Swimming Tips

Posts Tagged ‘Construction’

Swimming pools have been with us since Greco-Roman times. The ancient Greeks and Romans built and used them for athletic training, nautical games, military exercises, and other such purposes we might call commercial today. The Roman lord Gaius Maecenas is believed to have built the first heated swimming pool in the first century B.C., and the first popular pools are thought to have appeared in Great Britain in the early-to-mid 19th century.

Modern swimming pool construction techniques and materials began to appear in the 1930s, when Paddock Pools introduced a pneumatically applied concrete and sand aggregate mix, known as gunite, for pool construction. This substance enabled pool builders to fashion free-form pool shapes and recycle, in effect, the dirt excavations for a pool’s framework. In the same decade, the company came forth with silicate, a white silica sand plaster, as the first known non-tile pool finish.Swimming took off in popularity following the birth of the modern Olympic games in 1896, which included swimming races. The actual appearance of the first swimming pool in the United States, commercial or otherwise, is difficult to determine, but by 1907, the Racquet Club of Philadelphia included one of the world’s first above-ground pools. Moreover, though they are familiar fixtures on cruise ships today; the first known swimming pool to feature on an ocean liner was on the Adriatic, a White Star Line ship, in 1907.

Commercial swimming pools are built for resorts and housing complexes, municipal recreation centers, schools, military facilities, and competition complexes. Community pools are designed in numerous shapes from standard rectangles to free-style mini-water-park appearances. Competition pools are typically rectangular, and often as not municipalities prefer these to double as community recreation and community athletic program pools. In addition, they require more acute, sophisticated, and fast filtration systems than private residential pools normally require, because far more people use these pools than a typical family uses a private residential pool.

Paddock Pools also developed a mechanical skimming device, when a company technician fashioned a system of recirculating overflow, allowing surface water to be cleaned through the pool’s own filtration system. It took another company team to solve the problem of expensive pipe maintenance by developing a manufactured pipeless perimeter, which now use steel channels to bring the water to the filtering system and removing any need for perimeter piping. Moreover, in the 21st century, Paddock has developed ultraviolet light purification for swimming pool use.

Today, advancements in swimming pool heaters are once again revolutionizing the industry. From solar to geothermal, alternative energy sources are being used to heat pools and save money on utilities.

Getting a bid for any home construction takes some legwork for your average homeowner. Basically it’s like any construction contract work, you will give the contractor a call and you give them your criteria on what is being built.

You dole out the same spiel each and every time on what you need done and how much they are going to charge you for it for every contractor — an exhaustive task. Now cost rates and quotes can come a lot easier for the curious online shopper.

Finding a pool building contractor is no different; all can be submitted and managed online.

Pool Contract Quotes Online: An Easy Task of Pick and Choose

Online pool construction contracting is a safe means of doing business when using an accredited online site. They will employ staff that seeks out swimming pool contractors with the requirements on the project you want built and have a track record that shows reliability.

Simply go to their main site page and fill out a bid request form to see what kind of offers come in. After that, swimming pool contractors call up the interested party with rates and details for the job.

The options and details of the pool you want are relayed to the builder so you don’t need to go back and forth with them over the phone; their offer will be right there for you.

If the application was submitted during a weekday, pool builders typically reply as quickly as 24 to 48 hours.

Getting bids in an online market effectively creates a competitive environment. The service brings forth all swimming pool contractors from your area in their network. Each contractor has full knowledge that the client will have other quotes to compare with. They only contract builders who are insured and licensed so you know that getting a cheap quote does not mean cheap quality.

Precautions Getting a Construction Loan

Building a pool can be quite a spendy proposition. Not many homeowners can fund that project in one shot. So getting a loan is another matter to tackle. Before you even look for a swimming pool contractor you will want to first get a pre-qualified loan, just to see how much your bank or credit union will fork out to help you with.

Also, make sure you check with construction loan experts, and see if your bank has an experienced loan officer to help. Construction loans can be complicated so do your research well, and possibly seek out a bank broker in your area as someone who has done this homework before.

From there you can flesh out a contract with your banker who can then itemize the costs your swimming pool contractor estimates for you.

Swimming pool construction costs vary depending on the size of pool you want installed, the material used, the complexity of design, the area you live in. Here are some general tips to help you cut on construction cost.

The contract you sign with your builder can be the most important step in building a swimming pool. It should provide specific information about the pool you are going to have built.

Make sure the dealer has a CSP Certified Service Professional on staff. The National Spa & Pool Institute trains, tests and retests pool service technicians before certifying them as service professionals and designating them as CSP Certified Service Professionals.

Ask the pool builder for a list of customer references. Contact those people and ask them how they felt about the entire pool building process, before and after the sale.

Beware of any swimming pool contractor who requires a substantial down payment, or who wants high percentages of the contract paid before much work has been done.

Never pay in cash. Use checks or money orders only. As far as a down payment, never pay more than 10 percent of the estimated price, or $1,000, whichever amount is lowest. The amount a pool/spa contractor can collect before starting may be even lower in your state. Pay only when you are satisfied that each phase has been completed to your satisfaction.

 Hold the final 10 percent until you have received and reviewed the contractor’s completion notice. A release of lien from each subcontractor and building supplier (You don’t want a nasty surprise when you sell your home.) An approval from the local building or safety department.

Always compare prices and services of several contractors before you begin.

Get all your bids in writing, and then compare them. Make sure the bid specifies the materials to be used, including quantity, brand, size, color, etc. Don’t forget to include the clean-up costs.

The lowest bid is not always the best. All warranties offered by the contractor for labor and materials should be in writing as well. Also, request the written warranties from all equipment manufacturers.

Ask your contractor for the latest products, and if they could be cost-effective for the future.

Additional features such as tiling, waterfalls, etc will cost extra for the contractor to provide. Ask about the costs of these extra features you require when asking for a quote.

When choosing a pool heater or lighting, make sure it works efficiently.

Split your lighting systems on larger pools to reduce unnecessary lighting and costs.

You can use a cover on your swimming pool to minimize evaporation and reduce heating costs.

  Install a solar powered heating system.

  Install solar lights around your pool.

Save energy and time by selecting a larger filter versus a standard filter size. A larger filter reduces backpressure buildup, which helps your pump. You also do not have to clean your filter as often, saving you valuable time.