni HLPLUS4W automation with Android or IPhone app
- Hayward VS950 2.75hp variable speed pump
- Hayward C200S 200 sq ft cartridge filter
- Hayward 100k electric heat/cool pump for pool
- Hayward 400k BTU natural gas heater for spa (All gas permit/lines/connections by homeowner)
- Hayward 40,000 gallon extended life turbocell salt cell
- 2 Hayward color LED pool lights
- 1 Hayward color LED spa light
- 1 Hayward color LED bubbler on sunshelf
- 3-year warranty on all Hayward pool equipment
- Pool/Spa
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