What you need to know
Before you start
How much will it cost?
In South Florida, prices for a complete package; swimming pool, decking, electrical upgrades and so on. In general, you can expect a range from $50k to $100k depending if it is a standard base model or the luxury model with all the bells and whistles, just like a new car might be. You can spend as much as you want with all the add ons and upgrades.
Speaking of upgrades, the two biggest things to watch for are tile and decking. When getting a pool quote are they giving you the most basic (cheapest) tile on the market currently, and expect to upsell you later on? Or, are they also including higher grade glass tiles for you to choose from? The difference can be thousands of dollars. Same goes for deck material. Are they quoting you the cheapest paver possible to present you a quote with the lowest price possible to get your business?
Surprise! Your home needs an upgraded electrical panel that is going to cost you several thousands of dollars. Did your sales person forget to mention that? Did the sales person even bother to look at your electrical panel when you meet at your home? Of course, that is not always the case, but wouldn't it be nice if someone would have mentioned it to begin with in the original quote.
What about Financing?
Yes, swimming pool financing is available and affordable! Make sure you use a specialty finance company that invests in swimming pool financing and not your local bank. You can also request a HELOC with a financial institution. There are many possibilities. For example, zero down payments, +/- $500 to $1,000 monthly is common over 10, 15, or even 30 years.
What do you need to get a quote?
If you are going to spend the time and energy getting multiple quotes and doing designs for a pool. It probably would be a good idea to get a copy of your survey of your property in advance. What you are looking for is exact property lines and what the setbacks are. A “setback” is exactly how close you can build to your neighbor and easements. You would hate to go through permitting while doing all the work, time, and money only to find out you can't build a pool in your backyard or the location you wanted and you have to start over from scratch. In fact, if your salesperson is not asking for it upfront right away, then there is a problem. They just want to sell you a pool and you will have to figure it out yourself later on.
What about Transparency?
Who are you working with? Are you contacted by a salesperson or the owner? It's important because a sales person is on commission to sell you so they may leave some very important information out. The pool builder owner is going to tell you everything possible up front so there is zero surprise at the end of the project. Even if it kills the sale. Because it is more important for an owner to make sure the homeowner is happy and get referral business. For the pool builder it makes more financial sense to give you the bad news up front, that you may need a new breaker box and a new fence at the beginning than have to surprise you later.
Reasonable Timelines.
From the time you sign the contract and put down your deposit to having water in your pool can vary greatly depending on the project/contractor/city location/variables. You should expect 4-6 weeks for the design stage and getting through permitting. Once you are on schedule for a dig date. You can expect 12 weeks minimum before having water in your pool. We have seen many builders take 9-12 months or more to physically build a pool. In addition, once you have water in the pool that DOES NOT mean that you can swim in your brand new pool. The pool plaster has to cure for at least a couple weeks before it is safe to swim. The pool builder will normally maintain the pool for the first 30 days before turning it over to you. So overall you should expect the entire process to take 4-6 months depending on many variable factors.
You have Options.
Are you being offered all available options or are you being upsold later? One of the things I hear after the pool has been built is “I didn't know that was an option we could do. If I did, I would have gone with it. I guess it is to late now.” I find most people at least want the option to say “No”. So do you want/need automation? That alone can add or subtract thousands of dollars. People do a lot of talking, but in my humble opinion you 100% want to have a salt system installed for your pool. Whoever might quote you without is probably coming in with a low price, however they are not looking out for your best interests and I would question whether they are the right company to work with.
What about Contract and Addendums?
Most people believe everything needs to be finalized and agreed upon before signing the contract. In fact, in any build there are redesigns and addendums after the fact. If you know what you want on day one when the pool builder is there and you sign a contract that is helpful but not required. The next few weeks your design can go through many changes before the design is perfect and submitted to permitting. Maybe the pool needs to be moved a few feet, add more lights, resized, or you want to add some fire bowls? No problem, the builder will do an addendum to make the changes and you keep going with the project. This should not stop you from putting down a deposit and doing the paperwork to get the process started.
Deposit and Schedule of Billing.
NEVER, pay a large portion of the job upfront. You may have heard about horror stories about pools builds gone wrong. This is a way to get scammed out of money and a hole in the backyard that never gets finished.
A reputable builder requires a 10% deposit to get the process going. For the builder, there is a lot of upfront cost in design, drafting, engineering, and permitting that the deposit covers. From that point forward some builders break down the schedule of payments over the course of the pool building built, however many are “front-loading” the payments so they get as much as possible in the beginning. Something you need to watch out for. Yes, it is standard for a small final payment at the end to protect yourself that the job was completed to your satisfaction.
Exclusions.
Even after you found the perfect builder, the perfect pool design with all the right options, and at the perfect price. You will still have some additional costs to consider that the pool builder will not include in their formal quote.
Replacement of any sod in the pool area and access. Fencing and/or pool alarms are a must per code. If you have an existing fence already, it may need to be upgraded, or removed and replaced to allow access. Costs of capping and relocating sprinklers. Maybe even screen and shutter removal. Anything that is in the way of excavation and access to the jobsite, which may even include your neighbors yard.
What is available?
Everything - is the short answer. Most expert pool builders can custom build anything you want. If you can dream it and afford it, there is no limit on what can be done. Most of the time when we meet a homeowner, they generally have an idea of what they want. We create a design and quote based on that idea. Then what happens is the homeowners go online and start seeing what other people have built. There are some incredible pools out there that other people have built! Of course we can start over, redesign and requote. Nothing wrong with that. Just time and money.
New Pool Construction Guide
What to Expect
You've gathered your survey, compared some quotes, approved your drawings, secured your finances and signed on with Hang 10 Pools for a New Pool Build! First of all, congratulations on the big step to owning a new backyard oasis! However, knowledge is power and we want to empower you to making the best decisions and understanding the process of building and owning a swimming pool.
Next, The Elephant in the room. Here comes the brutal truth, your pool construction project is not going to be only sunshine and rainbows and it's not going to be as fun or as pretty as the design process was.
Construction work is dirty, messy, and jumbled timelines with a hint of rushing. No need to stress though, our team builds pools for a living. We try to stay in good communication through the process but please understand that we do a lot of work behind the scenes with permitting offices, inspections and scheduling that often don't warrant an update each time. Having a helpful timeline in advance should alleviate worries about your pool project getting forgotten.
As your pool builder we have entered into a lasting relationship that goes beyond just the few months it takes to complete your swimming pool build. We will be around to fix any warranty issues for the duration and often even end up building our client's next pool done the road. The pool construction process can be stressful if you let it, but a level of trust between both parties must exist in order to maintain a healthy business relationship. We take pride in our finished product, and we want you to have the best possible hand crafted pool.
Something to acknowledge, our work isn't 100% perfect...ever. Currently there doesn't exist a machine that can produce a custom pool but our team and crew is very talented and have decades of experience building beautiful swimming pools. We try our very best on every project that we take on to do a wonderful job and earn your referral business in the future. Some of our pool builds will have a blemish or imperfection here and there and when it arises we put in a work order and send out team members to rectify the issue and appease the customer.
Having a realistic expectation of your pool outcome is important. Even the pools you see on Pinterest have some imperfection somewhere that only the homeowner knows about as each one is unique and hand crafted by literal Artisans who make their living with this craft. We aim to be perfect.
Known issues arise from Colored Pool Finishes and Decking with Sand Underlayment.
These options are also the most popular choices consequentially. Colored pool finishes tend to show blemishes, imperfections and trowel marks more obviously than traditional white based finishes. The darker the plaster color, the more obvious it can be. Be aware that it doesn't happen every time, but occasionally weather, water, or unforeseeable Acts of God may play a part in the appearance of imperfections and that is the gamble one must make.
It is more cost effective to use compacted paver sand and lay your decking material on top, as concrete underlayment is charged by the square foot. Thus, many folks tend to choose this option and are disappointed when pavers begin to shift or sink. When pavers shift or sink, they can incur stress fractures, cracking, and chipping and will often need to be reset professionally.
A note on decking: since we live in South Florida, we basically build our residences on top of a large sinkhole covered by sugar sand. Once it begins to rain, this water will find it's way through cracks and erode the sand away beneath the pavers. If you choose sand underlayment, you will need to adjust your decking at some point in it's lifetime. Even though your decking material will be level and picture perfect on installation day, you can expect the ground to settle and the edges to be uneven by a few millimeters in various areas. This is the consequence of choosing sand underlayment to save money on the initial build.
Honesty and communication and very important for understanding your pool and setting realistic expectations. If I were to promise you a perfect pool and deck, you would eventually grow disappointed or even irate when these issues arose. We do our very best to create a wonderful pool experience and want you to feel knowledgeable and empowered in your purchase.
Lastly, your yard and likely your neighbors yard are going to suffer collateral damage. Depending on the amount of access there is to your backyard, our huge machinery is very heavy and the treads and tracks are going to demolish any sod in their way, especially in wet conditions. On this note, there will be various loads of gravel and sand that get dumped into piles throughout the process and look quite ugly. This is necessary for grading and will be leveled prior to the decking phase. You will need to budget for obtaining sod for your yard and possibly your neighbors yard as you are the responsible party. Fences may need to be removed so that they do not get damaged during construction.
You will need a barrier of some sort to pass final inspection.
We try our best to protect sidewalks and driveways with plywood from the heavy machinery, but sometimes they get damaged. Things like underground piping or sprinklers that are discovered may create additional work.
There is a lot of various debris throughout the process and we do our best to consolidate it into neat piles. The cleanup of your yard is scheduled after decking towards the end of your project. This is the final time that there is broken pieces that accumulate, but also there may be water bottles from the crew if no trash can is provided on site. We schedule a crew member with a dump truck or trailer to arrive and remove all debris and materials at this time.
Following this initial disclaimer on your pool, let's talk about the Pool Construction Timeline and payment due dates for progress draws.
Pool Construction Timeline
Phase 1- Drawing / Design / Engineering / Sealed Plans: Typically 2 weeks, but up to 2 Months depending on revisions. Payment 10% deposit is due on signed contract.
Phase 2- Permitting: Up to 6 weeks Depending on the County. We routinely check in for updates to try and get pushed to the top of the list.
Phase 3 - Excavation: 1 week to schedule, 1 day to perform. Payment 22% of the project is due prior to digging / forming.
Phase 4 - Steel: Immediately after excavation our crew is scheduled to form the steel structure of the pool and add drainage rocks.
Phase 5 - Inspection: Up to 2 days depending on the county.
Phase 6 - Gunite: Up to 2 weeks for scheduling the Gunite crew. 1 day to complete molding the concrete shell of your pool. Payment 22% of the project is due prior to shooting the pool.
Phase 7 - Tile Selection: At this time you visit our showroom to choose your tile from the current selections that are in stock.
Phase 8 - Pool Strip: Our team arrives to remove the wood from your pool form.
Phase 9 - Backfill: Up to 1 week to schedule, 1 day to perform.
Phase 10 - Plumbing: Up to 1 week, Up to 2 days to perform.
Phase 11 - Inspection: Up to 2 days.
Phase 12 - Deck Grade: Up to 1 week to schedule, 1 day to perform.
Phase 13 - Brick & Tile: Up to 1 Week to Schedule, Up to 1 Week to Perform. Payment 22% of total project is due prior to this Phase.
Phase 14 - Deck Bond: Up to 2 days to schedule, up to 1 day to perform.
Phase 15 - Inspection: Up to 2 days to schedule, 1 day to perform.
Phase 16 - Install Footer: Up to 5 days to schedule, 1 day to perform.
Phase 17 - Inspection: Up to 2 days to schedule, 1 day to perform.
Phase 18 - Decking: Up to 1 week to schedule, 1 week to complete. Payment 22% is due prior to the Decking Installation.
Phase 19 - Equipment Set: Up to 2 days to schedule, 1 day to perform. If we aren't installing the deck, payment is due at this time.
Phase 20 - Clean Up / Final Grade: Up to 1 week to schedule, 1 day to perform.
Phase 21 - Cleanout: Up to 5 days to schedule, 1 day to perform.
Phase 22 - Electrical: Up to 1 week to schedule, up to 3 days to perform.
Phase 23 - Inspection: Barrier and Electrical. Up to 2 days to schedule, 1 day to perform.
Phase 24 - Pool Plaster: Up to 1 week to schedule, 1 day to perform. Final Payment is due prior to pool plaster application.
Phase 25 - Fire Up: 30 days of pool chemistry and start up cleaning.
Phase 26 - Pool School: Up to 1 week to schedule, 30 min to perform.
Phase 27 - Final Inspection: Up to 2 days to schedule, 1 day to perform. At this time once passed we turn over the pool to the care of the homeowner.