Pool Contractor (Dallas, Austin, Round Rock: new home, buy, tile)

[Trainwreck20]

Well...how big a pool ?

A regular sized pool will be much, much more than 10k, although how much will vary a lot. I think the starting end is ~30k, but I have not put one in myself, but have a friend building one that will run ~50k, and it is by no means over the top big or fancy.

[love roses]

We were told they essentially start at 50k, unless you have lots of rock, in which case it could run a lot more.

[tom-tom]

Originally Posted by Kadhe

Hey Ausdean,

I've been out of pocket. The upkeep is NOTHING, seriously we hardly have to do anything to maintain the pool. Our Electric went up about $20.00 a month, and so far we have only used a two gallons of shock in the pool for extra chemicals. We put a salt system in though. I would recommend the salt system to anybody. It's worth the extra money.

I heard different story about salt water pool. It can damage your system, etch deck. Salt water system is actually a chlorine generator. It costs electric power and chlorine is harmful to health.

I never built or have a pool for me before. Any one please educate me on the salt water or there is any alternative way to treat water at less time, cost and for safe.

[Oden04]

We researched this awhile back and they are not the best systems for this area (Central Texas) in particular. The salt wrecks havoc with the limestone and causes a lot of problems with decks. They are also a fairly expensive system to add to your pool so you can save on construction costs if you avoid them. I would definately ask several builders and get as many opinions as possible before you decide on that item. Good luck!

[iguanas4]

Originally Posted by Oden04

We researched this awhile back and they are not the best systems for this area (Central Texas) in particular. The salt wrecks havoc with the limestone and causes a lot of problems with decks. They are also a fairly expensive system to add to your pool so you can save on construction costs if you avoid them. I would definately ask several builders and get as many opinions as possible before you decide on that item. Good luck!

hmm... we recently installed a salt water system (and a new DE filter) in our 20-year-old pool. We are very happy with it so far. It is constantly converting the salt to chlorine (some sort of chemical reaction which is beyond my right-brain's understanding) and keeps a consistent level all by itself. We never have to add liquid or tablet chlorine or shock, and there is never that icky combined chlorine smell. The water is super clear and clean. I test the water about once a week, and simply adjust a knob on the controller if the chlorine is too high or too low. You do still have to adjust the ph and the other levels, of course.

It was about $1000 or so to install, but we thought it was worth the cost. Consider how much money you'll be spending on chlorine and shock with a normal system. Besides that, consider the hassle of trying to keep your chlorine stable with a regular system.

It does use electricity to run, but so does the pump, and you'll have that running anyway. I can't recall offhand exactly how much electricity the salt sytem requires, but it's minimal.

We don't have a limestone deck, it's that aggregate-like stuff that stays cool in the sun. I'd in fact never heard of that warning before... that's good to know, because we're hoping to redo the deck (and replaster the whole pool) next year. The salt doesn't hurt the plaster or gunite or whatever, does it?

[AMYL0452]

Originally Posted by Kadhe

I used Premier Fiberglass and installed a Leisure Pool. It is stunning! Great customer service, quick time frame - 3 weeks, very little maintenance, the list goes on. I was very skeptical because I have owned gunite pools and an above ground. The Fiberglass seemed to good to be true, but I had been the other routes before. Pricing wasn't as steep as gunite, but a lot less to maintain. -- I'd give them a call for an estimate. Hope this helps!

Can you provide photos and how much you paid for the pool? Not trying to be nosy, but I really want a pool and we are building right now. I'm a little scared of the cost!

thx

[Trainwreck20]

Salt water pools are a popular topic. There is a thread in the Dallas forum related to them:
http://www.city-data.com/forum/dalla...pools-why.html

[AMYL0452]

Can anyone share approx. cost of their pool? Anyone ever use Millenium Pools off RAnch Rd. in Austin?

thx

[SurferDude]

Does anyone have any comments on a vinyl lined in ground pool? I am getting quotes at $30k for the pool and installed in 7 days. They cap the cost of excavation in the case of bedrock. In addition, they are quoting $10k for an in ground concrete Spa to go with. Sounds like about half of the price of a concrete pool.

[fil]

May be this is a weird year, but I was in corporate housing until December and was swimming in their unheated, [guessing] 100,000 gallon pool until Dec 13 since it was 85+ degree outside.

Although, I'm a crazy Northerner, 82 degree is cool but comfortable if you're hot and need to be refreshed.

My wife likes 90 degree pools, so it's been too cold for her to swim most of this Summer.

Weird since Atlanta has been hotter all this Summer and is still in the drought, while Austin has only been in the 80-90's and is green from all of the the rain (la Nina).

I'll let you know about the heating costs in November, I hope to continue swimming then.