wanttoswim

I am leary of this method due to my age, but if my jets break down and I don't want to spend the megabucks to fix them, I will go to your method. I finally bought the Alaglass pool as it s manufactured close by. Installation of pool itself went well and the water is so perfectly level! But there is no deck yet. I drastically understimated this cost and until I find out for sure whether concrete might be in fact cheaper than wood, the pool just sits there. They don't come out and train you until you have your decking complete (my responsibility). But the weather here has been so very cold that it has probably saved me megabucks in the initial startup heating, so I'm not complaining yet. I wish I knew how to copy a picture into this text. Thanks for advice. This is a wonderful forum for us newbies. Because of the articles I read here, I believe I got the best spa for my money and my location. It is just beautiful. Looks like a mini swimming pool. I just can't wait til it is up and running. I wanna swim!

Nice private location. I have been trying to post a picture of my swim spa installation. I can't seem to copy the picture in. Can you tell me how to do it? Thanks

We bought a swim spa from Alaglass as the manufacturer was close to us. They offer it as both a pool or the spa. It is 9 x 17 and 4 1/5 feet deep. Looks like a mini pool or a very large bathtub! We also looked at San Juan and Florida North. Both offered the same pool. Our installation is not yet complete. It was going to be a stand alone and what they did was build extra reinforcement right into the fiberglass. It looks like covered up 2x4's or something for the extra bracing. Our site is on a hillside and it turned out that they were able to put it almost completely inground, which has the advantage of holding in the heat better, I hope. I wonder if your structure can hold the weight of all those gallons of water? It might be about 30,000 pounds of weight total. At each of the companies I looked at mentioned above, you could get just the pool or the swim spa package. It is about twice as much to get the swim spa package. Hope this info helps and good luck with your project.

The installer said that water weighs 8 pounds per gallon and that with my lot on a slope it would have to pump much harder to get the water up a 3 foot grade. Also, by the time I noticed what he was doing, he had already dug more hole for the pipes to go into the pool. Then he made a ledge at least a foot higher than the top of the pool and set 3 plastic pads on it and the equipment on the pads. Aside from that, I did not realize that I would have to "interact" with this equipment on a daily basis to turn stuff on and off, like the fiber optic light and check filters. It would have been awkward for me to get to this stuff all the time in the spot I had planned them. But if I had known ahead of time, i.e., salesman sitting down with me to discuss options here, we could have come up with a better place, if it is untrue that it wouldn't work very good to have the Badu pump go about 12 feet and make 2 turns. This may have been the only place to effectively place the equipment. My point is to others that they may be able to do a better job than I did in the planning of the pool placement. The heater came with the pool. I don't know if this particular company even offered a heat pump. Pools that did offer one charged about $2000 extra for it. I used to heat my house with a heat pump and we were always cold, so we got a wood stove to supplement. Now we heat with gas and use the wood stove to save on the gas bill! Thanks for your info. Hope my info is helpful to others to think it out better than I did.

I just had my swim spa installed and thought I'd give a few pointers to those interested in this item. I bought this from Alaglass in SC because they are close to where I live. Everything was done on time. However, even though I thought I had researched everything, I was very surprised with what I received. This is a 2,000 gallon tub with a gas heater. I had not anticipated how big all the pumps, heater and other stuff were. The pool was installed beside the house, almost in the front yard, but a privacy fence is planned and it should have looked nice. But they installed all the equipment in the front yard! I thought it would go in the back under the deck, but they said it had to be higher than the pool for the Badu jets to work well. I don't know if that is true. They wanted the jets piped direct perpendicular to the pool. If I had known that, I could have had the pool turned around! Everything was included in the price except the gas hook-up. I didn't think that would cost much as we already have a line in the house close to the pool. Well, the bid is $450! I thought maybe $200. So I have the added cost of that plus about $300 or more of building an additional fence to hide the equipment. Then there is the yard cleanup. I don't know what that will cost as I haven't even begun to think of a landscaper to clean up the mess that was left by the tractor tires, even though they were rubber. By the way, the gas man said that I would probably have to pay $200 or more in winter months to heat these 2,000 gallons. I had been told by at least 3 different spa dealers that average cost of running a swim spa would be about $35 a month. When I called my salesman today he said the $35 doesn't include heat! What is a spa without heat! In addition to this, the jets on the spa part only feel like a garden hose. They are not therapy at all. So some things are nice and some aren't. These are the unmentioned things you need to consider before you buy. I am still glad I got a swim spa, but I may have picked a different one if I had known all this stuff. I did go to see this but unfortunately, no dealers of any brands could give me names of clients who had bought and the factory model held water but they didn't have heater on or anything I could check out except to just visually see it. I would insert a picture but I couldn't get it to paste in. Hope this has been helpful to someone.

I am also looking for a cover for my swim spa. The brochure says outside dimensions are 9'1" x 17'1" and inside is 8'1" x 16'1". In addition it is oval shape. Does the cover "float" on water, meaning I use the ID or should I go with the OD where it would sit on top. I haven't found a site that makes this dimension. What should I look for in a cover? I am very tempted to just buy 4 pieces of 4x8 styrofoam at Home Depot to sit on top of the pool. We don't have snow to worry about. Would the foam work OK? That would be $40 compared to maybe up to $1000, and also would be light weight. If foam would work, how thick should it be? If it needs to be thicker than the <1/2" I could also buy twice as much and double each piece by gluing them together. Maybe I could paint the foam to protect it from getting water logged. Any suggestions appreciated.

I have done a search and have found a lot of pictures. But I can't really "see" where the fiber optic lights are. If anyone knows of a good example on the net for me to see, let me know.

Yes, I can choose either one at no extra charge. I have never seen the fiber optic lights. All the colors sound like it could be kind of tacky. Remember, this pool is 9 x 17" only. The LED in the water would look nice at one end and would probably light up most of the pool. But I don't know how often the bulb needs to be changed, and also the fiber optic lights have been said to be safer. So I was just wanting opinions of which would look better. I do realize that right now fiber optic would be more "valuable" monetarily since either is free and these usually cost more, but I can't get a feel for how nice they would look.

My pool is chosen, now for the little stuff. I can have either the fiber optic lights or LED. No extra charge for whichever I pick. I need to decide right away which one for my fiberglass swim spa. I have tried to find pictures on the net, but they don't really show me what this is. I understand that there are fiber strands that light flows through, but how does the lighting attach to the pool? I'm just ignorant of all the new stuff out there. Anybody with opinions of which is the better in the long run, let me know. I want something that makes my giant bathtub look pretty at night, but I don't want it to break down. And I don't want it to leak. Thanks for opinions.

Thank you so much for confirming what the salesman at Alaglass told me. He has sent his contract and I will probably sign with them by the weekend. I am so excited. This is a lifetime dream coming true! I will be getting the benefit of a pool and a spa for a fraction of the cost and upkeep. I will let you know how it all turns out. It should be completed within the next month if all goes well. Let me tell you, January is the time to buy folks. The companies will give discounts or free stuff and have the time to do it quickly and at a good price. Thanks again every one of you who answered questions for me. I do want to swim!

I am still in search of my ideal swim spa. Will probably go with Alaglass as they are close by. I actually went to their plant to see one. What bothered me was that there is no insulation on the pool. It comes with heater and jets, etc., just like a hot tub. The pool is just 9 x 17'. Seems like if insulation is such an issue with hot tubs that it would be necessary on a fiberglass pool to help control the power bills. The salesman said that since the pool is installed inground that no insulation is needed. However, even though I will kind of have mine installed mostly inground, it will not be covered up with dirt around the sides and will have decking. What are your thoughts about me insulating it before they build the deck. Would this be beneficial to me? Seems like I could just go to Home Depot and buy some kind of insulation and it might help the heating costs. Dealer said that the fiberglass is thick enough that it is its own insulation! As always, appreciate anyone's experience. There is just not much info about swim spas.

I went to see the pool today and another salesman there said something about the heat. But this swim spa comes with a gas heater, which heats faster. But this guy didn't mention heating too fast, he just said don't heat over 100 degrees. He also said this particular model holds 2000 gallons of water. It is a 9 x 17 x 4'6". Other swim spas this size say they hold 3400-3500 gallons. None of the places I have contacted can give me any references to go see installations within 200 miles of my home in SC. I don't want an 'endless pool', can't afford a D1 or Sundance swim spa. My DH just wants me to forget the project altogether. I guess I am very ignorant. I thought there would be some kind of regulations or standards to be met in something like this. Anyway, thanks for your info. I will keep it in mind.

I am still shopping for a fiberglass swim spa. One salesman told me that you shouldn't heat a fiberglass pool over 96-98 degrees or it will damage the gel coat and void warantee. He also said if you heat the water in a fiberglass pool too quickly it will damage the pool surface. He also said a salt system in a 3400 gallon swim spa is overkill (not necessary on fiberglass) and not worth it. Any comments? Another company said you can heat his to the 104 degrees recommended with no damage to fiberglass, and he is currently pushing free salt systems. How do I know who to believe? Thanks for advice

With 49" you end up with actual water depth of 43", only waist high and not high enough for water arobics.