Building your own pool is possible. Read these tips to learn how you can build your own pool and save thousands in the process.
Believe it or not, you CAN build your own swimming pool. Having a pool was never on our radar; however, we decided a couple of years ago that maybe we could entertain the idea. The problem was that we were hit with severe sticker shock when we met with a few of the big pool companies and got quotes. A few friends had subbed out their own pools and hearing the numbers they paid, it made that route so much more enticing and we decided to go for it. Today I’m going to break the whole process down for you and share what we learned, saved, and whether or not I’d recommend it. I’ll forewarn you that this post is a little long, but there’s a lot of information that I think can be really valuable for anyone else thinking of doing this.
With so many requests for the contractors we used, I’ve included the document with the contact information. Please keep in mind that these contractors are local only to Arizona.
Design
Take some time to really think about what you want your pool to be like. If your friends and family have pools, ask them what they like or wish they had done differently with their pools. Look online at pictures for inspiration. For us, we wanted a huge baja shelf. Not only is it a perfect place for the adults to relax and watch the kids play, but it’s also a perfect place for younger kids to hang out if they can’t swim. It was something we certainly loved when our boys were little and we swam at a friend’s house. We also wanted our grotto cave to be deep. Some friends bought a house with a pool and their grotto is pretty shallow, so the waterfall constantly splashing your face while you sit in it. Ours is not only deep, but it’s tall (I can stand up in there) and the contractor put a bench on the back so you can even sit out of the water when you’re in there.
Hire someone to help you out.
If, like us, you have no clue where to start, it’s a very good idea to hire someone to help you out. A friend of a friend helped us out with our pool and it made the entire process go so much smoother. He helped us to design our dream pool, get the plans drawn up, and file the permits. He had a list of trusted contractors that he’d used in the past and we combined that with a list of contractors that we’d been given from other sources.
Get written contracts, not just verbal bids.
When the day came for us to finally break ground, the excavator showed up bright and early in the morning with absolutely no clue what he was supposed to be doing. He apparently didn’t have a copy of the pool plans anymore and didn’t even remember what he quoted us. I told him there was a spray painted outline in our yard and provided him with a drawing of the pool, then called our pool consultant and my husband in a panic as we tried to figure out why this guy had no idea what he was doing. Not a good start to the day. Our pool consultant said he thought he remembered the excavator quoting a certain price for a hard dig and just see what he came back with when he gave us a new estimate. He actually came back with a lower price that he’d originally quoted us, so I told him to go ahead and start. A written estimate/contract would have saved me a lot of headache and tears, even if we did end up paying $200 less.
When scheduling work, make sure everyone is clear on EXACTLY what is to be done and what materials they are bringing.
When the hole was dug, it was the plumber’s turn. The fact that the plumber worked for the same company as the excavator should have been our first clue that this wouldn’t go well. He said we were supposed to provide certain materials for them to do their job, which we found is not normally the case. We learned that it’s pretty important to make sure that everyone is on the same page.
Don’t be afraid to fire a contractor after they’ve started working.
The plumber had barely gotten started on his work when our pool consultant called the company and fired him. He wasn’t happy with the guy trying to charge more for little details and telling us we needed to provide some of the supplies. We ended up using another plumber who not only supplied the materials the other company didn’t, but he was also cheaper and did much better work!
If the deal seems shady, you probably don’t want to work with those people.
Again with the plumber. The guy we fired tried to pull a fast one on his boss and tried to get us to just hire him directly, since he’d already started his work. He quoted me the same price, but would throw in the extras we were going to be charged more for. I told him that we already had someone else coming to bid the job and he said he would match whatever their bid was. My gut said to get this guy off of my property as soon as possible. I wasn’t interested in negotiating with him.
Getting bids.
Some of the contractors we used came recommended by our pool consultant. Others we had to find ourselves. We asked around and got several great names from friends and others we actually got from the other contractors. The company that poured our pool deck was recommended by one of the plaster companies we talked to. Some companies do several different jobs as well, so make sure to ask them for bids on multiple steps.
Go with your gut.
I tried to make sure my husband was home whenever I scheduled someone to come out for a bid, but he wasn’t able to be home when I got the second bid for our water feature. I was in a rush to leave the house to pick my boys up from school, so our conversation was very short. That being said, his ideas and vision for the grotto and water slide combined with his price had me hiring him on the spot. My husband was a bit taken aback, but I told him he needed to just trust me on this one. Our grotto turned out beautifully and even bigger than we’d imagined! Plus this contractor stuck by his estimated price, which was a refreshing change. He actually told us if he were to do it again he would have charged us an extra $1,000. It came out even bigger than he was expecting. The fact that he didn’t showed his true character and integrity.
Not everything has to be done at once.
We learned during the process that we could stop the construction of the pool at certain points. Sometimes you need to take a step back and think about different options. Other times, you need to save up a little more money. Or, in our case, you have to stop construction until the wall around your property is built because you put it on the same permit.
Try to be flexible with design ideas and options.
You may have an idea in your head of the ultimate dream pool, but try to be open to change. There are tons of options for pools that you may not know about and when you’re spending a large amount of money, you want to make sure you’re happy with it. There were a few things during the construction process that we were really unsure about, but in the end it all came out beautifully.
Be prepared for estimates to change.
Most contractors, with the exception of our grotto contractor, will give you an open checkbook price. Basically, they’ll give you a minimum estimate but say it could be higher. Our gunnite ended up costing us $600 more than we’d originally been bid.
Cleanup.
When you use a large pool company to build your pool, they typically have a cleanup crew that does all of the cleanup work that the contractors leave behind. We didn’t realize that until my husband asked the grotto contractor about it. He said he would clean up after his work was done, but there was still a lot that we had to do ourselves. It wasn’t a big deal, but definitely something to make sure to ask the contractors about when they’re doing work.
Keep a record of all contractors, phone numbers, and receipts.
Sometimes you have to call contractors back to fix things. Other times, you have to call them back because there’s work they didn’t complete. In our case, we had to call the electricians back because somehow they forgot to mention that they didn’t install both lights in the pool. We’re still trying to figure out how that happened. Supposedly they brought the wrong light and forgot to tell us that they needed to come back to install the correct one. These were put in pre-gunnite, so they were capped to protect them from the concrete. This meant we didn’t actually find out the light was missing until almost 2 months later when the plaster company came to prep the pool for the pebble finish and they popped the cap off to find an empty hole. The electricians were called and came out the next day to fix their mistake.
Try not to let the process get you down.
It’s a headache, but the amount of money you save subcontracting it yourself definitely makes the entire process worthwhile. I was the one who dealt with the contractors the majority of the time and it sucked. I felt like I was a prisoner in my home because I had to make sure I could answer their questions and pay them when they completed their work. I hated making the really tough decisions, like where to put the umbrella sleeves, or what color tile to use. Those things are kind of permanent, so it’s hard to just redo them.
Choosing options.
We found ourselves going a bit over budget with the pool when it came to options. However, we didn’t want to regret our choices later on. The grotto/water slide was definitely the most expensive upgrade, but we wanted to have an awesome pool for our kids to invite their friends over and play. The lighting was another expensive upgrade. We chose to put lights at each end of the pool so the entire pool would be lit up at night. We also chose the color changing LED lights. At $750 each, you can see why we were so mad when the electricians “forgot” one. The tile was a slight upgrade, but we also ordered some mosaic tiles too. Our youngest only cared about having a starfish, so we ordered a few of those. My husband wanted a “Nemo” so I also ordered a clownfish mosaic. We found them on eBay at a pretty reasonable price. The pebble finish has glass beads in it as well as crushed abalone shells. The pool literally glitters when the sun hits it and we LOVE how it looks! We hated to go over budget, but we decided that these options were well worth it in the end.
In a nutshell.
The entire process of building our pool was quite an experience. It was pretty stressful at times, but now that it is done, we wouldn’t have done it any other way. We were given some pretty steep quotes from the big pool builders and it definitely gave us sticker shock. Our finished pool is actually bigger and with more options than those pool companies had designed for us. Given that our pool consultant used to work for those big pool companies, he felt pretty confident in how much we would have spent had we gone with one of them. He estimated we’d have probably spent around $80,000 on our pool, which is insane! So how much did we spend? Well, here’s the breakdown.
- Permit fees – $1,042
- Consultant fees – $2,000
- Excavation – $3,800
- Plumbing – $1,680
- Rebar – $1,100
- Electrical – $$3,327
- Shotcrete – $4,225
- Tile – $812.91
- Deck – $4,590
- Pool equpment (pumps) – $2,290
- Pebble finish – $4,400
- Grotto/waterslide – $7,300
- Mosaic tiles – $155.52
- Pool cleaning equpment – $240
- Pool fencing – $1,400
- Water truck – $553
Grand total: $38,915
Was this a lot of money? Yes! Was it what we were expecting to spend? Not at all. Could we have saved money in areas? Yes. But just like the Visa commercials, having a pool our family can enjoy for many years to come: Priceless.
While it is a lot of work, I would definitely explore the option of building your own pool. Not only are you able to have a hand in the entire process, but you also stand to save thousands of dollars. We only have two regrets. We wish we had gone with a deeper pool (8’ rather than 6’) and we wish we had included an aerator. While the waterfall does aerate the pool, it takes far more energy to run that pump that it would an aerator.
It turned out so great! Way to go! P.S. I’m super jealous about your workshop. Like, I might cry myself to sleep tonight I’m so jealous.
Lol! Thanks! It will be a process. We’re building it ourselves, so the framing probably won’t take place until the fall. It’s hard to get friends to help you build it when it’s blazing hot outside;)
That is a HUGE savings! Good for you.
Do you have any tips on finding a pool contractor if you don’t know a friend-of-a-friend…. we are in the beginning stages of determining whether a project like this could work for us too and having a go-to guy like that would make a huge difference!
I don’t know where you live, but try Googling “pool consultant” and your state, or “build your own pool consultant.” I tried those and found some helpful links. Hopefully the same will be for you! It really does help. I still had to do a lot since ours just does it on the side, but it helped to still have someone who knew what they were doing and could recommended trusted contractors.
Awesome pool. can you post dimensions? And location city state…want to compare prices with Memphis..thanks
Thanks! I’m in the Phoenix area and the pool is around 107 perimeter feet and 6′ deep.
Such an awesome savings! I love all the choices you made and totally agree it’s priceless to have such an amazing spot to make great family memories. Can’t wait to come see the pool in person 🙂
Melissa @ A Prudent Life recently posted…Bringin’ Sexy Back…To the Garage {One Room Challenge Week #1}
I can’t wait either! I’ll be sure to have cocktails waiting!!!
Your article was soooo helpful! Thank you. Did you ever consider a fiberglass pool? What made you choose gunnite? your pool turned out beautifully.
Hi Kayla,
We never even considered a fiberglass pool. I’m not entirely sure why. I don’t think it’s something many do here, so it was never on our radar.
I was surprised at how much less the pool cost you in the end. It is hard to measure the price of all the stress and hard work. The pool looks amazing. I don’t know if this is something I could even attempt to do by myself. Thanks for sharing.
This inspires me to believe that we can have our dream pool, too! Thanks so much for taking the time to share!
Thank you for sharing your experience. My wife and I are currently going through sticker shock at the potential cost of a new pool, so we’re considering other options like DIY. Your cost posting is a great reference. How much did it cost for the construction designs/drawing/ plans to pull permits and for the contractors to use? How did you find the designer that would give you appropriate plans?
I first want to say how well, your diary on the whole process, was written. I have gotten 3 different quotes on my dream pool ranging from $60K to $110K. That discouraged me completely. After reading your article and many others, it inspires me to DIY too. I live in Northern CA, I just don’t know how to research for a “pool consultant” any tips on that?
By the way, that is a lot of pool for less than $40K! GREAT JOB!!!!
Thanks so much Audrey! Sorry for the delayed response. I would try to google “pool consultant northern california” or maybe “diy pool northern california.” Keywords such as that could lead you to someone that can help. Good luck!
I am also in northern California. I just got my designs and oermita. Having hard rime with contractors though. Let me know if you want to chat. Angela4massage@yahoo.com
Hi Audrey! I live in northern Ca also near Sacramento and I’m just starting this DIY pool process. Did you ever end up completing yours? Curious who you used and if you have any recommendations. Thanks!
Tonya.fleming@yahoo.com
How’d you do / who’d ha hire for the grotto/waterside?
Thanks eh!
Rusty
We used a local, small contractor to build it. He came recommended from a friend.
How did you guys build the slide? Did you buy it partially built?
No, we hired a contractor and they built the entire slide and grotto out of concrete. It was pretty fascinating to watch a skeleton of rebar and chicken wire turn into a grotto and slide.
Love the pool! Thanks for posting tips and break down… Can’t wait to see your post on workshop!
Thanks Deborah! We’re slowly making progress on the shop. I definitely can’t wait to start working on projects in it!
Whoa, I did not know about all the costs for a pool. My wife and I would love one, but the excavation costs alone are beyond our budget. This a great little article for our preparation and budgeting.
You are braver than I. I couldn’t handle doing all the plumbing for the pool myself. Hope that you are doing well with your pool. Let me just say, I really like how it looks, the rock slide really puts it in the amazing category.
Your custom pool is beautiful, I can’t believe you did it yourself, and in only two and a half months! Thanks for sharing your experience, it is really helpful to know what you went through at each stage of the process. I might consider designing and subcontracting my own pool project, since it worked out so well for you.
We are in the Phoenix area and looking to do something very similar. Are you willing to share your contractors contact information? Great article and very informative.
Of course! Feel free to email me and I will share the info. katie@addicted2diy.com
Hey I am in Chandler and looking to build. I saw this post and while I recognize that it was a few years back I am wondering if you are still willing to share your contacts. Any help is appreciated. You have inspired my wife and I!
It is really freeing to hear that I can actually have a pool that I designed. I would have assumed that I am only able to do a pool that the contractor was able to build. With the different kidney bean and amoeba shaped pools, you can literally create any shape for your pool. Now to pick the shape.
I built the exact same pool in Phoenix, same custom grotto waterfall, all the bells and whistles, and was 8 feet at deepest. I paid 36,900 after all was said and done. I used pool company and was no hassle at all.
Jennifer: We just move to Phoenix and need a new pool in our backyard. I would love to know who you used. bertita1973@yahoo.comj
Jennifer, are you saying you hired a pool builder to do all of it from start to finish and wound up with a pool that was 2′ deeper and $200 cheaper? If so, could you please share that company’s name? I am in Arizona as well and would love to get in touch with this company.
Hi Scott,
We acted as the general contractors for the build and subcontracted it out ourselves. You can find a link with a list of all of the contractors in my post.
Katie
The pool looks awesome. I’d love to have something like that in my backyard. However, your definition of DIY seems to be rather generous. Not sure exactly what part of the build you did yourself?
That is true. We didn’t actually dig the pool. In this instance, DIY meant that we contacted the build ourselves rather than hiring a big pool contractor. We did do a few things ourselves, but most of it was the cleanup work that the crews don’t do.
Two and a half months is a super long project. But the finished pool looks incredible! I wish we could afford a pool like that.
It was a process and certainly could be done faster had we really wanted to. We weren’t in a huge hurry, though:)
OMG – contemplating the 80K *dive* until I saw this…. we may need to “chat” further!…. this is GREAT STUFF!!!!
Thanks for your post about building your own pool. That looks like it was a lot of work, but it came out great. All you need to do now is maintain your pool with the right chemicals and cleaning services. That way your investment will stay looking and working great for years to come.
Hi Katie
Would you be willing to email me a list of your recommended contractors? I’m in Phoenix area and getting ready to DIY a pool also. Thank you in advance!
Hi David,
I apologize for the delay. I’m emailing the contacts to you now.
Who drew your pool design/plans? We are in the process of drawing our own/having some do them for us.
We designed it with our pool consultant. We did a lot of spray painting on the ground to draw it all out.
That was one cool post about building a pool and saving money along with it. We have a pool in our backyard which was build by Ferrari Pools. We bought the house with the pool in it so we had not spent money in building the pool but we do have to do the swimming pool maintenance services once every year. We call the same pool for that and till now what they have charged is reasonable. Thanks for sharing this though.
its mastercard that has tag line with the word priceless on it 🙂
Wow!! Phenomenal Job you people have done @Addicted 2 DIY !!! The things you covered through post are quit impressive..I love reading all of it..actually me and my wife was thinking of pool construction..we don’t have pool..can I know the dimensions of this pool..??
Thank you Erin. It’s approximately 110 perimeter feet.
Kudos on a brilliant project! Can I hire you?!
Haha! Thank you.
Really awesome. We also built our own pool a few years ago. Overall it was a really great experience but we did learn a few things from the process that we would do differently. For example, we hired the same person to lay our coping stone as we did for our patio. That was a mistake. They had very little knowledge of coping stone work and we had to have some of it redone.
Hopefully this isn’t considered inappropriate, but we wrote up our experience as well at http://www.ourpoolbuild.com
Your pool turned out great. Nice work!!!
Nice. Thanks for all the info.
I did not know that there was so much that went into making a swimming pool. Also, I like the tip to not be scared to fire a contractor that isn’t doing a good job. If I was in charge of making my own pool I would only require the best from the contractors. I like the uniqueness of the pool with the grotto that you had installed.
What city and state did you build in? I’m trying to build in east contra Costa County CA and the contractors are difficult to find and lock into place.
We are in Arizona. We had friends who also contracted out their own pool and they gave us some referrals. Call excavation companies and ask them if they dig pools. We had the same company dig our pool as well as install the rebar. Do a google search for gunnite, pool decking, pool finishing, etc. Hopefully that helps!
This is not DIY…
In a sense, you are correct. We didn’t actually do all of the work ourselves. We did; however, contract it out ourselves and oversee the entire process, rather than hire a large pool contractor to do it for us. I guess it all depends on how you want to look at it:)
Who did u use for your grotto?
Thanks
Hi Emily, my apologies for the late reply. I will email you our contractor info.
Im not sure why this is marked DIY. Awesome pool for sure. “Profesional” looking results, as you would expect… from hiring “Professionals” !
Love the work and final product. Only thing I wish that was different is that it was in Texas! 🙂 would’ve loved to have leveraged your contact list for our project. But will take your advice on the google searches and excavation companies. we have done many remodeling projects on our own homes the same way to save thousands. we did much of the work ourselves but, come on!, a DIY project especially as large as these will require sub-contracting. You guys Rocked It!!! Don’t care what you call it! 🙂
Thanks so much Michelle! Yes, definitely do Google searches and also Craigslist! We’ve found some great contractors on Craigslist.
What an amazingly successful outcome! I imagine it to be 10 times for satisfying and just that bit more relaxing when lounging by the pool, knowing you pulled of a project thanks to your own hard work.
Congratulations Katie and kudos to you for patiently going through this extremely painful process of supervising the entire process of building the pool and you explained it all so beautifully with pictures and text. Completely loved it!
Ron Pickle recently posted…How Clogged Gutters Cause Roof Leaks
Hi Katie, just found this blog post searching for DIY pools. I am in the Phoenix area, and after getting a few quotes to build a pool, considering doing exactly what you did. Do you still have the names of the companies you used during the building process and would you be willing to share them with me? Any info you can provide would be much appreciated!!
No problem! I’ll email you with the list of contractors we used. Some of them I don’t have contact info for, but it’s mostly a complete list.
Thank you so much, I included my email address in the email box, are you able to see it, or can I post here?
Thanks again!
That’s a good deal. Definitely doing it yourself is the way to go!
Did you pour concrete too?
Thanks! No, we did not pour the concrete. We found a contractor and had them do it.
Hello,
Great pool! We are about to start our own DIY pool too 🙂 Would you be willing to share your contractor list?
Hi Missy,
I’ve just updated the post with the PDF document of the contractors we used;)
I would love to get a list of contractors you used. I am looking to build a pool in Surprise AZ. All of the bids I have received from pool builders are outrageous.
Hi Samara,
I’ve updated the post to include a PDF document with the list of contractors we used:)
Hi there! We’re planning on doing the same thing in Phoenix and would love the list of the contractors you used! Amazing pool!!
Hi Shannon,
I’ve just updated the post with the link to the PDF document of the contractors we used:)
I am planning to do the same way you did thanks for the information
Happy to help!
I love this. I’m planning a move to Temecula to my dream home in approximately two and a half years. It has a huge backyard and I’m excited about putting in a pool. I’ve been looking at designs already. I remember my parents subbed their pool out in 1962 and I believe the total costs were approx. $2,500. My dad did the concrete around the pool though. It was huge. That always stuck in the back of my mind and so now I’m going to try and do it myself also. Your articles were very encouraging. Thank you so much for posting. Maybe I’ll start my own blog when the time comes!
Could you list in order the steps you took to DIY this project? The facts on what to do, what not to do are phenomenal and wonderful info, but if someone like myself is wanting to do this (me 🙋🏻♀️ Lol) I want to know the exact steps you took to make it happen.
Hi Sharla,
The order in which to build the pool is somewhat laid out in the post. We came up with a rough design of the pool, submitted it to an engineering company to draw up the plans, submitted the plans for permits, and then went through all of the steps to have the pool built. Excavation, rebar, plumbing, electrical, shotcrete, cool deck, tile, pebble finish, fill:)
Who was the consultant that you used? Interested it tacking this ourselves too.
I don’t believe he is consulting for people anymore. He took on a new job the last we spoke to him. You can try this website: https://byop.net
From what I understand, they act as a consultant for you and can provide plans.
Thanks for taking your time to do that .I really appreciate that.. Pool looks amazing
Thank you so much for this!!! My friend and I are building a new home and plan on putting in a pool. We’ve been pool ‘shopping’ and the quotes are so high! I mentioned a friend of mine had built her pool this way and she was a bit leary of the process, but I think that she may be much more open to the idea now!!! Can you please send me the list of contractors/people you worked with? We are building in Surprise, AZ.
Thank you so much!!
Schelly A.
Mishy732002@yahoo.com
Hi Schelly,
You can find the link for the contractors in the post. I’ve updated it after getting so many requests:)
You guys sound like a royal pain in any contractors ass.
Well, we’re all entitled to our opinions, but I think we were pretty easy to work with:)
Hello Katie
I came across your DIY website while looking up information on DIY pool installation and I love what you have done with your pool, I also live in the Phoenix area and I wanted to see if you would be willing to share all of the subcontractors that you used to build your pool, I love your website and have bookmarked it as a favorite so I will be checking in on all the new things your posting.
Thank again and great job
Chad
Hi Chad,
Here is the link with the list of the contractors that we used. It’s not a complete list, but the majority are there. https://addicted2diy.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Pool-Contractors.pdf
Hi Katie,
Thank you so much for posting your pool installation experience. I’m in the beginning stages of doing the same thing (acting as our own general contractor). The quotes we got from pool contractors was definitely sticker shock. The most helpful part of your blog for me was the breakdown showing the costs for each line item. That was a HUGE HELP! Thanks for taking the time!!!!
Raquel
So glad I could be of assistance!
Hi Katie, Thank you so much for telling your story. We are going through the same sticker shock process now. Would you mind sharing the contacts of your contractors?
Thanks, Jim
Hi Jim,
You can find the link for the list of contractors in the blog post. Thank you and best of luck with your pool build!
What is the order of the individual steps? What specifically does the plumber do? Did you have leftover dirt, and what was done with it? We are buying a home in Alabama and have gotten a quote from a pool installation company. I saw your post, and am thinking we should explore this process. Thanks!
Hi Kathy,
I’m trying to remember, but I believe the steps went:
Dig, rebar, plumbing, electrical, gunnite, grotto, decking, tile, then pebble finish.
The plumber runs all of the piping to the pool for the pump, auto-fill, circulators, etc.
We did have dirt left over, but we kept it. The spot where we built our pool was a little low so we used the leftover dirt to build up the entire area around the pool to level it out.
Thanks SO much for posting this! We too are in sticker shock and hopeful to diy of dream pool. You built an amazing pool, unbelievable for under 40k$!
If you have any additional info, it would be greatly appreciated! Gorgeous pool! Thanks
Hello! Thank you for your guide and insight. I must say I am leaning more now to going this direction. We got quoted between $85K (for a 15×32 gunnite pool) to $101K (17×40 gunnite) with minimal features (just 2 bubblers with LED lights + LED lights for the pool itself).
2 questions –
1. How is your pool holding up now that it’s like 5 years old?
2. Knowing what you know now, is there anything else you would do different?
You all ROCK!
Hello! I was hoping 5 years in if you could update us as to anything you’d do different and how the pool is holding up.
I’m in the same boat currently–got a$101K price for a concrete pool the size of 17×40 with a tanning shelf. Luckily I found this website and had some friends suggest I do it myself.
I’m in the process of getting potential subs lined up to make sure they can do the job. I’m struggling some getting a structural engineer lined up to draw the plans. What was that cost for you roughy?
Hi Ryan,
My apologies for the delayed response. As for regrets, our biggest one is not putting a heat pump on it, just to extend the use of the pool in the spring and early fall. I also wish we had gone a tad deeper. Other than that, we are really happy with it.
Thank you for the response. Sorry for the double post. I wasn’t sure what was going on 🙂
My biggest delay right now is getting a structural engineer lined up. I finally found someone (can’t do byop.net as they aren’t licensed in Tennessee), but they are wanting about $4,450 for drawing up everything. This will include:
P-1 Project Cover
P-2 Plan Check Criterion (Local Agency Guidelines)
P-3 Property Site Plan (Utilities Supply / Dimensions / Elevations, [provided by owner])
P-4 Pool Plumbing (Heating / Cleaning / Filtration)
P-5 Pool Lighting (LED 12v Color Changing / GFCI Circuit Relays / Power Distribution)
P-6 Concrete Decking (Coping Edge / Sub-Grade Preparation)
P-7 Equipment Pad Schematic (Diagrammatic Equipment Layout)
P-8 Structural Engineering Layout (Standard Assumptions)
P-9 Structural Engineering Construction Details (Standard Assumptions)
Once I get the plan set, I think the rest will be alright. I also had a different company quote me about $25,400 for excavation, plumbing, rebar, and shotcrete which is too much in my opinion.
If the contractor for the plans makes them detailed (he said he would lay out everything you need to do) then I can do maybe most of the plumbing and electrical work.
We shall see!
I’m in Apache junction and would like to do what you did, can you please contact me, I would like a list of what needs to be done and who you used
Hi Rebecca,
Here is the link to the list of contractors I used. https://addicted2diy.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Pool-Contractors.pdf
I ran across your site today, I am super disappointed that you didn’t physically build your own pool, you just hired a bunch of contractors. I was really hoping that maybe, just maybe you were actually building the pool by yourself, like hands dirty, laying rebar, doing the plumbing and electrical. I don’t call hiring a bunch of contractors DIY’ng. My husband will be building our pool on our own, no contractors, except maybe to dig, and the shotcrete, other than that we will truly be DIY’ng.
Sorry to have disappointed you. You are correct, we did not physically build the pool ourselves. DIY has a lot of different meanings. In this case, we did all of the subcontracting ourselves rather than hiring a pool company and just writing them a check. I hope you and your husband enjoy your new pool!
You’ve totally convinced me to go the build your own pool route! Your grotto/ slide is amazing!! I also live in az and I’m hoping to call some of your contractors and see if they can help us or give us a quote!! Thanks for posting all of this!
Your pool is beautiful!! Thank you so much for all the great info! How long did it take to build?
It took about 2 1/2-3 months to build. We could have done it faster, but wanted to slow it down a bit to also slow down the outflow of money;)