I wish I had known more about the way Salt Water Generators work and had maybe picked a different brand than the one we did. I also wish we had installed an aerator from the start to cool the pool down during really long heat waves (although we found running the pump in the middle of the night cooled it a lot). I wish we had thought out the placement of our deck more. When it gets really really hot (like over 95), the dogs cant walk on it so we would have left a non deck path to the other parts of the yard from the house that they could take to do "da business". Last, it is not so much something I wish we had known, it is something I wish we could have afforded at the time of install and that was to put in whole house solar to help lower our overall electric bills-not just those associated with the pool. We pay about an extra 100 a month in the summer to run the pump etc. Also wish we could have put in pool solar for heating in the winter. I so wish we were SMUD and not PGE.

Electrical Consumption!!!

I've constructed a few hotel pools the same size as mine but never bothered determining the true kilowatt hour usage costs. I wanted the resort ambiance at my new house when we built a few years ago. Although we had largish pools before they were still to small for big parties with all our friends and their kids.
I'd love to just of had my electricity for the pool cost only 100 plus or minus per month.

See Ya,
Kelly

1. the very existance of a SWG
2.that you could buy tile and mosaics from other than the PB
3. umbrella sleeves.
4.Power consumption for pump.
5.That kids require tons of food and drink during and after swimming!

I wish we had made the deep end larger, not deeper but the width wider. It was to be 10" wide, ended up 11'. We could have gone to 13' but could not invision that the decking would be big enough. I would rather have a smaller pool with enough deck to walk by than a small deck and huge pool.

I wish I would have known to let my rebar guy know that I wanted my waterfall "notched." I assumed I only had to notify my rock guy :-(

a.) Power consumption. I would've researched pump sizes and options.

b.) Despite claims, the PB is not a landscaper. I would've gladly paid a consulting fee to a landscape architect to better plan out how to deal with the slope on our property.

c.) Would have disputed the PB's claims that the Polaris return would still be accessible underneath the waterfall without having to get into the pool (gonna be pretty chilly this winter...)

d.) Would have added separate pump just for the waterfall.

Sandy

1) 6.5 feet IS shallow
2) bullnosed travertine (coping stuff) doesn't make for a sheer descent-type spillover (you need the hard edged stuff for that)
3) facing a pool on true east/west line, makes it really hard to see the west end from the east end at/near sunset
4) my 7' spa is PLENTY big
5) my concrete decking (all the way around the pool) gets way too hot in summer
6) electricty, electricity, electricity $$$$, $$$$, $$$$
7) all the extra costs - safety fence, additional decking, walkways, drainage, landscaping, sprinkler repairs, etc.
8) it is pretty hard to have too much lighting in a pool

but on the positive side, I am thankful for installing solar, waterway jets, a second pool light, a 7' spa (and not an 8 - would be way to big for us), a large baja shelf, an umbrella sleeve in the baja shelf (which, by the way, we have used almost everything the pool is used), the in house remote controller, and a good quality SWG that is doing it's thing.

To have more money readily available! Our excavation was only three weeks ago tomorrow (7/26), the coping and tile was installed on 8/7, the concrete decking is being poured tomorrow, and our Pebble Tec is going in next Tuesday. I'm so excited that I can hardly stand it! It's happening far more quickly than we thought it would, and that's a good thing, but we thought we'd have a little more time to save up for the fence. Our PB requires that the fence be installed before the PT goes in, because it gets acid-washed and filled the next day.

I really think that it's going so quickly because we're not waiting for a sub to call us. As soon as one step is complete or is scheduled, I'm calling for the next sub to schedule them. Don't wait for the PB to schedule everything for you - make the call yourself.

I would recommend to personally talk to everyone you know who has pools to get their opinions on everything. We're already expecting the eletrical to go up, so that won't be a surprise. I'm sure there will be some surprises, however.

I forgot one thing - DON'T assume that the subs know about the change orders you've made. We were originally going with the PB's standard white "suit saver" coping and had chosen a tile. But all along we were going with Tahoe Blue PT. The more we thought about, the more we realized that it wasn't going to look right. So, we did an addendum to use cut flagstone and I purchased the tile from B & F Ceramics (my former and soon-to-be future employer). BTW, it looks awesome! My in-laws were in town visiting when the sub arrived to install the coping & tile. My MIL called & said, "They're here, & they're laying out all the coping. Gee, it's kinda white and grey and doesn't have much color variation." I yelled, "Tell them to stop! It's the wrong coping!" We would've flipped out if we had gotten home and it was the wrong coping! Anyway, you should BE THERE whenever anyone is doing work on your pool! My DH and I are taking turns now, not trusting anyone to do it correctly.

That my PG&E bill would be so very high!!! Ugh.

how high is high....im having a ig 14.6 x 28.6 and figured maybe my electric would double..150.00 to 300.00.

am i crazy?

Our electric bill is $550 per month right now before the pool. We figured on it increasing about $200. I hope it's not much more than that.

Wish I had more information about the Intelliflo pump. Sounds like it's what we all need. However, the jury is still out on whether it REALLY saves you as much as they say it does. http://www.pentairpool.com/

1. That kids will run around the pool and jump in with great enthusiasm, no matter how many times you tell them to stop. Thank goodness our pavers are not slippery and our deep end is just deep enough.

2. That 6Â is not very deep.

3. That 3 ½ feet is quite shallow and the kids do fine (and even prefer) the deep end. Luckily our PB talked us out of even more shallow area. Visiting babies stay on the steps anyway and anyone over 3 can be a strong swimmer (not to mention that when young ones are in the pool, adults are too, and they can act as liferafts).

4. That landscaping and gardening can be wonderful even in the heat of summer  as long as you have a pool to jump in.

5. That once the pool is built you will want to spend all of your time outside and dread doing anything (especially housework) inside. Luckily we added extra deck, but with more $, more deck and more shade would have been nice  now we are slowly doing that on our own.

6. That all the decisions that seem so "big" when youÂre building the pool  finish, colors, shape, etc.  are not so important once the project all comes together and youÂre actually using the pool.

7. That you canÂt see mosaics too well when the pumps are going, but they still get a lot of compliments from visitors.

8. That nothing beats a pool for keeping two high-energy boys occupied and, surprisingly, that they donÂt seem to ever get tired of it.

9. That I love the pool as much as my kids and am in it every chance I get! Had I really known how wonderful having a pool is, I would have worried less about the money spent.

I've been keeping track with our neighbor who also just got a pool - we are running the same as them - last bill was around 450.00 each - Now.. we are running our AC more - having a 1800 sq.ft., home, neighbors is 1900 sq.ft., I'm home all day, she's at work - and we just went thru that nasty California heatwave of 113 plus temps for 10 days - so the air ran alot.. Normal summer PGE 320.00 - we don't heat the pool - and we do use the hot tub at least twice a week. So.. I'm figuring once summer ends and the A.C., is shut down we should be back to mid 300's a month..

I hesitate to jump in here, as we are still in the building process.

I wish I had known:

- that benches eat up your pool space in the interior...I wound up, the day of gunite, digging out a swim out. I regret that it doesn't have room for 2 people at a time.

- that there are energy efficient pumps before the plumber showed up.

Best advice someone posted here- throw out your pool completion timeline.

I wish that I'd known that I'd be treated by my builder like they were doing me a favor by doing anything at all, even if it was wrong.

From the beginning, even if they seem nice, get everything in writing. Question anything that hasn't or doesn't seem like it's being done right. You're REALLY the PB whether you know it or not!!!

Knowledge is power and use the people here to help you. I can't imagine that I'd survived the build without them. Thanks, again, friends!

Kristen

I wish I had looked a little more carefully at the shade patterns in our yard before we built. I would have changed where we put the steps so they were always in the sun and maybe reconsidered where we put the pool altogether. I wouldn't repeat the exposed aggregate decking we have - too hot, too sharp, and our concrete guy did a sub-par job. I guess I should have looked at more pool decks before deciding on what we did.

Just curious, Murray93 - why would you want your steps always in the sun?

1. Put everything in writing before shovel one hits the dirt. Steps, spa raise, umbrella sleeves, fencing, drainage, locations of everything. (those aren't all problems that we've had, just examples!) Planning this is hard - but would be worth it. Some of the stuff we had was 'verbal,' and well, you know where that can go. To be fair, our PB has been good about most of it - more than he has to be. I'm not unhappy with our PB, I'm unhappy with me.

2. While no schedule is going to stay put, I'd insist on advance notice before ANY sub showed up. Some of the issues we've had are because we didn't have time to think before the subs started working. They did a great job, but we couldn't plan enough to have intelligent questions ready and to know what to watch for.

2a. I'd write down all the questions, and keep them near the door. When the appropriate person shows up - get 'em!

2b. If you're getting umbrella sleeves, you've got to tell the concrete/pea gravel/paver guys before they start. Duh.

3. Sunshelves: larger is better! Still love ours, though.

4. Budget for landscaping! I'm a bit stunned that we're going to spend about $800 more than we thought, just for dirt, moss rock, and river rock/bull rock. That's not including plants!

5. I'm sure there's more. We're already looking forward to building our next pool - because we've got some great ideas now!

6. Once water goes in, much of the problems have melted away - even the ones that gave me large amounts of heartburn!

Things we're glad we did:

We had the sunshelf done in a different, sandy color (Desert Gold?). Looks great! Could have done one more step down, and the spa - but we love it!

Hayward ColorLogic lights: Great! We put a 'spa' light in the shallow end on the steps to augment the 'pool' light that's in the deep end. Best idea that I can claim on this project. Total, 3 lights (1 "pool," 2 "spa"). They're LED, should cost almost nothing to run them.

Spa: Don't build a pool without it!

Weeping Wall: With the pump on low speed, there is just the right amount of flowing water sound. (we've got some 25 feet of weeping wall, with 8 water 'returns')

Atlantis Pools: While we've had some 'issues,' and we're still a couple of weeks from being 'done,' we're still happy with Atlantis (that's Kelly/huskyridor), and would recommend him/them. Yes, that's unsolicited. Kelly has bent over backwards to keep us happy - and it's appreciated. There is no way to run a project of this size without some errors, but Kelly has fixed as many as he could, ASAP. The unfixable stuff we're not paying for, and Kelly's been very apologetic, which is all we can ask for. In the end, it's useable, looks great, and I can't wait to get in!

Here is a link that might be useful: Our pool build

Not finished yet. Was rushed to select options for pool and home in Master Planned Community. Could not change things without big $ change fees.

Wish we would/could have chosen gray jets/skimmer etc with our dark blue/gray pool instead of white. So far it looks OK but would have looked better imho with gray items. Didn't even think about it until viewing other peoples pools with similar finishes. :-(

How to speak fluent Spanish. We would have saved a LOT of delays if we had been able to communicate more immediately with the work crews.

Ask me again next year after I have actually used the pool, but right now:

1- how much the PB acts like it's doing you a favor to even answer your calls or emails.
2-How much of a mess it was.
3-How much time we would miss from work.
4-How much antacid I would need.
5-How much of a mess it still is.
6-How important it is to have second choices picked out for everything and to not put your hopes too high on your first choices

Liz

oh shibasrule... please tell me the mess goes away!!! I don't see ANY mess in your photos!

Coming from the industry I really find this thread very informative.
From the posts the biggest surprise to me was no one mentioned "I wish I had installed automation on my pool". Maybe it is explained everyone did get automation when they installed the pool. Automation for a pool is like a remote for a TV.
The least surprising thing I read was the concern of all the power used by a pool and driving up electric bills.

In defense of the PB; the IntelliFlo and Intelliflo 4 speed are very recent product introductions to our industry. These products change the way a PB has thought about pumps in the past. Unfortunately the prevailing PB's thinking was: the bigger the pump the better. A 2 HP power had to be better than a 1.5 HP pump. Actually if you only have 2" suction pipe they are both about the same except the 2HP will be louder because the 2" pipe cannot draw the water required to operate the pump effectively. This thinking has been really around since the beginning of time.

Now a company comes out with a completely different pump that requires completely different thinking. The thinking now has to be: Take a pump and set the RPM's of the pump to operate the pool at it most optimum, efficient performance. No more bigger is better thinking. It will be only a matter of time before all the choices of HP are no longer available - just one pump and you set the RPM speed.

Presently the minimum energy savings of a IntelliFlo pump verses a standard pump is 30%. That is due to the rare earth magnets that are used in the motor. A long story short a standard pool pump needs to create a magnetic field through the motor windings to turn the shaft of the motor. The IntelliFl pump is a magnetic and this alone saves 30%. Now set the RPM's for the actual GPM your pool requires and the savings begin to move from 30% up 90%. The savings will average 60% on most pools. That means if your bill is $100.00; it will now be $40.00.
Lastly two more points: PGE and other utilities offer a minimum of $250.00 rebate for just buying this pump and this pump can do more than one application. In other words and in many cases you can replace a pump therefore having one pump do two applications - that equals super savings.

Each day more and more PB's are beginning to understand the concept and see the benefits of these pumps. A month ago at a industry show in Las Vegas there was a IntelliFlo/ Variable Speed seminar and the room had well over 200 people in it. A year ago this seminar was not even offered.

I wish I'd known how much I was really going to use and enjoy the pool. It was mainly going to be something pretty to look out while I relaxed outside. But, we're spending lots of time swimming. I would have gone ahead with the solar heater. I think I would have built a larger pool, too. We really love swimming.

Things I'm glad I got:
1. Tropical Breeze Pebble Tec. We didn't budget for this color, but we spent the extra $$. It is the perfect color for our style of pool. We also love the feeling of it. I love sitting on my swimout and feeling the pebbles.

2. 400k BTU gas heater. We cranked the heater up to 90 degrees today and had a blast all day long. So, maybe we spent $60 on propane today. We would have spent a lot more if we went to Disney World for the day. Our vacations are now spent in the back yard.

3. Moving the pool out from the house. The original plans were 5' from the back wall. You can't have too much deck.

Things I thought I could live without and can:
1. SAM lights. We have a plain 100 watt bulb that provides a nice soft white light. We're trying to keep a natural look. It provides plenty of light without distracting from the landscaping. We're going to spend the money on landscape lights instead.

2. Remote controls. (sorry deeker). Our pool equipment is right outside the screen door. It is only about 2 feet away. We have pebbles instead of sod in the side yard so we don't track dirt. The pumps are on a timer, so the only thing we need to turn on is the heater and/or the waterfall. The pool light switch is inside the house next to the patio.

3. Umbrella sleeves. Thought about it and decided that I didn't want holes in my sunshelf or my deck. I can always buy a cantilever.

The electric bills sound horrendous. Has anyone used solar to minimize them?

That the spa blower should be no further than 25' from your spa, we have serious issues!
That raised area in back of pool would have looked much nicer if it was 2' or higher, ours is currently 18"
We would have added a bench under the sheer descents.
Would have spent the extra money on more mosiacs for the spa.
That a store bought jacuzzi would have been much cheaper to run, since they are insulated and have a custom fit cover, have more jets, and are more comfortable overall.
Would have made the seating in the spa lower, currently the water level when seated reaches halfway down our chest, when it's cold out you wish that your shoulders were submerged.
would have added umbrella sleeve in spa, when it's raining lightly, we would still be able to get in.
Wish we knew that skimmer covers are available in colors to match your deck.
That sealer on the concrete looks white after awhile from water sitting, defeating the purpose of colored concrete.
That it would be so relaxing to sit out by the pool at night watching the light show, and how much we would love it!
Oh yeah, and how noisy sheer descents are in a small yard, can't really hold a conversation too well......

I have a liner pool 14 X 28. I wish we had known how much our power bill would increase with the pool. I wish we had known that we didnt need to run the pump 10 hours a day in the summer last year when we first used the pool and the Pool builder set up the timer schedule. I will set it up for 3 hours in the morning and 3 hours at night. Less seems to be more with a SWG and pool cleaner. I realize we didnt need the Polaris deck jets. Never use them. I wish we had a waterfall instead. Could have used more decking, but hindsite is 20/20. Wish we had more landscaping in back, but we will in the spring.
I learned my husband loves the pool more than my 14 year old daughter...

DH wishes that we would have made the sunshelf smaller. It's 10' long. If we would have gone to only 5' in length, that would have been 5' more pool. The 28' length seemed okay during the design phase, but 33' would have been better.

Should have spent more time researching grout for coping. I wish I had a different shade and maybe one more light in the pool. We have two now. With pebble finish more light is definetely better. Otherwise we feel very lucky. We love our pool design, features etc.

Any updates?

I would have skipped the wet deck. I didn't realize how much swim area we would lose out on. I wonder if we can
have it jack hammered apart and re-plastered?

That a custom Loop Lock replacement safety cover is now 1500.00, but if the pool was 2 ft less in width it would be 900.00.
My eletrical not that bad, goes up 25 to 30.00 a month for the summer with the poolhouse and filter/cleaner running.