Welcome to the number one pool and spa planning site on the web designed not only to inform you but with our backyard design service , clearly see exactly what a pool or spa would look like installed in your own backyard, before the purchase and digging begins . More and more people today for many reasons are choosing to stay at home and create their own backyard oasis that gives them and their families years of convenient enjoyment. Just a few steps from the backdoor and you're in paradise. No more packing bags, driving, long lines, parking fees, entry fees, etc. You remember all that fun, right ? You're saving money and time from day one with your own private getaway. Keep checking back for updates and the latest tips on pool maintenance, water chemistry, landscaping ideas and products that make your pool as low maintenance as possible. Thanks for stopping by, you can get started by selecting a tab above and remember the family that plays together stays together.

   Disclaimer: This site is designed to inform, educate and steer you into the right direction for planning and purchasing pools , spas, and accessories. Some decisions you make are fact dependant on your specific needs or site condition. You may have to visit a specific manufactures' web site for product manuals and detailed information after you have gotten your basic information here.

Inground

Planning for an inground pool is really the easy part. Deciding on what kind of pool to put in can be challanging , with every salesperson saying mines the best"confusing is a better word.   You need just a few things to get you going ,be sure to check with all parties beforehand to see what codes and restrictions apply. In other words your pool you may have planned for two years may meet your cities guidelines but your neighborhood may have certain restrictions you have to comply with. A plot plan that should be with your house purchase papers is normally something you'll need to pull construction permits with. It will show your setbacks from the side and rear property lines, from that point you can plan what size pool can be install. Some homeowners pull there own permits and some pool companies will pull all needed permits needed for construction. In certain rural areas permits aren't required for construction , electrical permits and inspections are normally still required.

Liner pools .... Steel and polymer wall liner pools are very popular in certain parts of the country and normally have the lowest installed price. The panels are bolted together , a concrete footer is poured , a bottom is hand trialed made out of a vermiclite or a portland/sand mix , then the liner fits in a trac at the top of the wall or coping . You have a lot of flexibilty on size and shape with liner pools. Installation normally takes four to six weeks, depending on weather.

Fiberglass pools..... The one piece fiberglass shells are another popular choice, you are limited somewhat by size and shape but fiberglass pools have a lot of built in features like steps, benches and color finishes that make a very attractive installation. The installation is normally quicker which makes customers happy.

Concrete or Gunite pools .... With a custom made gunite pool , the sky is the limit on the design and price. These pools can be constructed with more options than the others with custom made benches, steps, bars, ledges, beach entrances,etc, and with many choices on the pool's suface finish.  With the rock work, spillover spas installed next to them, this is the most visually appealing pool.

So what's the best choice?

         A lot to consider, depending on where you live ,  how long you plan on staying in your home , what price range you want to stay in, your homes value, the types of pools that are offered in your area and installed in your neighboorhood, and so on.  Liner pools are normally cheaper than fiberglass , but since your never replacing a liner and if your not moving any time soon , fiberglass will be cheaper over the long run. Installing buddy seats , swimouts and ledges in a liner pool can also raise the price significantly and fiberglass have those bulit in on most models. If you want a pool but will be moving in two or three years and home is worth 150,000. I still wouldn't go with a low bid from anybody but I would get the best deal on liner or fiberglass from a reputable dealer that has a service department. A home worth 1.2 million, you're not moving anytime soon and every house on your street has a gunite pool, then gunite would be my good choice. Research all you want but it's really up to the installer, doesn't really matter what kind of filter sytem or pump you have if the pool isn't installed properly. If you can't decide between companies, there's nothing like a few references of some recent installations.

ABOVE GROUND POOLS

Over half of the pools in the United States are aboveground. Many are turning to aboveground pools because they are built to last and offer a wide variety of wall and liner options. Some turn to aboveground pools because of the relatively low cost versus that of inground pools

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Spas , hot tubs, jacuzzi, whatever you want to call them , there's nothing like a hot soak at the end of a long day . Especially when it's been, one of  "those" days or nights. Anywho , spas usually fall in two categories, portable units that are self contained and just need to have power ran to it and the inground models that are really a small heated pool with jets. Hot tubs are basically another name for the classic round style originally made of wood with a wood fired heater that are still being made today. Jacuzzi is a brand name of spa , similar to Kleenex being a brand of tissue. Some call a jetted tub in a bathroom a jacuzzi.

Portable spas   price range 999.99 and up

Portable spas are currently being made today by over 250 different companies. So with each company having five to fifty-five models to choose from the choice should be easy....right?  It's not that difficult , you will find a ton of research that will dissect every brand along with conflicting testimonials , just don't forget to sit in it before you buy. Sometimes it can be just the right size, with the perfect number of jets and the best warranty you ever seen , but if it's not comfortable to the user the above mentioned although very important won't matter much if the seats don't fit your body. So sit in it, and just to remove all doubt, arrange with your local dealer for a "wet test" . That's right put on your suit and jump in . When's the last time you bought a car with out driving it ? The dealer won't mind at all and most of the time he has a room set up to try out the spas.

Inground Spas    price range 10,000 and up

Regardless of the material that an inground spa is made of they are considerably higher than a portable unit because of the construction and labor costs needed to install it.. But that being said a portable unit doesn't compare visually to an inground model. They can be quiet impressive with the rock work done around them and constructed to spill over into a pool. These normally come with six or eight jets and are similar to what you would use commercially at a resort. Concrete or gunite spas are constructed on site to your specifications and to stand alone or spill over into a pool. Fiberglass companies offer the same but you are limited to certain models or shapes. Acrylic inground spas offer the same pros and cons as fiberglass but normally hit a lower price point.

POOL COVERS

Above ground pools  The most popular cover for an above ground pool is usually nothing more than a tarp sized to fit the pool. Some vary in thickness.Some covers have a cable that acts as a draw string that tightens around the top ledge to hold the cover in place. If you build a deck around your pool you'll use water tubes (or something similar) that hold the cover on top of the deck. An air pillow is placed under the cover. You will need to keep an eye on this over the off season and keep water pumped off it. These " very basic " tarp covers are nothing fancy and usually fall in the eighty  to one fifity dollar price range. As you "fight" or "put up with" this cover for a year or two and begin to look for other alternatives, you will find they do exist and you'll see all kinds of covers, domes, and all sorts of high-tech apparatus , and you'll also notice that some will cost about as much as you paid for your pool. With the average installed above ground ticket falling in the three to four thousand dollar price range the hundred dollar tarp cover is popular. Some pool packakges come with a "free" one so don't expect it to be too fancy. People that spend twenty-five to eighty thousand plus on an inground pool aren't going to balk much at spending two or three thousand on a nicer cover or any accessory item under five thousand. You get what you pay for, unless you have alot of debris blowing in the pool in your off season, some folks just keep them open. See our chemical section for winterization tips.

Inground pools     A lot of options exist for inground pools also but  the most popular are the "trampoline style" safety covers. Some ads show an elephant on top of it and the price range is normally between two and three thousand installed , depending on pool size. These covers have metal scew anchors that recess into the concrete deck  that the cover connects to.  The auto-covers hit another price point of ten to fifteen thousand installed and are the ultimate for inground pools. With just a turn of a key the cover retracts and glides onto the pool on a track that can be installed where it's almost not noticable. These have some construction built into the price since most don't want to see a big cover rolled up at the end of the pool but recessed into a pit . Check these manufacures web sites for a lot of detailed options for installation.  The trampoline style can be added anytime after construction. The auto covers need special tracks and coping added during construction in most cases but I have seen these covers installed with a deck mount track and the cover rolled up on top.

SPA COVERS

Spa covers normally come with a new spa when purchasing even though sometimes it's itemized seperately. Purchasing a replacement cover can be a nightmare if not done properly. The best way to order is having the manufactures name , model , year, and if possble serial number. For example : Hot Spring , Soveriegn, 1987, this information can normally be found on a sticker inside the spa's equipment compartment. If you don't have this info you have to measure and don't just say it's a" 7 footer with a lounger". That fits the basic profile of hundreds of models. You'll need the radius' of the corners also, along with info about flaps, handrails etc. take your time do it right the first time. Some take a month to ship. It is possible to just buy the outer skin or just the foam insert seperately.

This site as stated previously is a planning site for designing and purchasing a pool or spa. Water chemistry is important for both so below is a basic overview for  pool and spa care so you will be familiar with the basics and terminology when your are reading labels or discussing your pool/spa water at your local pool store.

Pool

I'll try to stay basic and not get long winded here, but there are a lot of options. Before we dive into the basics, pool maintenance and chemicals can be done three different ways. 1. A pool guy or gal  ( no more reading is necessary if this option is chosen). They take care of your pool maintenance, water chemistry and cleaning, usually once a week, in exchange for money. 2. Take a water sample into your local pool store they will test the water for free ,( because they want to sell you the chemicals), follow their advice and hopefully everything turns out well. 3. You do it alone, trial and error by reading the labels on chemical bottles. If you can't afford a pool person, take your water in for testing , the first summer anyway , after they ramp you up you'll be just fine by yourself. Some stores offer a weekly or monthly pool school. It's a good hour to spend learning the basics. Opening and closing classes and checklists are available in most pool stores also. It's a lot of water to manage , stay on top of it or  you'll pay a price to "correct "  things. Unlike a spa if things get looking bad you can just drain it and fill it back up within an hour and your ready to go again. Most don't want to dump 20 thousand gallons of pool water in their yard. I wouldn't recommend it either unless you want to ruin your liner or watch your pool pop out of the ground.

SPA

Hot water care for a spa is not difficult , just like a pool, don't neglect it and like a pool it's a pool guy, you , or assisted help from a pool/spa store. After fill up and initial start up chemicals are added, it's as simple as 1 2 3 . 1. Spa water is tested at least once a week. 2. Spray the filter out once a month . 3. Drain, clean and refill the spa at least quarterly.

Accessories

     Accessories for the pool can be anything from a float to a heater. Your local pool store or mass merchant will have plenty of toys and floats to choose from in season and online retailers have a lot to choose from.

Landscaping around your pool

This is an easy topic. Your basically putting a border around a pool to not only make it more attractive but to keep from mowing up to the edge of the pool deck to keep grass off of the deck and out of the water. Landscaping doubles the attractiveness of a pool and anyone selling the landscaping will normally help with the design and layout. If you want something more detailed and elaborate than a graph paper layout, we offer a design service that gives you a 3D view of the pool and landscaping for you to take to a contractor to show them exactly the look you want. You can use rock, mulch, a variety of plants, you just want to stay away from any trees, etc, that would drop anything on the pool deck and make it slick. Your local landscaping company will go over the best choices for you to pick from. You can use things like string, paint, rope or even my favorite, the garden hose, to layout the pool and help visualize the footprint of the pool. Plants around the pool  create a beautiful, natural setting. It also adds color, texture, shape, and interest to the landscape. Trees, hedges, and vines, hide unwanted views, and  provide privacy and security. Plant borders or barriers can prevent animals and people from walking across lawns or plant beds and discourage trespassing.

DESIGN SERVICES

Wonder what a pool would look like in your backyard? Before the digging begins??

With our design service you can do just that.

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