How I built my very own dream pool: I built this pool in 10 Easy Steps. You can too!"

I built my own in-ground swimming pool. In other words, I was the builder/owner of my very own in-ground swimming pool project. It's no ordinary run of the mill swimming pool. As you can see from the picture above,  I got the most bang for my buck building it myself.

I get asked all the time how I built my in ground swimming pool? Well, I didn't actually dig the hole or pour the concrete but I did act as the Builder/Owner of my very own In Ground (IG) swimming pool. It wasn't rocket science but  a  lot of people are reluctant to spend any time researching for themselves what is involved in building, or designing an in-ground (IG) Swimming pool. This results in a lot of  uniformed people being taken by unscrupulous contractors. I have written this guide to better inform you of the methods to go about building your very own piece of  paradise in your backyard.

In the following guide I will summarize the planning, development, and construction stages of my IG swimming pool. Finally, I will touch on how to maintain your water balance in a brief summary entitled  Pool Chemistry 101. Then you will have an opportunity to purchase your very own e-book entilted "How I built my very own dream pool: I built this pool for a little over 50k in 10 Easy Steps. You can too!"  It's a concise 11 page PDF  document detailing the steps that you need to take to do it yourself! I also include the actual blueprint of my pool design that you can replicate in your very own backyard. I have also included the price breakdown of the equipment,  and the labor cost of each construction stage. So, even if you don't have the time or inclination to build your pool, you can use this document to reference the actual cost of having  a Pool Builder do the job for you.  You can potentially save thousands with this information!

It always amazes me when I ask people about their swimming pools and how very little they know about it besides how deep it is. So being the "Prosumer" that I am. I set out to do a lot of research into what it takes to build your own swimming pool. First, I interviewed a lot of friends, family, and sometimes strangers about their swimming pools. This was perhaps the most  useful information that I came across. I asked questions ranging from what features that they liked the best to what they would've changed if they had to do it all over again. I also scoured through the various message boards on the internet asking the same type of questions from complete strangers. One of my favorite online message boards revealed in my E-BOOK helped me tremendously. Look for me on these boards my handle is aptly named, Incansun.

On occasion, I'd walk around the neighborhood with my wife and meet with the neighbors who've recently completed their pools. They were always happy to talk about their experience and show us their pools. This gave us a chance to meet some of our neighbors as well and gain valuable insight into their experience.

Next, I set out to get "bids" from several local pool builders in my area. You see at first, I was torn  between acting as the owner/builder or having some pool company actually build my pool. The information that I gained from meeting with some of these companies was valuable in determining what features I absolutely needed and those that I could live without.

Now, some of these Pool companies were no help at all. They basically sent their "sales" people whom gave me their standard sales pitch and attempted  to sell me on a cookie-cutter pool. Many Pool companies work in this fashion. Blue Haven pools and California Pools to name a few. Their "sales" people sold me hard on their so-called unique features and  tried to slam me into signing the contract that same day. I kicked these guys out of my house.
   
Finally, after receiving astronomical bids from some of these "Pool Builder" I had had enough and set out to seriously consider acting as the Builder/Owner of my IG swimming pool. I remember sitting across the table with LA Custom pools with a bid of $120,000 USD for the entire project. Unbelievable! I mean, how hard can this be? If I can understand the intricacies on how to modify an Xbox and build a computer from the ground up, how hard can it be to build your own pool? Right? So I set out to design my pool with my wife, Sandra.

There is something that you have to know about me-I suck at drawing! Still, this fact didn't deter me from designing my own pool. I just needed a rough sketch on paper. I started off with a clean slate in my back yard, I just  had dirt in my backyard that measured approximately 2500 square feet. This was a blessing in disguise because I didn't have any demolition cost. So then I decided that all the drawings and fancy ideas that I got from the Pool builders just wouldn't work. I threw them all out. All of the designs that  they made for me were of a free-form pool. After looking at several of these shapes in person, my wife and I came to one conclusion-They ALL LOOKED THE SAME! That's right, there was nothing "unique" about theses designs, it's as if they had all shared the same template! We wanted originality, simplicity, and elegance. You know, something to reflect our sophisticated taste. After countless hours and some sleepless nights, my wife and I came to a general consensus and decided on the shape of our future pool. It was going to follow a geometric shape with simple lines and we were going to maximize the space we had.

So the thought occurred to me one day after deciding on our design. Who was going to draw it up? (If you don't already know yet, you have to have a drawing or Blue Print of your proposed In ground swimming pool along with engineering plans to submit to the city for a permit. I don't care where in the United States you live, all cities follow this guideline.) So, I started to do some research on this topic. Initially, I didn't find much on the internet. So, I did the next best thing, I opened the Yellow Pages and contacted some local engineers/designers, most of them didn't work on what they considered "builder/owner" pool projects. Those that did, wanted a ton  of money to draw me, what amounted to be, a picture.

So, I went to Plan B-More research on the internet. I found this place online that was very reputable and they sent me the Blue Prints to help me build my pool.

Nothing Beats a good plan...

At first, I was skeptical about this online company based in Florida. I mean how are they able to know my needs if they are so far away. Secondly, how are they going to design my pool without actually physically looking at my backyard. And finally, are they a "fly by night company" set out to cheat unsuspecting novice builder/owners such as myself? All these thoughts raced though my mind as I contemplated using their service. I'm serious, I guess that I'm very paranoid. Maybe I have OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder)  because I almost didn't use them. But, fortunately, all these fears were put to rest when I spoke to Zina. The lady knows her stuff! I mean, she gave me more ideas for my initial pool design then I had ever thought about and she helped me significatnly improve upon my initial design. Zina is one of the lead designers at the company. (This company is mentioned in my e-book) They design your custom pool using Microsoft Visio. It's a program similar to CAD but more user friendly. I kept in constant communications with Zina over the phone and via email during the development process, adding or subtracting certain features from the overall scheme of my design. Finally, when it was all said and done she mailed me a professional looking BluePrint along with the engineering plans ( I paid a little extra for the engineering plans) that I subsequently  submitted to the city of Redlands for a permit. 

The Dig

**Please Note** Before you actually have someone dig the hole you Should call 1800 DIG ALERT to ensure that you are not digging into any public utilities or gas lines.

STEP 1
Below you will find a journal entry regarding the first step of the process- The actual excavation...
Nov. 15-16 2003
The excavator came today and started digging the hole on Nov. 15-16 2003.  The guy doing the digging is amazing. He maneuvers the tractor as if it were an extension of himself. A true Pro. His name is Terry.  He bid the job at a reasonable 2800.  Originally he  thought that the job would take just one day. However, because of the rocks and the loose dirt issues, it took him close  to 2 working days. His partners were telling me that he underbid the job due to these unforeseen problems. He kept a clean worksite at all times and saw that the gas meter was properly reconnected. His crew consisted of  2 other guys. One drove the truck and one assisted him on the dig. But basically, Terry, is a one man show with his powerful Bobcat. Before he left, he gave me a few numbers of other subs that would be able to complete the pool. Terry gave me a great price on the excavation because he didn’t charge me for the pre-grade or the rock removal. He normally charges 500 and 400 respectively for these services. The only snafu that hindered the project was that there was a slight cave in on the far wall of the pool. His partners told me that this was a common occurrence in Redlands because of the loose dirt and large boulders. Luckily, They were there when it happened because they were able to remove the loose dirt from the hole.   Terry assured me that the gunite subs would be able to put up some sheetrock and fill it with gunite to repair it. It will cost me more but it is repairable. The next step is to secure the hole with steel reinforcement. The rebar guy  will be coming out on Wednesday or Thursday to secure the hole.

 STEP 2
The Rebar Guy...Steel reinforcement
Terry, the excavator, gave me some numbers to call for the rebar. You'll find that when you are dealing with "subs" they will happily offer you names of other subs to help you finish your project. All you gotta do is ask. So he gave me a few numbers to call.

The next step in the project was the rebar. This process was pretty straightforward. They completed the job in one day. Now in this step of the project, some would argue that the plumbing should come next before the rebar. This is true in some cases where the plumber prefers to work without the distraction of the steel rebar that sometime gets in the way of placing the PVC. It all really depends on who you hire as a plumber. But laying the rebar first still makes it doable for the plumber, it just requires a little more work. As soon as the rebar guy was done, I called out the plumber to accomplish the next step.

Step 3
Plumbing & Electrical= BIG $$$
By far, this will be your largest expense. Depending on what type of equipment you choose and other features this will set you back some money. I guarantee that you will be spending a large chunk of your money in these two categories. Since, I wanted the very best. I chose to have some high end equipment for my Pool. I was fortunate enough to find a Plumber who also did Electrical work. This was an added benefit because I didn't have to deal with two seperate subcontractors on this part of the project. I recommend this route.  Continued in my E*BOOK for only $5.99

If you want to read more about how you too can build your own dream pool. You can purchase it at my e-commerce store found here http://www.inkansun.com/blog/?page_id=8 . The E*Book entitled, How to build your Dream Pool in 10 Easy Steps- I built my pool for less money! includes much more information on how I went about getting this project done. Buy it Now for only $6.99. I have spent countless hours of research putting this document together. I also provide you with numerous resources you can  reference online to do this project. You can save thousands in construction cost by following my 10 easy steps! Don't Waste time or money making the same mistakes countless others have made. This book has everything you need to do the job right.  Just click the link below and it will send you to Paypal's Secure checkout to purchase it. I will then email you an easy to read .PDF Ebook to your home or office!

    Here's What you get with my E-BOOK!

• It's only $6.99 USD

• My very own Pool Design

• Recommendations on Equipment Mix (Excel Spreadsheet)

• Pricing Comparison for Labor & Parts Costs (Excel Spreadsheet)

• A great guide to realize your dream Pool with all my research emailed to your home or office.

• Tons of Pictures about the construction process of building your very own Dream Pool!

• Save $$$ building your own In ground swimming Pool! I can show you How in 10 Easy Step!

• Emailed the Same day to you at your home or office!