[beachhead]

spectras, I ended up using Artistic Pools for mine. However, were it not for a couple of "life" issues when we did it, I would have gone owner-builder, as I believe I could have had the same pool, and saved a bit of money. Do a search on this forum for qinguy, he did this and his pool came out beautiful. You'll also find many locals in the "under construction" portion of the other place, so lots of people to answer a question or two. It seems unlikely I'll build another pool, but if I do, that is the way I would plan go.

[spectras]

Originally Posted by beachhead

spectras, I ended up using Artistic Pools for mine. However, were it not for a couple of "life" issues when we did it, I would have gone owner-builder, as I believe I could have had the same pool, and saved a bit of money. Do a search on this forum for qinguy, he did this and his pool came out beautiful. You'll also find many locals in the "under construction" portion of the other place, so lots of people to answer a question or two. It seems unlikely I'll build another pool, but if I do, that is the way I would plan go.

It looks that qinguy is not member of this forum anymore.

In any case, I will need someone with license and insurance..
Can you share, how much was your pool with Artistic Pool? Btw, they seem to have good reviews on yelp!

[beachhead]

Originally Posted by spectras

It looks that qinguy is not member of this forum anymore.

In any case, I will need someone with license and insurance..
Can you share, how much was your pool with Artistic Pool? Btw, they seem to have good reviews on yelp!

That's definitely our loss, as he (qinguy) was a very helpful member of the group, and always had great input. He's on the other one I mentioned about the pool chemicals and such.



The price for my, or anyone's pool is essentially not relevant, because it's not the same as your pool. There are so many variables in the process, and how the contractor chooses to price them, that the only way to really know (IMHO anyway) is to get several bids on the same pool: including equipment, plot plan, finish, landscaping/hardscaping, lighting, controls, etc. and then make your decision.



For me, Artistic was roughly in the middle, but what sold me is the fact that they'd done a lot of pools in my neighborhood, and it was pretty easy to not only see the final product, but get the feedback from people who had experienced the process with them, how problems were handled, schedule compliance, worksite maintenance and cleanliness, etc. I had a pool built in my last house, and those were some very important things to me, as it was a nightmare. And I can say that there were two minor hits to the schedule, and they were totally out of their control, but they exceeded every expectation I had, and I wouldn't hesitate to use them again. Las Vegas has a reputation of "shady" contractors, so this is a critical element in a successful project.


All that aside, I think with most companies these days, you'll be looking at about $45-60k for a basic pool/spa, and it goes up from there for all of the "options": salt water, pebble finish, decking, water features, fire pits, lighting, equipment, grottos/stone work, seating configurations, tile choices, plumbing/electrical/gas line runs, wall teardowns/rebuild for digging, etc, etc. Those really cool ones you see on DIY like "pool kings", are going to be well north of $100K. Also, conventional wisdom is that you can save about 20% if you owner/build, but that's not something to undertake casually.


I know the answer is long, but hopefully you gain some insight..

[spectras]

Originally Posted by beachhead

hopefully you gain some insight..

Artistic Pool will be definitely one of my bidders.
Thanks a lot for all these valuable information!!

[OmegaSupreme]

I don't know what salt therapy is, but it sounds really good

[JonathanLB]

Originally Posted by lvmensch

Evaporation works pretty well in the desert. Our pool has an automatic cover and gets to 100 degrees or so in the present weather. Leave it open a couple or three nights it will be down to the high 80s. We do not want it any cooler than that. I expect people with fountains or water falls could do even better.

I was curious about this, thanks for that. I like a pool about 86 degrees if I could set it exactly, but anywhere from 84 to 88 is fantastic, I think 82 is way too cold for me unless the outdoor temperature is exceedingly hot. Like I bet an 80 degree pool feels like heaven in a 110 degree day, but I'm used to swimming in more like 85-90 degrees and at that point 84-88 feels great. I've swam in a 90 degree pool and it was... ok... but just felt too hot to be refreshing at that temperature. It was pushing it.

So at summer temperatures in Vegas, I always wondered what that would mean for the pool temperature left to its own devices, whether you could keep it in the 80s or whether it would just drift to like you said 100. I guess the problem is that even at night, the overnight low is like 90, so that makes it pretty hard to imagine the water being below that temperature at the lowest.

[beachhead]

Originally Posted by JonathanLB

I was curious about this, thanks for that. I like a pool about 86 degrees if I could set it exactly, but anywhere from 84 to 88 is fantastic, I think 82 is way too cold for me unless the outdoor temperature is exceedingly hot. Like I bet an 80 degree pool feels like heaven in a 110 degree day, but I'm used to swimming in more like 85-90 degrees and at that point 84-88 feels great. I've swam in a 90 degree pool and it was... ok... but just felt too hot to be refreshing at that temperature. It was pushing it.

So at summer temperatures in Vegas, I always wondered what that would mean for the pool temperature left to its own devices, whether you could keep it in the 80s or whether it would just drift to like you said 100. I guess the problem is that even at night, the overnight low is like 90, so that makes it pretty hard to imagine the water being below that temperature at the lowest.

Everybody has a different tolerance for water temp, so what works for one, may seem too hot or cold for the next. Kids don't seem to care, they just want to have fun...


A data point for you. Yesterday looks like it was about 111. Overnight, looks like a low of about 87. I just turned on my pump, and the exterior temp says it's 90, and water temp is about 81. By the end of the day, my pool will probably hit about 85-86 today. Now that's all going to vary with sun exposure, size and depth of the pool, and color of plaster. Also, we need a nice run of 4 days or so of hot temps to maintain the 80 degree overnight temp. After a couple sub 100 degree days, and cooler nights, we're back into the mid to low 70's very quickly. As my wife is very temperature sensitive, I had to heat the pool on the 4th to make sure she'd swim for our family barbecue because we had a couple cooler days right before. Seemed funny to have to turn on the heater in Las Vegas in July...LOL

[WestieJeff]

You gotta remember the pool is in the ground which becomes a huge heat sink. Dig down 3 feet and it's not 90 degrees.

Originally Posted by JonathanLB

So at summer temperatures in Vegas, I always wondered what that would mean for the pool temperature left to its own devices, whether you could keep it in the 80s or whether it would just drift to like you said 100. I guess the problem is that even at night, the overnight low is like 90, so that makes it pretty hard to imagine the water being below that temperature at the lowest.

[diversityrules7]

You can still get a base pool for 30K if you shop around. Salt adds 1500. Heater adds 4500. In-ground cleaning system adds 3500. If you want it larger/deeper then of course you add $$$. waterfall feature is 3500-5000

decking is a large cost so if you can keep that down to minimal or just a few hundred ft and use pavers for rest it can save $$$

you can get a nice medium size pool for $53k with all the above options if you shop around some - I just did it...

[movin1]

Originally Posted by diversityrules7

You can get a nice medium size pool for $53k with all the above options if you shop around some.

What dimensions does a "medium size" pool have?