Let's build some pools!

TheBeagle said:

Day Two

Rebar/Steel. Pretty self explanatory, getting the rebar in to reinforce the gunite. You have to make sure it's all bonded, the city inspector wants to see all the bond clamps nice and tight and 4 of em spread around the perimeter on the rebar sticking up, "sky bars". We will use the sky bars to tie in to the deck steel later.
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Looks like a great place to bury a few bodies.

BrutulTM said:

I think I'd go with the big-ass deck vs. trying to bury an above ground pool. Sure that deck is going to be expensive, but it sounds like you could probably build 5 or 6 of these for the price of a super basic in-ground pool and if you get tired of this one you can just dismantle it and take it to the dump.

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The thought of having to power wash that every year and restain it every 2-3 makes me want to cry.

BrutulTM said:

If you don't like maintaining a deck you will really hate having a pool.

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There are some home maintenance tasks I enjoy like drywall/painting, minor electrical stuff, caulking, and basic power washing, but weeding, irrigation system maintenance, and repeated fence staining and repair drive me insane. I know pools require maintenance, but as long as it's frequent and quick rather than a full weekend adventure of getting sodium hydroxide backsplatter burns, I'm cool with it.

The worst was my drip irrigation system. Every fucking spring I was outside dealing with shooting fountains and leaks, splicing couplers and having to dig gopher holes all around my yard to do the repairs. Hired some landscapers a few weeks back to rip it all out and replace it with two of these Oto Sprinklers. For *demo* purposes I hooked it up to the outdoor hose faucet since they had never seen it before, but told the Mexicans to hook it up with buried plex or PVC pipe, assuming they'd have the basic common sense of re-using the existing irrigation control valves and water supply of the old drip system. Nope, this is what I got instead lol..

TheBeagle you should probably rename your business "The English Contractor" with the following selling points:

- Speaks Engrish
- Won't pretend to understand you when they don't, then get it wrong
- Itemized quotes!
- IQ over 85!
- A work schedule we adhere to!
- Will not employ pregnant wife to dig trenches in your yard!

Sanrith Descartes said:

What about lap pools? From a cost perspective, is it a difference from a regular kidney or rectangle shape pool? If I want a pool long enough to do laps and don't care if it isn't very wide across. If they have a standard, what would the normal lap pool size be?

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At least 25 yards by however many lanes you want, min 8 feet wide. Any shorter than that and you spend all your time on the walls.

TheBeagle said:

These questions are for the sales dudes. I build whatever plan I'm given.

FWIW I've never built a pool specifically for doing laps. No one actually builds a pool just to do laps. Most people have families, wives, etc and the idea of spending $100k so dad can do a few laps every week isn't ever going to make it out of the design phase.

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I've seen two personal lap pools around me. They were built for $1.5-2M houses on shallow lots where the back yard didn't have enough area for a normal pool. No one ever uses them.

BrutulTM said:

Plus you can go to a public pool and swim laps for under $5 most places in a proper Olympic sized pool that someone else maintains. Even $250 a month for a fancy gym membership where they have a pool will save tons of money in the long run.

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Yeah, I can go swim laps at my local municpal competition pool for $200 a year. There's just no payback for having one for yourself unless you're mega-rich.

Why bother getting a giant lap pool when you can get one of those small "countercurrent" pools that are basically like a stationary bike for swimming..

BrutulTM said:

I think I'd go with the big-ass deck vs. trying to bury an above ground pool. Sure that deck is going to be expensive, but it sounds like you could probably build 5 or 6 of these for the price of a super basic in-ground pool and if you get tired of this one you can just dismantle it and take it to the dump.

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Yar, I would be hard pressed to spend the money for an in ground pool (instead of on a whole slew of other projects), but there are, of course, benefits to an in ground pool, and it increases the value of your home, so it's not like you are throwing the money away. It's also much easier to get in and out of, if you have elderly or handicapped using it.

An above ground pool doesn't add the same kind of value (percent of money spent, added to possible sale price). I vaguely remember reading, years ago, that above ground pools don't add any value, but that might have been a biased article. So I wouldn't invest a lot of money into it, like putting a huge deck around it. I would rather have a nice outdoor pavilion and patio to put the pool next to, then just climb in and out when you want to use it. At most, I would build better stairs for it.

Frenzied Wombat said:

Why bother getting a giant lap pool when you can get one of those small "countercurrent" pools that are basically like a stationary bike for swimming..

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Because they're still $30-40k and less than half as useful as a traditional pool..

Couldn't find any websites that would commit to giving an actual number for above ground pools. Too many factors apparently. I did find that a lot of sites tossed out a 7% max value increase for an in ground pool in Florida.

Dr.Retarded said:

Seriously that's easily one of the only trades that I loathe having to do. There is nothing enjoyable about hanging drywall.

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Well, hanging drywall is a little bit beyond what I've taught myself -- I was talking more like fixing a 1'x1' hole in my ceiling because I dropped a fucking hammer in my attic, or repainting a room. Of all the trades, I have found painters to be the kings of contractor turd mountain when it comes to being both overpriced and cutting corners. I will never, ever use them for anything but a big job, because any small job they'll want to be in and out same day, which means quick mud and a rush job. While I'm sure there are still a few fucking "artisans" out there, for the most part I've found quality painting to be 70% proper gear and 30% watching some guys on youtube. Get a quality paint gun and texture sprayer, some quality brushes, learns some cool tricks like using liquid latex instead of tape, and you're already better than half the Mexicans out there. I've also really gotten into epoxy coatings, which are fantastic for making flawless finish chip-proof door molding, fixing rotted wood, and coating cement entryway pedestals.

Honestly I don't know how homeowners who have to call someone for every little thing aren't bankrupt. $20 capacitor blown in your HVAC, that'll be $300 please, and btw would you like to get on our "members" plan? Want an outlet moved 2 feet? That'll be $350 please. Painters won't show up for anything less than $500, then dump their leftover paint in your flowerbeds.

So "enjoying" painting and drywall repairs might be a bit of an exaggeration. More like I'd rather do it myself than deal with the cost, shit work, and the 50/50 chance he might not even show up. Basically mexicans forced me to become handy.