Swimming Pools

[dendox]

OLD THREAD - REFRESHED

actually - not all pool builders use subs. As was stated above Zars does not. The last sub he had was an electrical contractor - he bought them and brought them in house so as not to have subs.

Has anyone noticed a trend of prices going down with the current economy?

[deek102]

Originally Posted by johnacn

Mr. Pogi

I had a pool put in by Bluehaven and everything was better than I expected. I looked at every pool builder in San Antonio and they were not the cheapest nor the priciest. They've been around for over 50 years and have the best warranty in the industry. I have a custom built pool, a rock waterfall, raised hot tub, a salt system, a waterproof remote, a huge rainbow rock slab surrounding the whole pool with a raised slab for my barbecue grill that looks over the pool all for under $45,000.00. I will just say this, the quote that I got from Gary Pools and Keith Zars Pool was about $15,000-$20,000 more with all the same bells and whistles. They also finished in less than 60 days, which is stated in the contract. Price all the pool builders and check for yourself. Whatever you do dont go with the cheap builders because I have a friend who tried to save money and now its costing him more, to many details to expain. Good luck.

I had almost the exact opposite experience with Bluehaven. I called them to have them come out and give me an idea of what they could do and an estimate and they immediately asked, "How much do you want to spend?" Well, I'd like to keep it around 30k. "We can't help you then. We don't build anything under 40k. Have a nice day." I might have been willing to go up in price if they had shown me and convinced me that it was worth it.

We had Keith Zars come out, they're basically the upper-crust version of Gary Pool -- related by family. The guy gave me a canned pool drawing that he pulled out of his folder and told me it would be 45k. No thanks. I know they create absolutely beautiful pools but they were too expensive for our budget.

We ended up at Gary Pools and loved them. We have a free form pool that is ~32x18, ~15,000 gals, with 3 water falls and flagstone coping. Our pool is 3-4.5 feet deep, as we were told (and agree) that anything deeper is a waste of energy and water -- unless you're planning on having a diving board.

We paid 37k for our pool. I would also strongly recommend, no matter who you go with, to make sure they will replace the flagstone if anything happens to it. Different batches have a tendency to flake more than others so you really really really need to make sure they'll cover that if you get a bad batch. I know Keith Zars and Gary's will. I assume Blue Haven would too.

I'd also recommend you put in umbrella 'plugs'.. not sure the official name. But they build them into your flagstone or rainbow pebble coping and you can put either volleyball net poles or standard umbrella poles into them. They rock!

Whatever you do. Do not use a fly-by-night builder. A former coworker used one of these guys who promised him the world, and landscaping, for 28k. he ended up in court suing the guy because he did a shotty job and couldn't afford to fix his mistakes. This is something that is going to be in the ground forever. Pay the extra 5 or 10k to have it done right.

There are a ton of options you can get with a pool now. Keith Zars, Gary's, etc, have been building pools for 50+ years. Most of the "gadgets" these new builders want to sell you aren't worth the price. Invest in a company that will put quality into the structure of the pool, not the unnecessary add-ons.

And as an above-poster commented.. it really does depend on how much rock you have in the ground. Do you have neighbors with pools? Look at the aerial views @ maps.google.com and check out your neighborhood to see how many pool s there are. Then go talk to those people about their installations, if they even know. When we signed our contract we agreed to pay $X/hr in case they hit rock and had to do extra work to excavate the property. I want to say it was something like 60-90$/hour. So it could add up really quickly!

We love our pool. Even my wife, who wasn't sure, said it was the best decision we ever made. Now when you have to keep it clean even in the winter.. that's another story

[CalallenMom]

This thread got me wondering -- I always hear about how expensive it is to maintain a pool. From those who have experience, can you break down some of the costs in terms of cleaning, energy, general maintnence, etc. Thanks.

[deek102]

If you have a service come out its ~125 - 250 per month, depending on the type of service, size of pool and frequency. I talked to Sweetwater Hot Tubz the other day and they range between $140-180/month.

Right now I do it myself. I probably spend 2-3 hours on it per week. Generally in 20 or 30 minute chunks - brushing the crap off the walls, the bottom, the steps, the seats, etc; emptying the filters, adding more chemicals,tabs,etc.

Its not cheap to own a pool but its not that expensive. A 3 month supply of chlorine tablets for the chlorinator is $80-100. Chlorine and muratic acid is more expensive, a 4pack of 1 gal chlorine bottles is $15-18, muriatic acid maybe a little cheaper. I use 1-2 bottles of chlorine per week depending on our use of the pool and a gal of acid about once or twice per month.

As far as electricity.. I haven't really noticed much. We have an older house though so I'm used to paying through the nose in electricity every month. At the very most I'd say it adds $20/month. We do not have a heated pool. That would probably be $50-100/month to CPS -- maybe someone else could speak to this cost??

I probably have to add water every two or three weeks... I normally run the hose for 30 minutes.. let's say it adds 100 gallons. I have no idea how accurate that is. I remember it was < $100 to fill the entire pool (~15k gals) so let's say 100 gallons once a month and that costs me... $10 per month.

Chlorine Tabs: 4 containers per year * $100 per container (lasting 3 mo each) = $400 per year
Shock: ~15 boxes per year (4 bottles/box) * $15 per box = $225 per year
Muriatic Acid: 8 boxes per year (4 bottles/box) * $15 per box = $120 per year
Electricity... ~$240 per year
Water: $10 for 100 gallons * 12 months = $120
Repairs, maintenance, etc: ~$500 per year, let's say. I don't think we've had to pay that much yet but as our pool gets older I'm sure we will.

That comes out to be about $1415 so round it up to $1500/year + pool payment. ~$125/month for maintenance/supplies & @ 37k I was paying about $400/month.

It's like owning a nice car, but it adds value to your house and you don't park it in the Texas sun all day -- you USE it in the hot Texas sun! If you buy a Lexus, Mercedes, BMW, etc, you have to figure that you're going pay extra for oil changes, tune-ups, and other etc maintenance. They figure if you can afford a pool, or a nice car, then you should be able to afford the maintenance.

I think the thing that costs the most is all the BBQ (beer, burgers, steaks, etc) that we buy so we can hang out by the pool. But that's money well spent!

[CalallenMom]

Deek, you broke that down beautifully -- thanks! I have a much better idea now.

[deek102]

Originally Posted by CalallenMom

Deek, you broke that down beautifully -- thanks! I have a much better idea now.

Thanks! Ready to buy one???

[CalallenMom]

Originally Posted by deek102

Thanks! Ready to buy one???

Well, I'd have to buy a house first. When I was browsing some realtor websites in the SA area, I saw nicely priced homes with pools and it got me thinking if that's something my husband and I would love to have for our family. With having three boys I think it'd be worth it.

[deek102]

Originally Posted by CalallenMom

Well, I'd have to buy a house first. When I was browsing some realtor websites in the SA area, I saw nicely priced homes with pools and it got me thinking if that's something my husband and I would love to have for our family. With having three boys I think it'd be worth it.

One of the 'positives' I used to convince my wife that we needed a pool was kids. Instead of spending money making Chucky Cheese rich, let's just have birthday parties in our backyard, order (or cook) cheap pizzas or grill burgers & hot dogs and let the kids go crazy. If you have 3 kids that means 3 birthdays, plus additional parties... that's a lot of money to spend @ Chucky Cheese, D&B, the movies, or where ever your kids wanna go

-- Plus, you don't have to get babysitters! Instead of going out and getting a babysitter, you can always throw your kids and your guests' kids by the pool, crack the adult beverages and hang outside with'em. And once the kids go to bed or go inside to watch a movie then it's time for the adults to swim!

[CalallenMom]

Originally Posted by deek102

One of the 'positives' I used to convince my wife that we needed a pool was kids. Instead of spending money making Chucky Cheese rich, let's just have birthday parties in our backyard, order (or cook) cheap pizzas or grill burgers & hot dogs and let the kids go crazy. If you have 3 kids that means 3 birthdays, plus additional parties... that's a lot of money to spend @ Chucky Cheese, D&B, the movies, or where ever your kids wanna go

-- Plus, you don't have to get babysitters! Instead of going out and getting a babysitter, you can always throw your kids and your guests' kids by the pool, crack the adult beverages and hang outside with'em. And once the kids go to bed or go inside to watch a movie then it's time for the adults to swim!

You convinced me with the last paragraph! Sounds like my kind of night.