About to start working with a builder on a pool. Never owned one before. What are some ideas or tips to include? Going to also do a hot tub.

Search pool on this forum, a lot of great threads over the years. I'm sure yours will bring some good ideas as well.

How many in your family and if kids, what ages? That will help on some features .

Definitely get the cool deck sprayed on

pasquale said:

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How many in your family and if kids, what ages? That will help on some features .

Definitely get the cool deck sprayed on

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4 of us total. Kids are 5 & 7.

Ours has a shallow beach area before a step leading to pool. It's shallow enough for our dogs to stand if they fall in. There is also an umbrella hole in that shallow part. The pool itself is 3.5 - 4.5 ft deep. We also have an automatic filler. Downside is that we have a backflow preventer and it has to be inspected yearly.
+1 on the landscaping

I assume any pool builder these days will provide the second pump for the pool vacuum robot, but just in case, check for that.

A cheap thing that really adds to the aesthetics is A couple water sprays. You don't need an over the top rock wall water fall. Simple sprays at the back of the pool. That little extra bit of sound makes just sitting by the pool dramatically more relaxing.

Now a days, I think more people are going with electric pool robots vs the old school suction robots. The pros being more features, better cleaning efficiency, and not having to run a pool pump to run the robot.

We had a pool built last year and I went with the Dolphin s200, which cleans the floors and walls, and also scrubs the waterline tile. I wouldn't buy any robot through your builder, as there is usually a pretty big markup. I went through Marina Pool and Spas, which offers great pricing and free 2 day delivery. Once your pool is close to done, you might give them a call and they can help you choose the right cleaner for your pool. Note, the builder did plumb for a suction line to run a suction style cleaner, but given all the features they cram into the new robots, I don't see us ever going that route.

I was told by many to go with a lighter colored pool plaster, especially in Texas, otherwise you'll be fighting an uphill battle to keep the water cool in the summer. You might also consider a variable speed pump. This is especially true if you happen to go with a saltwater chlorine generator, but even if not, it could save you on your energy bill.

Avoid acute angles and tight corners wherever possible.

Thanks for the great suggestions. Any thoughts on an In-floor cleaning system? The builder has a Paramount PCC2000 in our current quote.

+1 on the robot pool cleaner as well... just got rid of the old suction Polaris because it kept getting stuck and would only clean up the large items (branches, leaves). The robot cleans up dirt as well and gets in more places.

Plan to spend $2-$4k on new irrigation and landscaping after the pool is done. Don't try to get 'colored' concrete, if they have to do multiple pours, it won't match. Rock salt finish is what we did and it's fine. May add a cool deck some day, for my deck it was $5k more. I spent an extra $7k on a larger deck.

Some people buy a stand alone hot tub for $3-4k instead of the $10k+ the builder charges...we opted for a bigger pool and no hot tub.

I trust your 5 year old can swim like I fish, I waited until all mine could...

Depending on where you live, heater for the pool to extend season.

jg07 said:

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Thanks for the great suggestions. Any thoughts on an In-floor cleaning system? The builder has a Paramount PCC2000 in our current quote.

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All of the builders we spoke with did not recommend them. They said that they were good in sandy climates, but not good for leaves. We have a lot of trees, so we went with the recommendations of the builders.

Another vote for the pool cleaning robot. That thing is a champ and does a much better job than the suction polaris unit we had.


We bought a house with a pool and converted it to salt water chlorine generator. I love how easy it is to maintain and just dump some salt in the deep end once and awhile. I would also echo the comments about additional decking, the more the better.


Our pool had a built in hot tub and I honestly fell like its a waste. When we resurface the pool we are going to have the wall separating the two cut out to create more seating. I also didnt see the point of a heater so I removed our busted one. I didn't think it would really extend the pool season all that much. Id much rather have a pool chiller

The beach entry is ideal for toddlers to splash around but after that it is a huge pain because the robot, she don't clean beach entries. When it is time to resurface we will be getting rid of ours.

I have a Paramount in floor cleaning system, installed 2 yrs ago, and it's ok but you should plan to still do some sweeping in several spots around the perimeter of the pool. I second the comment re: good for dirt debris but not for leaves/twigs. I didn't want to deal with taking a Polaris in/out and the hose with it so opted for the Paramount since we have no trees around our pool; otherwise, I would may not have done it. Although I do think it helps circulate water more efficiently so balancing chemistry and heating the pool I think has some associated benefits, too.

I would also recommend the variable speed pump which can circulate water at low speed using very little power which again I think helps with maintaining chemistry. We have a separate (single speed) pump for our water features which is optional but did come in handy when our variable drive went out as I could still move water with the second pump until main filter pump was repaired.

We also did Aqua Bright surface instead of any aggregate which we really like but can't comment on long term durability. I've seen/heard widely varying opinions on it but hard to tell legit from builders who don't offer it downplaying it's value.

Edit to correct "2 hrs" to "2 yrs"

We built our first pool along w/a new home and moved in this past fall.

I've only used the pool once because I haven't heated it yet, but we do use the hot tub.

We installed the PCC2000. At first we noticed some areas it wasn't cleaning that I think was where some of the pebbles from the initial build had built up and fallen. After a while those stopped accumulating and so far the IFC has been great.

I do anticipate the occasional trip in w/the vacuum, but so far so good. There are not nor will there ever be trees that drop leaves. We did spartan Junipers all around. There's a live oak at one of the the yard but It'll be 20 years before any chance of it being close enough to drop leaves.

We did it because we built a small pool and didn't want to deal w/dodging a robot or taking it out all the time.

We did a lap/play pool. 32 feet X 10, 1 foot dam, 5 x 10 spa. Its 3.5 feet at the base of the ledge/steps on 1 end, 5ft in the middle, and 4ft at the base of the dam. The spa has seating on 3 sides. Its awesome to stand in the spa, arms rested on the dam, firepit directly behind.

Concrete deck pads w/rock salt finish. The framing for the pads costs a bit, but its a lot cheaper than travertine or whatnot. We also liked the modern look.

SWG due to apparently simpler maintenance and better on the skin. We also had the build put an auto-fill connected to a house spigot. They argued against it due to it being difficult to find leaks, but I'll deal w/that when the water bill comes. I had zero desire to have to drop a hose in weekly or find someone else to do it when we go out of town.

Pic from before we moved in. Still haven't gotten around to putting in river rock. We'll also replace the lava rock in the firepit w/fireglass, probably blue or teal to mimic the pool tile. There's also spartan junipers behind the sitting areas at each end. All trees have uplighting which is awesome at night.

While the shade is nice don't build it under trees