Dreamscapes Pools/Design

Did you say you painted the fiberglass shell? I would add chemicals and wait to swim. The tap water is not harmful until it heats up and bacteria begins to grow. This does not take long in your climate

What brand is the liner?

Marcite or any cementious material will cause some scrapping if swift contact is made, I agree. That has always been the downfall of that material. We will use polished marble finishes to make the surface as smooth as possible. Usually a marcite or similar finish that is really rough like sand paper is due to PH balance damage or most commonly from acid washing the pool multiple times. It has become a habit for pool service companies to offer acid washing as the first solution to cleaning and removing stains when other less damaging products are available. The real answer is to keep your pool clean at all times especially before it is winterized. If your pool is very rough then you may consider having it hydro buffed to bring back the smooth finish. Just make sure the marcite layer is thick enough before you have the outter layer buffed.

Quantum have you ever built or engineered a pool? You are very much a negative blogger on this site and need to relax. I can show you data proving marble aggregates are easily dissolved by pool chemicals. As well, marcite is NOT slippery compared to fiberglass or vinyl liners but in the spectrum of slip resistance testing, DIAMONDBRITE is less slick. This is a fact!!!!! Why do you think we "Designers" spec these products when designing zero entry pools. Greater slip resistance!!

Due to the fact I do not design or build pools in Arizona, I cannot say in your area it is completely wrong. I will say any competent engineer or designer would be against tying the deck to the pool. In colder climates it is absolutely never done because the freeze/thaw cycles. A deck can crack a pools beam when the deck rises and the pool "which is far below the frost line" remains unchanged by the cold. In a normal weather climate I could forsee the deck cracking as it moves and the pool of course does not. Especially if your contractor says you have unstable soil. You would create a fulcrum point just beyond the beam or where the rebar extending from the pools beam stops. The only way to 100% protect yourself would be to tie the entire pool deck to the pool shell with #3 rebar. This would be expensive and a waist of material. An expansion joint is the normal way of dealing with lateral movement of the patio deck. As well if the pool deck is cantilevered the deck contractor MUST use a bond breaker. You can use felt paper or similar plastic sheeting to create the bond break. There are plenty of free profiles online you can review. If there is a soil instability issue in your area, why does the contractor think your pools shell is safe? Get a soil compaction test "not too expensive" to verify which points in your yard are suitable for the structure. You can do this without hiring an engineer and give this information to your prospective pool designers.

Quantum is right to refer you to the WhisperFlo pump as well. I have used this pump many times before they came out with variable flow pumps and have had no unhappy customers.

mstng, Please consider using Pentairs variable speed or variable flow pumps. These are absolute best pumps out there for residential use and carry a 3 year warranty to back it up. You ony get a 1 year from Hayward. Dirty pool, use a Smart Pool NitroXL over the Hayward brand any day. No vac hoses and no thought needed. An A.I. robot is what you want. My opinion is to change your filter rather than using a robotic cleaner if money is an object. Use a Pentair Clean and Clear Plus cartridge filter over any conventional sand filter. Visit Pentairs website and review the differences between cartridge, sand and DE filters. The particulates you will remove from the water will be far smaller with a cartridge filter over sand. DE is the best but not as necessary with an enclosure over the pool.

It would be great if they offered a natural gas model similar that of indoor tankless water heaters. The price is about 1K which is a steal. I use Coates all electric water heaters in commercial pools and will pay 5 times that amount. This product is so new I cannot really say why it costs so much less.

Samsneet, I have reviewed the spec's for the product you are considering using and find it fascinating. The only problem I really can see is the 112 amps required to operate. This is a similar problem with all electric heaters. You should check with an electrician to see if your homes service can even handle this many amps. You should also check with the manufacturer to see if this heater is salt water safe. You may not use salt, but the next guy who buys your house may.

Dan, The reality is your cover is going to hold water whether it has a pump or not. I understand you don't like the performance of the pump, but why do you want to remove it naturally? You can create a crown in the center by using lumber but you run the risk of the cover being damaged under heavy now loads. Do you live in a warmer climate? If you are not experiencing any negative affects to your cover or home from the left over water on the cover, my advise would be to leave it alone.

Check out Pentairs Eco Select line of equipment if you want to combine solar, heat pumps and automation. I have actually designed and installed these systems and the last thing you want is an assortment of equipment and contractors screwing with it. Pentair offers a 3 year warranty on their stuff and it is designed to work in harmony with one another. You will have to automate or have a controller like the Sun Touch to manage the type of system you want. Being in Florida, a heat pump is a good idea compared to us in Ohio and Michigan. You will need a gas fired heater for your spa though because heat pumps are not obviously designed for on demand heat. Use a Pentair 400,000 btu heater for the spa and see the difference. All the east coast guys love Hayward because it rules this side of the country. Pentair rules the West and in my opinion knows a heck of alot more about Eco pool equipment. Hayward and others just copy what Pentair does a year or two down the road with a knock-off version. Check their website to get more info.

Doug, The only problem I have with hyrbrid pools from Family Fun Pools or your own brand is the elastic joint between floor and wall. There is a really good pool builder around here who has installed Family Fun for 40+ years. He does a great job so I can't knock his work, but I just think the hybrid technology is ancient. Does your fiberglass wall install and anchor the same as Family Funs? After watching them install a few, I felt more comfortable with a K brace or something similar used in a liner pool. Just curious about your thoughts. Masanori, There is no real difference in thermal properties of a composite or stainless steel wall. Doug is 100% correct in saying nearly all of your heat loss is from the top surface of water. Most of this heat loss happens during the evening. With a heat pump you will find yourself running it constantly to keep up a temp of 82 degrees for example. You will have to cover the pool each night and should pay attention to the model of heat pump you are getting. Most heat pumps are undersized by the installer and they can fail. I don't like running any pool equipment constantly so I would recommend a large heat pump especially with a 20x40. You are going to still have possible issues with a single heat pump with that much volume of water. Are you not using a gas fired heater to save money in the long term? Though gas heaters are less efficient, they do provide on demand heat and cost 60-80% less than a good heat pump.

There are a whole host of reasons for a five foot crack in the shell, but we all can agree it will grow larger. Pools with poor construction can crack like this with very little hydrostatic force or movement. Rebar could installed improperly, the crack could be the result of a semi-cold joint during the shoot, poor PSI strength of that area, broken underground drainage systems in that area of the pool "pool is shown empty" and bla bla bla. As an investor myself, I would patch and paint the sucker and hope for the best. Removing that shell is far more expensive than salvaging it. I would remove the tile and coping though to make sure the crack does not carry all the way through the beam. If so, don't patch and paint and be prepared to fork over the big bucks to have the pool properly stabilized. A pool in two pieces is not a pool at all.

I agree with the guy from Indian Summer Pools. I thought we were the only ones applying aggregate finishes out of spec I love the look of an aggregate finish over a strictly quartz finish for a whole host of reasons. If money is an issue, then Diamondbrite or another quartz finish may be more up your alley, but if you have the money, aggregate finishes will outlast any other finish. Not only that, they actually turn the waters color like the pretty brochure shows.

Honestly, no chlorine is not the best choice. The facts are you will have a much greater chance of imbalanced PH levels in your pool from Chlorine than from Salt. Chlorine evaporates and is so unstable you need to be a water chemist or a very involved pool owner to keep it right. Salt systems do need to paid attention to, but in the scheme of things, is far better than Chlorine. Outside of your concern for your marcite finish, salt is by far the easiest method of maintaining a clean and safe aquatic environment. We spec salt systems all the time for hotels and nearly all of our residential clients for a whole host of reasons. A short list is below. •Yes, depending on the amount of calcium in your water you may find that scaling will appear on your pool surface if you have a plaster pool. A salt system attracts calcium to the titanium plates and then can discharge it back into the water. This excess calcium can result in a buildup on the pool surface. I have found this to be most common in self cleaning salt systems. •The salt content in a saltwater pool is about the same as the salt content in the human body. It definitely does not harm pool equipment. Here are some of the advantages of having a saltwater pool: No toxic chemicals to buy, store and handle; No stinging eyes and no chlorine smell; Lower maintenance. The main disadvantage of salt water pools is that it reduces the revenue generated by pool chemical sales. Aside from the initial setup cost I don't think there are any disadvantages in salt water pools They feel better to swim in according to many people and you don't have to worry about constantly having to handle chlorine. and now that you can get alternative salts to sodium chloride in Magnesium and Potassium chloride you can even water your garden with the backwash which can be a boon with some of the water shortages we are experiencing. Saltwater pools are cheaper to maintain. No need to buy liquid chlorine and slug it home from the store. You do not have the harmful effects of chlorine i.e eating elastics out of your suits, friendly to dyed hair, excellent for light skin disorders. Your hair is softer as salt used is water softening salt. Be very conscious of the fact that you must make sure your pool is balanced at all times as you will have to add stabilizer. I have had a saltwater pool for 3 years and when the hot summer comes and everybody is throwing every chemical in the world at the pool trying to keep it clear, you will have peace of mind. Just like the Caribbean, but with 1/10th the salt content. You wont make a mistake going for the salt, its worth the extra monies. Good luck.