Pools

[Boatdrinks]

Originally Posted by KarlaT2

Just curious - why do all the pictures I see of pools in Phoenix area have fences around them? Is there a city law or something? Can you take them down after city has done final inspection? I used to sell and design pools here in La Quinta/Palm Springs CA area, and no one has fences around like that. Kind of wondered.

I heard somewhere that AZ has the highest number of pool drownings in the country. Not sure how true that is, but sadly we have a LOT. Just this week, an 18 month old baby drowned in their backyard pool in Scottsdale. The mother was home at the time and somehow the older child had opened the gate and the baby got in and drowned. Even WITH a gate, it still happens. It's heartbreaking. A gate isn't a guarantee it won't happen, but it certainly can't hurt.

There's a charity group, maybe through the fire department (?), that donates pool fences to people who own older pools that aren't grandfathered in to the pool laws but can't afford a fence. IMO, pool fences are a necessity.

[married8]

Checking the BBB and ROC is a good idea, but the picture can be greatly distorted. A company like Shasta or Paddock that does a lot of service and retail work will have a lot more complaints because they have ten times the number of customers that the others. The big mistake many people make is shopping a single idea or design for the lowest price instead of shopping for the best builder. There is a vast difference in quality. There are different construction packages and warranties. Presidential builds a lot of pools if you want to go cheap, but don't count on quality after the first fives years. Resale could be an issue when the home inspection takes place on pools like these.

[kdog]

Speaking of safety features, a much better alternative to a fence is the automatic pool cover. When the cover is closed, the pool is 100% sealed. There is no way a toddler is going to get into the water. When you look at the AZ pool regulations, there's a big list; 5' high fence, and special locks on doors, and self-closing gates, etc, OR auto pool cover (just that, and only that.)

Aside from the safety aspect, the pool cover gives you so much more as well. It keeps blowing sand, bird poop, animals, bugs, leaves, and all kinds of junk out of the pool. And keeps the good stuff in like the water from evaporating, and keeps the chlorine in. I have to keep my chlorine generator at about 10% duty cycle to keep from over-chlorinating. The high point of my day is pressing the button to open the cover and seeing our spotless, sparkling pool.

Edit: Forgot one other huge advantage -- keeps the heat in. Our neighbor has a pool without an auto cover, but they have solar heat, which we don't have. Yet our pools stay at almost exactly the same temperature.

Once you have one of these covers, I guarantee you will never own a pool again without one.
Of course, they're not cheap. They run around $8K to $10K.

[brendan_newhaven]

Back to the subject of pool remodels. I see above Presidential, Dolphin and Shasta. I am going to redo my pool. I have hears some horror stories about shasta, that their customer service is not great and that they are more expensive. I've also heard great things about them. Got an estimate from Ohana pools and the designer there seems very professional and will do the job with zero payment until he is finished. Sounds good to me. Anyone have experience with this company

One more thing: pebble or plaster. Jason from Ohana recommends Pebble because it wears better. I personally like the look and feel of plaster but Jason warns that plaster is likely to stain in a year or two. Any opinions?

[click]

We had ours done by dolphin. Love it and they were very professional, came when they said, cleaned up, and did everything we asked.

[YAZ]

Originally Posted by brendan_newhaven

Back to the subject of pool remodels. I see above Presidential, Dolphin and Shasta. I am going to redo my pool. I have hears some horror stories about shasta, that their customer service is not great and that they are more expensive. I've also heard great things about them. Got an estimate from Ohana pools and the designer there seems very professional and will do the job with zero payment until he is finished. Sounds good to me. Anyone have experience with this company

One more thing: pebble or plaster. Jason from Ohana recommends Pebble because it wears better. I personally like the look and feel of plaster but Jason warns that plaster is likely to stain in a year or two. Any opinions?

The plaster will stain ifya don't do the "upkeep". You'll still have to drain and do an "acid wash" occassionally, so I hear. We have to do a total replastering job on our "new" home over the winter. Quoted at $2400 for a 20k gal pool.

I don't like the "feel" of pebbletec. My opinion only.

We have friends with that kind of "texture", and go over there often. I guess it's something you get used to..

I'm guessing that there's a darn good reason why we don't use pool "liners" out here. Sun? Heat? Expense? Prob'ly...