Swimming Pools (house, contractor, maintenance)

[zirk95]

Hi! So... in Texas when putting a pool in, is it more common to do in-ground concrete pools or fiber glass? Being from California, fiber glass is not a familiar thing with me but I also know the ground in Texas is different. What do most people put in/prefer/recommend or is it different across the board?

Thanks!

[ETex2]

Fiberglass is pretty rare and obsolete around here. In ground concrete (gunnite) is the norm.

[zirk95]

Thanks ETex! I am so glad you said that! I'm not a fan of fiber glass... no offense to those who prefer it

[loves2read]

fiberglass does not work here mainly because of the expansion type clay soils that are predominant in this area--
water can infiltrate under the fiberglass shell and cause it to rise out of the ground--even with water in it--such is the force of ground water

[zirk95]

Thanks loves2read! We have a gunite pool at our house so I am glad to know it's recommended in Texas! Besides, it looks so much nicer!

[zirk95]

So what do most people spend there on a pool for a $300-350k home? We spent about $100k (crazy!) here at our home in California which I know won't be the case in Texas. So what is a reasonable cost for a nice gunite pool with pebbletech floor maybe 15X30? Do people get fancy with water features and such? We obviously wouldn't want to over improve the backyard compared to other homes... also any good pool builders you can recommend? Thanks!

[hamiltonpl]

Pools still cost a lot here in Texas. It's about the same for a well done pool.

[FalconheadWest]

You can easily, very easily, get a nice pool for $30-35k. You do not need to spend $100k on a pool unless you're in a near or over million dollar property. I would also opt for a salt water pool over the traditional chlorine as that's where the trend is going for less maintenance and a cleaner feel of the water.

[loves2read]

would agree that a mid-priced pool here would be about 30-40K depends on design/pump/plumbing/options and of course the contractor
but you can pay that much and get a botched job

[momof2dfw]

A few years ago you could have gotten a very nice and well done pool by a very good reputable company for around $30K-35K. That is not the case now. Two neighbors just finished putting in pools in the last month. Both spent over $100K. Some of this included some extras but it still runs around $70 for a good pool with good equipment from a reputable company. And this is in homes in the $350-450K price range.

Some cities do not allow salt water pools. It is damaging to the pipes and they don't want them. There are other systems out that are more "state of the art" than the typical salt water system. A good and reliable pool contractor can tell you all of your options. Our pool was put in before salt water became the "thing" to do so we have chlorine and it really is not that bad at all. The level of maintenance is going to be based on the equipment you get. The better the equipment the less maint, problems, headaches. If you go cheap on the equipment no matter what system you have you are going to be doing more maintenance. We have one neighbor w/ a salt water pool that spends more time on maintenace and cleaning their pool than we do. They got the lowest priced equipment they could when they put in their pool.

Be prepared to spend close to that $100K mark if you want a good pool by a good company.

Yes, gunite is the most popular with the pebbletech finish.