Lips Malloy

I'm putting in an Intelliflo variable speed pump, which will save over 90% in electrical cost, and the LADWP is offering a $500 rebate for installing it (there are a number of brands that they offer a rebate on). Another plus is it is VERY quiet, and will easily pass that inspection (for noise). With the rebate, it costs about half. Since I have a spa as well, the variable speed will make a huge difference. The savings will be worth it to install a variable speed pump. I also installed a HE gas heater (Sta-Rite Max E, 400k), and that will also save on heating costs. I'd go with solar but the pool would end up too hot and the spa would end up not hot enough. EDIT: Arrggghhh. I just read the fine print on the LAWDP rebate form, and new pools/new construction don't qualify for a rebate.

Here the sun mosaic is installed, and when you sit in the spa you see the sun, moon and stars: The wall with the moon above hasn't been grouted yet. When it is grouted, the tile and the mosaic will pop. Below the other side of the wall and the top of the wall have been grouted:

Yeah, color is more expensive. I'm ok with the white. At least, I'm over wanting the color LEDs. I figured that the colors of the flagstone, tile, marble mosaics and the pebble sheen are all very natural earth tones and the color LEDs are not, so why ruin the look? Here the sun mosaic is installed, and when you sit in the spa you see the sun, moon and stars: The wall with the moon above hasn't been grouted yet. When it is grouted, the tile and the mosaic will pop. Below the other side of the wall and the top of the wall have been grouted:

Here is the full mosaic, from which we cut out the moon, and the sun rays will go around the pool light. The colors are a bit more muted than they show here, especially the yellow.

The sun rays will go around the light fixture at the deep end, and the moon has been installed as of today (but nothing's grouted yet). The flagstone is Three Rivers (hasn't been cleaned yet) and grass will be installed right up to the flagstone. The pool will look similar to this:

Thanks for your quick response. In a further conversation with him, he said another client has the desert gold Pebble Sheen and color LEDs and they don't look so good. They only use the white after all, because the colors look muddy. The sand color tends to make the water more green as well. He hasn't installed the lights yet, but I am leaning towards taking his advice because he is very wise and practical. He has been building pools since 1965! I'm thinking with the brown tile wall between pool and spa in addition to the sand colored Pebble Sheen that perhaps I shouldn't go with color LEDs after all. Even though I love the idea. I got my moon mosaic in today! When you sit in the spa you see both moon and sun (once the sun rays are installed on the far wall).

I wanted the Intellibrite Color LED lights for both pool and spa, which my builder knew, but he bought the white LED version instead, and when I told him I wanted color, he said it would not work well with the Desert Gold Pebble Sheen I want. Does anyone here have Pebble Sheen Desert Gold (looks like sand) with a COLOR led pool and/or spa light? Does it look ok? I am more interested in the blues and greens and purples. The pool is 10'W x 31'L, with the spa 10'W x 7'L. The two circles (one around the light fixture) are for installing a marble mosaic of sun rays around the pool light and a moon with stars on the spa wall. The spa light is under the bench on the left in photo.

Turns out I can, and it will look fantastic. The mosaics should be installed tomorrow. :-)

Hi, I am having a new pool built and I wanted to install some decorative things in the pool walls. Around the pool light, I wanted to install sun rays, in either porcelain or some other suitable material, and on the dividing wall between the pool and spa, I wanted to install a moon. The pool walls and floor will be otherwise covered with Pebble Sheen, except for a porcelain mosaic on the waterline and on the entire dividing wall between pool and spa. Problem is, I can't find what I'm looking for in a porcelain tile or even glass. I found something that could work, but it is a marble mosaic, and although they say on the website it can be installed in a pool, I am a little concerned about wearability. Can marble be installed on a pool wall that is always submerged? Also, the pool will have a salt water system, and I don't know if that would affect it. Here is the mosaic I had in mind, except I would cut out the circle with the moon to use on one wall, and install the sun rays part around the pool light. http://mosaicmarble....html?cPath=6_95 My pool builder has already coated the walls with waterproofing. Does anyone here have experience with marble tile used in a pool, under the waterline? Reponses are greatly appreciated, as I need to make a decision soon!

Wow, that looks very nice. I didn't know cement could look so good! My old pool took up so much of the backyard, and I had cement everywhere except a brick patio and a little bit of grass. I hated the cement! Plus it had holes and hardware where I had to install a safety fence. I am going with a removable safety fence that can be set in the grass around the coping, so you don't see the holes. I only plan to use it for the inspection, and again when I sell. Honestly, an automatic pool cover should be enough. The building codes here are ridiculous. I'll be putting in about 1500-1900 SF of flagstone, some of it set in sand and the rest as pool coping and patios. It will cost an arm and a leg, but I will get at least double and probably much more what I'm putting in on this project when I sell. I'm also putting in a retaining wall that will widen the side yard, and a waterfall/pond feature. Here's the site plan. The property extends about 2-3 times as large as the pad, downslope, overlooking a canyon. I wanted to make the usable space seem larger. A narrower, linear pool and the curving retaining wall (where there is currently a side yard slope) will make a huge difference.

Thanks for the info. Here are a couple pix of what the pool will look like, though I will be using 3 Rivers flagstone instead:

Thanks for the reply. My pool builder has been building high-end pools since about 1965, so I guess I should trust his judgement. I noted upthread you talked about bubble covers and solar, and in So Cal, they both tend to heat a pool too much. He told me I'd be adding ice cubes to the pool with solar, and it wouldn't heat up the spa part enough. So I am going with a High Efficiency heater, and a 4 speed pump that is also energy efficient. I am looking forward to having a pool cover because I have a pepper tree that dumps leaves into the pool whenever a wind kicks up. I am also going with a salt water chlorinator system. I think the Cover Pro system uses stainless steel rather than aluminum. Do I have to worry about corrosion?

I am building a new pool, a 10' x 37' rectangle with spa within footprint, and will have an automatic pool cover, the underdeck recessed mount that completely hides the housing. My question is, which brand is the best? I was going to go with the PCS Infinity 4000, but the pool builder swears by CoverPro. I am having a hard time finding end-user reviews of the various brands. Does anyone here have personal experience, or can you point me in the right direction? Thanks for any advice.

Wow, Spawn, that was SO helpful; great information, very thoughtful post. I was reading on the Trex site and there was a Q & A part and one question was: Q: Why isn't Trex® structural? A: Trex has made a market decision to offer a product that will provide the customer with a superior walking surface, guardrail system, fencing and trim. Made my eyes bug out!!! This deck is 10 plus feet off the ground, with a heavy spa to reside on or within, and they are worried about splinters?! I am not going to be playing soccer on my deck. I just want it to hold people, a big BBQ, some chairs & tables, and a big spa. I DON'T want to be on the national news with the headline "deck collapses, killing 10 people." I trust wood, especially in colder climes. I think plastic gets brittle in the cold. The weird thing is, when I've seen a cross section of Trex, it is hollow, and the walls do not appear substantial at all. If they are going to pretend to be wood, why aren't they solid? I'm disappointed in my contractor, who has been great for the most part, but he is very "green", to the point of not being smart. Plastic comes from oil, which is a very finite resource we are currently killing millions of people for, whereas trees are a renewable resource as long as we take care of the planet. He's keen on the mercury-laden CFC lightbulbs too, even though they are far more toxic than either LEDs or regular lights. There is a great documentary about the history of lightbulbs. Did you know they used to make them so they lasted indefinitely? When they realized they'd never make a profit, they made them burn out after a certain number of hours.

Thanks, DustyBill. I didn't even realize Trex made a steel deck frame. I think using it would preclude recessing a spa, but the fire resistance is attractive. What I'm wondering about mainly is the fake wood decking material, how it looks, holds up, etc. Everyone keeps telling me how great it looks, like real wood, but when I look at it I see plastic with "simulated wood grain". Thanks for that info though.