When we moved from the Salt Lake area to St. George, Utah this past spring we knew we wanted to have a swimming pool in our backyard.  After 3 crazy months we just had our first pool party in our new, beautiful swimming pool.  I am definitely not an expert on pools, but I will share with you my experience, as a first time swimming pool owner, who was involved in the entire process of building a pool.

First of all when we decided to build a pool we checked around and talked to everyone we could about what kind of pool we wanted and who should build it for us.  We were very impressed with several companies.  We had four different companies come out and give us bids in our backyard.  We decided we wanted a gunite pool after talking to our fabulous real estate agent, David Ellis, who talked about the resale value of gunite pools being very good.  Most every pool company suggested gunite because is it beautiful, incredibly durable and there are a variety of finishes you can choose from.  This seemed like a good choice for us.  

We heard from some friends about a company, Affordable Pools, with Bob Boyer and we liked their bid and the way Bob talked to us about our pool.  We decided exactly where the pool would be built in our yard.  We decided the shape of our pool, the size of our pool, where the steps and hot tub would go and where the shallow shelf we wanted would go.  We chose the tile, the grout and the color of our pool.  We chose to have quartz added to the finish in our pool to get the blue color that we wanted. We chose how the tile would be laid on the steps.  We changed our mind on a couple of things and Bob was patient and kind about it.  He actually would make sure to get our input before he did anything big.   

So here is where the patience comes in…being a first time pool buyer, I kind of thought it would be a two week process.  It took three months from start to finish and I feel like our builder was working very hard to get our pool finished.  You just have to realize that it is a huge process and a big project to build a pool.  Once I realized this, I was able to relax and make decisions as we went along. 

Basically, the process has several steps.  You decide the layout of the pool together.  The area is then excavated.  Wood forms are then built around the perimeter.  The sub-base is then prepared and the plumbing is put in.  Next a steel-reinforcing grid is installed to help reinforce the concrete/gunite.  The concrete floor is then hand placed, along with steps, seats and/or shelves.  Now you are ready to "shoot the gunite" to form the pool.  The next step in construction is installation of hand-laid tile.  Finally the filtration equipment, decking, electrical and mechanical work is done.  The final step is plaster.  Once all of this is done, water is put in the pool.  All of these things take time and hours of work.

Affordable Pools (Bob Boyer) was great to work with.  I am a visual person so he would often take the time to show me, in person, what everything would look like.  We often asked for his advice and he gave us information so that we could decide what was right for us.  He gave us quotes at the beginning and pricing didn’t change unless we chose to upgrade. We didn’t need to pay for everything up front, we were able to pay as the project progressed in three payments.

Our swimming pool project was a complete success for us.  We love the pool and couldn’t be happier.  We count our pool contractor as a friend and would endorse him completely if you are looking to build a swimming pool. 

I have found that our swimming pool has many wonderful benefits:

  1.       We no longer have to travel and go on vacation to enjoy a pool and the sunshine.  We love spending time at home.
  2.       My children and I are getting fit since we own a pool.  We don’t realize how active we are as we swim and play in our pool. 
  3.       We spend more family time together.  We are less stressed and we laugh more since we started enjoying our pool together.  We also go out at night and sit by the pool to talk and tell stories.
  4.       The view of our pool during the day and at night with the lights on, stops you in your tracks, as you look out of any window in our house.  It sincerely has made us grateful for what we have.
  5.       We increased the value of our home by putting an inground gunite pool in our backyard.

Live life to the fullest with no regrets!

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