New pool construction in Austin TX - Gunite Phase

[Valier]

Update 10/3

We’ve finished the gunite/shotcrete phase, and the pool is really coming together! Pictures are attached in page 4.

Update 9/21

It’s been a bit of a slow progress on our end, but we’re finally in the plumbing phase of our pool build. Currently, we’re going through inspection before gunite.

Update 7/20

Great news on the pool building front! We've moved past the permitting stage and have officially completed the excavation! The backyard is a bustling hub of activity as we’ve now entered the exciting phase of forming and steel. The framework is starting to take shape, and it's incredible to see our vision turning into reality.

Update 1/14

Exciting update! After numerous revisions and discussions, we've overhauled our pool design. Currently, we're navigating the permitting phase. As we embark on this construction journey, we value your insights and feedback. If you've been through a similar process, your experiences and tips would be incredibly helpful. Stay tuned for updates, and feel free to share your thoughts as we progress. Thank you.

Older Thread

Hello everyone,

I'm excited to have recently discovered this site, and I must say, it's been a wealth of information for us as first-time pool owners. We are in Austin Texas and we've been in the process of planning our pool and have received several different bids from various pool companies. Currently, we're leaning towards a particular bid and company that we believe is the best fit for us.

However, given that we're new to this and prices have been fluctuating a lot in the past year, we want to be extra careful with our decision. That's where your experience and expertise come in! We would greatly appreciate feedback from experienced pool owners like yourselves.

If any of you have worked with the company we're considering or have had similar pool designs, we would love to hear your thoughts. What are some potential challenges we should anticipate as first-time pool owners? Are there any particular features or materials that have stood the test of time for you? And of course, any tips on budgeting and cost-saving measures would be highly valuable.

We want to make a well-informed decision, and your feedback would mean the world to us. Thank you in advance for taking the time to share your insights and experiences with us!

UPDATED POOL AND SPA SPECS 1/14

• Pool size: 18’ x 44’
• Pool depth: 3.5 to 6 feet to top of tile (water level is true depth)
• Spa Size: 6’ x 10’, elevated 6 inches above pool level
• Spa depth: 3.5’ to top of tile (water level is true depth)
• 25 linear feet of 4 feet high Waterfall Wet Wall
• 20’ Fire Feature at Waterfall Wet Wall
• 18'x18' Floating Ipe Decking (waiting for bid for millboard decking)
• 10'x20' Aluminum Pergola

 

[Jimrahbe]

V,

Sometimes things that are very pretty, are not as nice in operation...

How do you plan to clean the trough between the decking and the spa???

The bigger the spa overflow, the more water it takes and the faster and nosier the pump will be. And, the more expensive it will be to run.

I find that wedding cake stairs are awkward to use..

Going with a Tab Feeder vs. a saltwater pool is a mistake.

Great main pool Pump.

Great Filter.

I ask this all the time.. Have you ever been in a gunite Spa? If so, great!!! If not, I suggest that you try one before you buy one.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[CoolPool131]

>>> 1 Pentair Rainbow In-Line Automatic Chlorinator
I was wondering that too. We have a smaller pool, 11K gallons. That is a huge pool, design looks nice.

 

[kellyfair]

+ 1 on switching to salt water chlorine generator!

 

[Valier]

How do you plan to clean the trough between the decking and the spa???

The bigger the spa overflow, the more water it takes and the faster and nosier the pump will be. And, the more expensive it will be to run.

I find that wedding cake stairs are awkward to use..

Going with a Tab Feeder vs. a saltwater pool is a mistake.

Great main pool Pump.

Great Filter.

I ask this all the time.. Have you ever been in a gunite Spa? If so, great!!! If not, I suggest that you try one before you buy one.

Thanks,

Jim R.

Thank you for sharing your valuable insights and feedback! We truly appreciate your input, and it's essential for us to consider all aspects of our pool and spa design.

For the trough cleaning, perhaps soft brush or pressure washer? Or is there a cleaning system that can circulate water around the trough? We'll ask the builder what our options are.

Thanks for the feedback on wedding cake stairs, we did not think much about it. I guess we could change in-pool stairs and bench to geometric shape and put regular step stairs in that spot. However, the round shape on the benches (deep-end) seems to provide more room to sit.

Would you recommend salt water pool instead? We are planning for a floating ipe deck right up to the pool for aesthetics purposes and wasn't sure how salt water may affect corrosion or deterioration of it.

We're glad to hear positive feedback about the main pool pump and filter. Knowing that they are of good quality gives us confidence in the overall pool system.

Yes, we have been in a gunite spa before and loved the experience.

Once again, thank you for sharing your thoughts with us. Your input is invaluable, and we'll ensure that we make the best choices for our pool and spa project.

V

 

[kimkats]

Pool depth: 3.5 to 6 feet to top of tile (water level is 3 inches lower)

3.2 deep water is too shallow for a good crawl stroke. You will scrape your knuckles on the pool bottom. I would insist on the 3.5 being WATER depth or even go to 4' WATER depth. The best measure of a pool depth is from the bottom to the middle of the skimmer opening.

2 White skimmers, plumbed with 2inch pipe, with plastic lid

Make sure they are plumbed separately from each other. This helps if you have a large leaf drop or if some how one of them fails for some reason.

I would make sure they use GOOD valves such as Pentair. The ball ones at the box stores will fail over time and be a pain to replace. There are even valves that can be rebuilt if needed!

1 Water Leveler

So is this something that adds water if it gets low AND allows water to flow out if the pool gets overfilled from rain?

Make sure there is a light over the equipment pad. You will thank me the first time you have to go outside on a dark night!

 

[Jimrahbe]

V,

Ask your pool builder if they have one of those 360 spillover spas that you can go visit in operation.. Not to get in, but just to see it work and hear the pump running. Most spas continuously spillover unless you are in the spa mode. Running a VS pump at almost full speed will not save you a penny in electrical costs.

It may be because I am old as dirt, but I find wedding cake stairs to be awkward to use and would go with regular stairs. I'd think about putting the stairs next to the spa instead inside the pool. Keep in mind that I am just trying to make you aware of "possible" issues that I do not like, you may not care one way or the other. It is your pool and you should get what you want..

Saltwater pools are the easiest type of pool to maintain. They are not salty like the ocean, they have about the same amount of salt that is in your tears and eyes. Last time I looked my eyeballs have not fallen out.. I have three saltwater pools and would just a soon fill them in as have them not be saltwater. When you get out of tab feeder pool, you feel like you need to take a shower. When you get out of a saltwater pool, you feel like you just took a shower. In the 10 years I have owned my three pools I have had zero equipment failures and no corrosion of any kind. I don't think wood corrodes anyway..

I agree with Kim... NO balls valves, ever!!! Makes sure each skimmer and the main drain is run back to the equipment with their own pipe and each has their own Jandy valve to control the flow.

Just suggesting things for you to think about.. Kind of what you asked us to do..

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[kellyfair]

It may be because I am old as dirt, but I find wedding cake stairs to be awkward to use and would go with regular stairs. I'd think about putting the stairs next to the spa instead inside the pool. Keep in mind that I am just trying to make you aware of "possible" issues that I do not like, you may not care one way or the other. It is your pool and you should get what you want..

I guess I’m as old as dirt too, because I like regular stairs as well. Also, a handrail for those who find it difficult to go up and down those stairs without holding onto something is a lot easier to work with on regular stairs I would think. You may not need a handrail now, but you might need one later!

 

[BDY]

+1 on SWG (at least 2x your pool size) and variable pump, esp in Texas with its long pool seasons and you won’t close the pool in winter normally

+1 on two skimmers, and verify skimmer placement vs the prevailing wind. No amount of water circulation counteracts
Mother Nature

Oversized filter is good - less cleaning etc

I wish we had a deeper shallow end - 3.5’ is short as people say… kids will grow and they like to dive

 

[BDY]

PS - if you would ever want or think about a chiller in the future size the pad for it now

 

[sll0037]

Following… love your design.

It’s almost exactly like our design (20’ x 38’ Pool) except we have the 360 spillover spa located behind the tanning ledge. We’re currently in the midst of deciding whether to move the spa to the same location as your design, as it would open up more area for our fire pit area.

 

[Valier]

3.2 deep water is too shallow for a good crawl stroke. You will scrape your knuckles on the pool bottom. I would insist on the 3.5 being WATER depth or even go to 4' WATER depth. The best measure of a pool depth is from the bottom to the middle of the skimmer opening.

You are absolutely right, we originally intended those measurements for water level. Will add 3 inches for pool depth and spa depth.

Make sure they are plumbed separately from each other. This helps if you have a large leaf drop or if some how one of them fails for some reason.

I would make sure they use GOOD valves such as Pentair. The ball ones at the box stores will fail over time and be a pain to replace. There are even valves that can be rebuilt if needed!

I agree with Kim... NO balls valves, ever!!! Makes sure each skimmer and the main drain is run back to the equipment with their own pipe and each has their own Jandy valve to control the flow.

+1 on two skimmers, and verify skimmer placement vs the prevailing wind. No amount of water circulation counteracts
Mother Nature

These are awesome callouts. We will revisit the implementation with the builder and ensure they are each plumbed separately, each with its own Jandy/Pentair valve. It's definitely critical for efficiency, maintenance and redundancy/back-up, esp. when one skimmer malfunctions and requires service.

Do you have recommendation of what valve is better alternative than ball valve. Is gate valve better? Also, is the recommendation due to how difficult it is to replace or some other factor?

Thank you for the reminder, we will ensure skimmer placement is opposite to wind direction so that it pushes leaves & debris towards the skimmer.

1 Water Leveler
So is this something that adds water if it gets low AND allows water to flow out if the pool gets overfilled from rain?

This is only to add water when it gets low and quite important for Texas heat as it makes maintenance a bit easier.

+1 on SWG (at least 2x your pool size) and variable pump, esp in Texas with its long pool seasons and you won’t close the pool in winter normally

Saltwater pools are the easiest type of pool to maintain. They are not salty like the ocean, they have about the same amount of salt that is in your tears and eyes. Last time I looked my eyeballs have not fallen out.. I have three saltwater pools and would just a soon fill them in as have them not be saltwater. When you get out of tab feeder pool, you feel like you need to take a shower. When you get out of a saltwater pool, you feel like you just took a shower. In the 10 years I have owned my three pools I have had zero equipment failures and no corrosion of any kind. I don't think wood corrodes anyway..

Yes, we hear the resounding recommendation for saltwater pool from everyone. Our family just came back from birthday pool party and we discussed exactly this. We will take it up with our pool builder on adding this option.

PS - if you would ever want or think about a chiller in the future size the pad for it now

This is a great suggestion esp. for Texas. It didn't cross our mind, but given Austin recently broke record of longest 100°+ day streak with 29-day streak of consecutive 100° days, we definitely need to consider and discuss with pool builder.

Thank you so much everyone in this wonderful pool community for taking the time to share your valuable insights and recommendations. Your input has been incredibly helpful in shaping our pool design. We deeply appreciate your willingness to share your expertise and experiences, as it has guided us towards creating the best possible pool for our needs.

 

[JamesW]

Austin texas is going through a huge building boom including pools and the requirements to become a pool builder are pretty much nonexistent, so you need to do your due diligence X 10.

There are many reports of bad construction including claims of ASR.

Check the builder as thoroughly as possible.

 

[JamesW]

What to do with ASR?!

Our pool was built in 2018 and recently started cracking and losing water. Our pool builder is not helping at all. How do we go about getting the $8k test covered and start the process to get our money back to rebuild? How long will it take and what can we do in the meantime? We have 2 young...

www.troublefreepool.com

ASR - Concrete Cancer - Austin, TX

Has anyone had experience with this issue? Alkali–silica reaction - Wikipedia. 3yr old - fresh water pool with cracks all over the walls Apparently the Shot Crete company (among others here) had not mixed right and messed up a number of pools. Edit by Jim R. thansk

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[JamesW]

Pool Builder Requirements.

1) Do you want to build pools?

Yes.

Congratulations, you qualify to be a pool builder.

Now, get out there and dig some holes in people's backyards.

Application Approved!

 

[BDY]

Maybe someone here can confirm, but I thought Jandy was now only available to distributors and not to retail - if you are making a decision on pump and SWG and automation and such, I’m wondering if the experts here would advise the while Jandy setup *including* a SWG or would move lock stock and barrel to another brand family

 

[wireform]

Pool Builder Requirements.

1) Do you want to build pools?

Yes.

Congratulations, you qualify to be a pool builder.

Now, get out there and dig some holes in people's backyards.

Application Approved!

Oh and here's a calendar through 2030 for keeping track of your court appointments.

 

[BDY]

Ps - my personal preference would be a cartridge filter on the pool too.

 

[wireform]

Make sure the main drain is a direct run with its own valve.

 

[kimkats]

You will also want an "overflow pipe" for when you have big rains. They put a pipe at the very top of your waterline tile with a grate over it. The pipe goes either to daylight or to your drainage system. MUCH better than having to run out and pumping the extra water out during a storm.