o2bswimming

All told, which included the fence, some landscaping, and a walkway that we built leading to the pool from a concrete patio area, it was roughly twice the cost of the pool shell we bought from Waterworld. It was worth doing ourselves because we probably saved $10 - 15 thousand off what all this would have cost had we contracted with a local pool company and fence installer (the fencing was one area where we really saved - maybe 3 - 4 thousand! - than if we'd hired it out.) Excavation costs ran much higher than we figured but overall the rest of the estimation Waterworld gave us was pretty true. If you'd like to talk more in person, I'd be more than glad to, and I can send lots of pictures (of excavation, Waterworld coming up the driveway, lifting it over the house, filling it, etc!) - just send me an email. My address is emolian@verizon.net Good Luck! It really has been worth all the time and sweat equity we put in - when we were doing it, there were a few moments when I thought, man, I should have just spent another 10 K and had someone else worry about this, but now I'm proud we pulled it all together and it's better than I'd even imagined. THe kids are in heaven, and we don't even go out anymore because we'd rather be home swimming. One last thing: buy the salt-chlorinator system! It's a miracle and so worth the cost! I barely even have to do anything with chemicals, and I just vacuum it every couple of days and it's gorgeous! Send me a note and we'll talk more!

Hi again! Just an update to our pool experience: We are loving the pool - we swim for several hours everyday, weather permitting, and we're entertaining more (something we did rarely before). After the initial construction, we did have a few problems, mostly all related to the electrician we used (a local man). He failed to do his job properly, resulting in a catastrophe that meant our pool leaked at the rate of 2' one night! We thought it was something with the pool, so we called Waterworld - on a Saturday morning. They sent a crew out (6 hour drive one way!) and those men found the problem, which was not at all with the pool but because of our inept electrician. They got the problem fixed and we were so relieved! They did charge us for the return trip, which is only fair, but the electrician had to pay for that, of course. Lesson: make sure the subs you hire are fully qualified (ours was NOT!) and bonded/licensed/insured (ours was, believe it or not!). We also had a few bumps with setting up the salt chlorinator, but after many phone calls I got that settled myself with the manufacturer. (Waterworld left us in a lurch with that one, but I think they were sick of hearing from us after the electrician's problem). There were many details to take care of once Waterworld left, since they are a setting and basic installation kind of business only, but none of it was hard, just time-consuming and more costly than we estimated. We had to frame and pour the concrete decking, install the handle at the steps, deep-end ladder, and diving board in the wet concrete; install the black aluminum fencing (this took 2 ten hour days of my husband and me working non-stop...plus the excavator had cut the power line to the barn where the pump and filter are while he was drilling post holes, requiring a harried trip to the electrical supply store and another $40 bucks for a patch kit), then there was another tandem load of stone to wheelbarrow in through the fence to go around the decking (75 full wheelbarrow loads altogether), a paver walkway to build that leads to the pool from the house patio, and landscaping to plant. My husband built a shower nearby to rinse off in, and we're about to build a covered porch off the back of the house because the sun is brutal there - he installed 6x6's for the roof supports and that's where he attached the shower head. I'd say that altogether, the cost of the pool itself (the basic shell - prices are advertised on the Waterworld website) was about half the total, finished cost. One area that we badly underestimated was the cost of stone - we figured we'd need a little more than the 60 ton Waterworld had told us to get for the pool underlayment, but we actually needed close to 100 ton because it took more than we thought and we still needed more to go around the perimeter of the pool for the concrete decking prep. Our excavating bill was much, much more than the $2K we'd estimated. So, now we are happily swimming and saved lots of money compared to if we'd had a local pool company install (plus then we still would have had to complete the fencing, this was another couple thousand because we DIY, or it would have been $5-6K for a fencing company). It's all worth it now when I look out to see the kids swimming or when it's 95 degrees and humid and we just go jump in there to cool off...just be prepared if you decide to be the general contractor, there is always more time, more money, and more patience needed than it seems initially! Happy swimming to you!

I think Waterworld's net address is www.waterworldpools.com Good Luck!

I'm in Virginia, and our building permit office doesn't require that info, so it wasn't an issue. Hope you've gotten things straightened out!

Hi! Just a follow-up note to my previous post re: Waterworld installation (16 x 37 x 8'). It went totally smoothly, the staff (Dustin and Rodolfo) were excellent and really fun to work with. I would recommend them to anyone. They were on time to the minute (this was after a 6 hour drive!) and completed everything in a prompt, efficient, and clean manner. It was so fast, it's all a blur now how they actually accomplished it. Honestly, I was a bit worried after some of the things I'd read about people's experiences with installation, but those negative reports were all written by people who'd bought their pools from a distributor and had a local contractor/pool company put them in. We haven't had any of those problems, and they exceeded all our hopes. There were a few scratches on the side from when they off-loaded it, and they sent a man out today, not even 24 hours after the installers left, to fix it (and it looks brand new again!) We had a really good excavator, too, and that has a lot to do with the final product, or at least how much they have to do when they get here. I would recommend to get someone who knows how to follow their diagram and can get the depth right before they arrive, or be on site with the equipment (trackhoe) when they arrive to correct any problems immediately. They really went out of their way to make sure it was square in the hole, level, and ready for inspection before they left (it was partially filled when they drove off). We could only fill it up halfway last night because of the timing of our County inspection schedule, but it is so pretty and it'll only get better once we can fill it completely and clean up the dust from backfilling. Honestly, we couldn't be more pleased, and excited! I hope others can have the same *great* experience, too. The concrete deck, which we had planned to frame today and pour tomorrow has to be pushed back until next week, since it's raining like mad out there (it was even hailing this morning!) but we can't control that! It was really exciting, and well worth all the years of saving we did. Hope your projects go smoothly, too. Happy swimming!

We will be having a 16 x 37 Waterworld installed in about 10 days. It's the 8 foot depth, with a diving board, and I was wondering about how much concrete decking I should be estimating to pour around the pool - maybe 8' on each end and 3 or 4' on the sides? Obviously as much as we can afford would be nice, but what kind of minimum is there to make it seem comfortable to walk around? We have a separate patio nearby for chairs, a table, etc. so this is just basically for ease of getting around the pool and off the diving board. Also, we looked into slides, but they were too expensive for now (the 3 foot model - the Zoomerang I think? - was $700 and already our older children would be too long for it to be much fun. The next size larger was over $1500, just too costly while we're paying for the whole pool). So, does anyone have experience with those inflatable ones I've seen online? They're in the $70 range and only for children - they look like a tube that fits into a wedge angled down into the pool. They look to me like they might slide right into the pool unless someone stands there to hold them, and I don't want to waste 70 bucks but I know the kids would love some type of slide while they're still little. Thanks for any ideas!

Thank you very much! It seemed like a lot of the ads for the cleaners promise that they're light-years ahead of the competition, but they all say that! I'll look at the Pentair...I really appreciate it!

HI! I'm new and would like to ask peoples' opinions about their automatic cleaners. We're installing a 16 x 37 fiberglass pool next month. Our site is a completely open, flat yard with no trees or other sources of debris (except the wind, which can kick up a good bit of dust here in Virginia). We've got a relatively large family and expect to use the pool pretty much daily in the warm months. I'm trying to choose the best pressure-side cleaner for the money. I liked the looks of the Mars and the Hayward Phantom; I've read some negative posts on this forum about Polaris. I don't mind cleaning out a filter bag, but it looks like some storage areas on the cleaners are tiny, while others are huge. Does anyone care to share their advice? Thanks very much!