Yes he's correct. Probably $85k for that pool plus landscape.

I've got mermaid pools coming over for a quote on Friday. I'll be interested to see what the quote is. We will almost certainly do all 90 degree angles and not much other craziness.

Really just curious, are most of you financing or are financially well off you have $60k-$120k in cash laying around to spend on a pool? I have no idea how this works with people with this type of disposable income. Yes I'm an lol poor.

I am going to look at various financing options including refi. I cant stomach shelling out that much cash.

IDaggie06 said:

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Really just curious, are most of you financing or are financially well off you have $60k-$120k in cash laying around to spend on a pool? I have no idea how this works with people with this type of disposable income. Yes I'm an lol poor.

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You don't have $120k laying around to spend on toys? I'm with you. I was hoping a decent pool was more in the $40-60k range. We aren't in a spot to justify essentially lighting $60-100k on fire (after netting out the slight increase to your home value), financially speaking.

But even if it was $40-60k, we would be financing at least a good chunk of it, for the same reason Sea Speed mentioned.

Anecdotally, in my part of Houston, homes with pools are selling at a decent premium to where you'll recoup a substantive part of your costs fairly quickly. Although if looking to sell quickly, maybe not the best way to spend money.

Also, check out Lyon Financial. We did a loan through them. Rates are a bit higher now, but 3 years was 2.99 when we did it as I also didn't want to put that much cash out right away.

Thought I'd add to the comments to show how crazy pricing has become on pool/patio work.

Here's what I had installed at our current home (Cypress, TX) in 2003.
Freeform pool with wall (sheer descents) and 7 foot elevated round spa.
Pool area 650 sq ft - overall dimensions 38 feet by 22 feet
Depth : 3' 6" to 6 feet deep
Volume: 25,000 gallons +/-

Also had around 1,000 sq ft of aggregate decking around the pool. Included area drains from garage and house to street.

White plaster, brick coping. Nothing fancy at the time. Traditional pool.

All Pentair equipment. 400,000 BTU gas heater. Polaris pool cleaner with booster pump.

Final cost for the pool was $ 33,988

(we initially took out home equity loan - 15 years - to cover the cost of pool - paid off early when we had the cash)

Just had the same pool re-plastered and new tile back in the fall of 2021.
used nicer tile and went with a light blue quartz plaster.

Cost was $ 16,390 (roughly half the cost of original pool 18 years later)

In 2008 we added a covered extension to the house (outdoor kitchen/entertaining area)
around 24' X 20' attached to house - gable roof
Includes electrical (power, lights, fans, etc) cable/ethernet and natural gas (cooktop)
10 feet of counter top with cabinets

Final cost for the covered patio area was $ 16,150

Based on what y'all are quoting I can't imagine what it would cost to do this again from scratch.... Good luck.

How much do yall reckon the pool at this house cost to build?

https://www.sothebysrealty.com/eng/sales/detail/180-l-890-b8gcfn/9-rue-parker-boerne-tx-78006

I think that is Tony Parkers place, so the pool probably cost 1 nba championship.

It is his place. That pool would cost like 5 million today.

Another data point. This was under $60K with travertine decking, no heater, no tub, back in 2017. Built by Waterside Poolscapes.

This is not cheaper. It cost more for sttaighline than free form.

Really?

Yep free form is cheaper because they don't have to be as precise.

Boo Weekley said:

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Has anyone done this recently? I know it's not a smart investment at all so not really looking for a lecture, but wondering how much one would expect something nice-but-not-too-fancy like the below to run these days? A friend of mine was saying you are looking at $80k minimum for a basic pool, which is hard to believe, but wanted to check with the H-Tine-Hold-It-Dine braintrust.

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Is that in new territory?

bularry said:

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Boo Weekley said:

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Has anyone done this recently? I know it's not a smart investment at all so not really looking for a lecture, but wondering how much one would expect something nice-but-not-too-fancy like the below to run these days? A friend of mine was saying you are looking at $80k minimum for a basic pool, which is hard to believe, but wanted to check with the H-Tine-Hold-It-Dine braintrust.

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Is that in new territory?

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No clue but it does look like HTine burbs. Just googled something like "cost to build swimming pool in Houston".

oh, ****, thought it was a pic of your house or something. used to know someone that lived out there and their back yard looked exactly like that....

We put in a pool without a hot tub, heater, travertine coping, pebble tech, and landscaping. We cut cost by using pavers for decking and manual pool light. Cost was about 60k last March. Basically, 26x13, non geometric.

Just got done putting in a 14,500 gallon pool w/ hot tub, covered patio w/ kitchen in Fulshear using Laguna. It was $135k. We didn't get all the bells and whistles but we also didn't do it on the cheap. Broke ground on 11/1 and just finished up everything this week. They were the lowest out of 3 serious bids we got. I would recommend them.

2 visits so far and looking like proces will be around 60 for a mid 300 sq ft pool with approximately same amount of decking heated pool. One company recommends free-form and another wants geometric to maximize space in the yard. There are some interesting lines and angles that parts if my house and garage make, so I can see why they recommend free-form. I want to see what a geometric design will look like though.

Due to the easements we have though I'm pretty annoyed at where the equipment would need to be.

How loud is everyone's equipment including heater. Ours would be outside our bedroom wall.

It's loud enough that you will notice when it kicks on, assuming you have a window on the same wall. Ours is outside my daughter's wall with a window and it's a noticeable hum when it's running.

There is a window but also a closet on the wall. Doesnt it mostly run during the day though? Will it be obnoxious at night? Is the heater really loud?

You can program it to run whenever. I run mine at night. Can't speak to the heater.

Roger that, thanks.

Anyone have any questions I should be asking builders that I might not be thinking of?

We only run ours during the day. However, this cold snap has everything on it running for the last 20 hours or so. It is right outside the mbr, just opposite where the headboard is. Didn't notice a damn thing. Maybe slight white noise, but not a hinderance to sleep. A positive if anything. With temps low again, I will get another night to evaluate, but I am on second beer, so tonight might not be a good night to judge if things keep progressing.

I don't run the pool pump at night, but I can hear it during the day from the bedroom (if all else is quiet), and the equipment is about 75 feet away. I'm hard of hearing too. You'll hear it for sure if it's outside your bedroom wall. Depends on when you run it. I run ours 8-10 hrs during the day.

Maybe they have quieter pumps out there, I don't know.

I would say this, if you could find a different spot for the equipment, maybe you could add some French doors from bedroom to backyard/pool area (if you don't have one already). We took out a window and put in French doors, now we can see the pool and let the dog out from the bedroom. Looks really nice.

We have a 3 window cove that i would REALLY like to incorporate a door in to. The equipment wouldn't hinder that. Installing the equipment elsewhere would require something like 100 feet of extra plumbing and power run. Not worth the cost I dont think. The 2 easements really screw me.

Sea Speed said:

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Roger that, thanks.

Anyone have any questions I should be asking builders that I might not be thinking of?

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My 2 cents: you may ask about fencing (many PB tear it down during the build but do not include replacement in cost) and lawn irrigation if you have it. Make sure they fix it and tune it to fit the new yard config.

Fencing was one of the things I talked about as well as drainage. No irrigation. Thank you for the tips. I have a feeling the little side projects that can tangentially tie in to the pool are going to get that proce creeping up.

Also I would say have the overflow drain run to the curb.

That was part of what we were discussing as well, and tying gutters in to it and I have a little side yard where that drainage will run and I want it to be covered in gravel and fenced off because nothing will grow there and it is a mif pit otherwise. Thsts one of the things that will be adding to my costs I'm sure. The drainage to the curb and tying in the gutters was included in the package with at least one of the people I spoke with today.

Many PB cut corners to reduce price but it sounds like they are covering the things with you that could add up little by little.

Sea Speed said:

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Roger that, thanks.

Anyone have any questions I should be asking builders that I might not be thinking of?

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Assume you will have Variable Speed pumps. The tend to be quieter than traditional pumps.

Regarding the easement
Who has the easement on your property? CenterPointEnergy? For gas/electric?
Do you have a line fuse or transformer box on the easement?
How much of your pool equipment pad will encroach on the easement? 1foot? 6 foot?

You can submit to the easement holder permission to encroach on their easement. Will need a certified property plat. There is a process for review.

I was able to set part of my pool equipment pad on their permanent easement. After review they granted me permission to encroach. I have a recorded survey and easement from Centerpoint to be there so there is no issues w title in the future ( sell the house) .

Cost me time (6 weeks) and money ($1,500) for surveys, fees, etc but I was able to put my pool equipment behind garage/out of the way. Our equipment pad encroached less than 2 feet on their easement.

Wow that is huge. I'm sure its electric thst has the easement due to the fact that there is an ugly ass box in the back corner of the yard that is an absolute eyesore. Its all sinking in to the ground and I wish they would fix it. If we were going to put it behind the garage which would be ideal it would encroach about a foot on to a 10 foot easement. That is what I presume is electric. If I were to put it on the side of the house it would be 2 feet in to a 5 foot easement. I'm not aware what utilities are over there.

The problem with the garage is the super massive long run for everything to get back there. The side of the house cuts down significantly on gas and power runs. This is where I would prefer it. Where do I look up who controls the easement?

This is super valuable info to me, I think I should start checking in to this. Thank you so much.

Look on your property plat that you received from the title company. It will identify easement holders

And just because you ask doesn't mean they will grant you the right to encroach. Each situation is different- they will send someone out to see the impact of your project.

I was fortunate. I share half of a 16' CenterPoint easement w my neighbor. Most all the gas and electric were buried on the "other" side of the fence. He has the "box" in his yard.

We built our pool in 2003.

Fell free to DM me with specific questions.