And forgot:
SWG
Solar heating

Biggest blunder I can say I experienced was communicating with the builder regarding the sloping of the pool deck. We were trying to tie the deck back into existing porch steps, so to make it work there is considerable slope from the pool back to the house. Had I thought about it, I would have made sure they tried to send the water in another direction, or added some narrow linear drains in the middle to allow some more flat surface.

Seems like all my deck has too much slope to place a table comfortably.

Here is a link that might be useful: lancer1991 pool build

When a builder is on top of his game there aren't any pitfalls, only decisions to be made by the new pool buyer.
Your initial decisions (pool shape, depth's, and equipment) have already been made.
I would encourage you to be there when they layout the pool and pick your elevation. When my buyers are there I'll show them the layout and give them their benchmark forming elevation and my targeted finished deck elevation relative to a door threshold if the pool deck is connecting to the home's foundation or the deck's height relative to the existing grass if it's not connected.
These are two very important decisions prior to excavating for the pool shell. Next is the depths at the pools runout (how much shallow, where's the break to deep end, and how large of a deep end) this will take care of all your pool structure decisions. I can tell you sight unseen that I wouldn't put a 6' deep center in a 33' pool unless you really really wanted it there. My suggestion is to place the 6' on one end of the pool. IMO, a sport pool is max 5'6" deep in the center and preferably only 5' deep. You'll enjoy your pool floor's slope, and watersports like volleyball, much more with either of these runout depths.
As you roll into Brick and Tile you'll need to decide which brick/flagstone colors and the tile immediately beneath it on the pool's waterline.
Past these decisions will be the stamp and the colors for your new pool decking, and then the color of your interior pool finish (plaster).
One thing I noticed about your equipment is the Polaris 360, I'd ask your builder what his upgrade charge would be to utilize a Polaris 280 with a booster pump. The 360 is a good cleaner, the 280 is a great cleaner.

Thanks for supporting the pool industry with your new pool purchase. Everybody in the entire pool industry (manufacturer, wholesale/retail distributors, pool builders, and in time service/repair companies) will feel the reward of your purchase.
Without the buyers and owners of swimming pools support we would all be in a heap of hurt. And right now our industry needs all the support we can get,LOL!!!

CONGRATS, post us some pic's as you progress.

See ya,
Kelly

Lancer,
Thanks for your input.
Your pool is gorgeous and it's quite a coincidence as ours will be the exact same shape as yours and situated ion the corner of our -rather small- lot with Palm trees behind! Where you have the raised bond bean and sheer descent, we have the waterfall. I love your waterline tile: what's the name of that?
And yes, good point, we need to be extra carefull about the connection of the deck and the foundation of the house. Stairs are being redone so I think we should be OK there. Turns out, odly enough, we need to elevate the whole back yard because right now, it's sunken too low and I wouldn't mind. There estimating 2.5" higher.

Kelly,
I was hoping I would hear back from you! you've been my pool guru for a while now ;-)Thanks for the input.
Anyways, absolutely good point and it was debated whether the slope would make sense. However, having specified now the location of the waterfall, the middle needs to be where it's deepest because we're including some flat stones in our waterfall as jumping rocks for the kids. Two boys (12 and 8) and a pool, I need as much depth as I can possibly put in! If I read correctly, is this something you can sort of play by ear the day of dig?

Thanks a lot for your help!!

Our waterline tile is Acquamarina (MD681) by PoolCorp from the Pyramid Tile Collection.

Thanks for the kind words and can't wait to see your finished pool.

I agree with huskyridor on the depth and the Polaris. The 360 puts extra stress on your filter pump where the booster pump of the 280 or 380 picks up the drive portion of the Polaris. goin 6' deep in the center of a 33' pool is going to feel like walking up a boat ramp on both sides. I too am in the Pool industry and yes we do need all the help we can get right now.

Tell me about using a 280 without a booster pump. Can it be done successfully without - for instance ... with a variable speed pump?

quote" Tell me about using a 280 without a booster pump. Can it be done successfully without "quote
No.

quote" is this something you can sort of play by ear the day of dig? "quote
Yes, but you can't make the slope less drastic when you've only got 16 1/2 feet to drop from 3 1/2 to 6 of depth.

See ya,
Kelly

Thanks for your help. I appreciate.

HUSKYRIDER--your email link is not working...have you taken it out of service?

can you recommend pool construction company in area of Fort Worth/Tarrant county...
we have lot with pretty good slope away from the house -- and am concerned because this lot had fill dirt added to build it up initially...the house has piered foundation but concerned about placing the pool too close...
we will need a good/creative designer who can explain our options (if there are any)

Aquariuslady,

Wher in Northern Cali are you? We are in Folsom, near Sacramento.

We are just completing a design for a pool that has very similair specs as you. I would like to be able to ask you a few questions particularly if you are somewhere close to me.

If you are in the Sacramento area, I first would like to ask (if you wouldn't mind telling me) who your PB is and how the process has been going so far?

Thanks,

Kathryn

To echo huskyridor, best way to avoid pitfalls, pick a reputable pool builder and do your research on this carefully (check referrals). A good PB will help mitigate pitfalls, others will balk and leave it up to you.

We had a bad concrete pour, and my PB jack-hammered it out and replaced it and it turned out fine (no need for me to complain, he was concerned about his reputation).

Also good PBs will help you through other "problem areas". I had a propane tank that needed to be moved. My propane company was going to charge me almost $1000 to move it, and my PB did it for no extra charge (except cost to offload/reload propane in tank).

Well there's a couple huskyridor. When I built pools , back
in the '70s w hit a few problems. None we couldn't fix.
We once had two fence panels down when we found out from
the lady screaming at us in her robe, that we were at the wrong adress. It was alley access.
We had a back hoe fall in the deep end of the pool.
We had a homeowner move some stakes and he got a 20x40 instead of a 18x36. The owner of the company and he came to an agreement on the extra gunite, steel, tile, deck etc.
We had a pool about 1" high on one end. We had shot it. The gunite crew used a water level. Everyone agreed it should be level. But the waterline don't lie. Some freebees solved that. Still wonder about it.
Some other little things like driving over the neighbors azalias. Letting the prize winning dog out of the backyard. Amazing, their always "prize winning". Normal dogs never escape.
Those were spread out over many years. But yes you could hit some snags on building your first pool.

We hit a sewer line once that was over 100 years old. The city didnt even know it was there.

"I would love for you to share stories and experience, so we can be on the look out for major pitfalls in the poolbuilding process."

Be sure to ask questions (courteously)if you don't understand what's going on with your build. And I'd keep on asking until you get answers that make sense.

If your pool plan does not include landscaping, I'd get a landscape architect on board right at the start. Sometimes they can have a different view of how your project could be maximized and, if you know about it soon enough, you can incorporate their ideas at the beginning of the build. Waiting until after the pool is complete limits your options.

You've probably already signed on the dotted line and have agreed to a payment schedule. Be sure everything is complete and to your satisfaction prior to making any scheduled payment. That's especially true of the last payment.

Treat the crew well...cold drinks are appreciated in the heat. Others on this forum have mentioned other incentives to give to the crew, as well.

We never had that happen Mike. Thank goodness. I have seen the electric and cable lines miss flagged by several feet.
We got to where we kept a cable splice kit and some cable on the truck!
I got to remembering the little incidents and forgot all about the build.
Sounds pretty good.
I prefer pressure side cleaners with a booster pump too.
The 6' depth bothers me. It's too deep to stand in and too shallow to dive in. Some people say it keeps the pool cooler, longer. In Texas I don't think we would notice.
Texas also seems to follow California, usually about two years later. We don't have a two speed law yet, but it makes sense. In the old days, less efficient pumps on low speed didn't move enough water keep DE on the grids. Newer high head pumps do. Jandy says their pump on low is still moving 40-50 gpm. When you cut the speed in half, you cut the eclectic use in quite a bit more than half. So that's good.
SWG's are selling like hotcakes. And like anything new, we are coming up with the technology to fix any problems caused by the SWG. Sealed steel rails. Coatings for flagstone and rock waterfalls, to keep the salt from staining them. Things like that.
There not really NEW, I sold lectranators in the '80s. They didn't reverse polarity, so they were not self cleaning, but they generated chlorine. Then we sold a unit that had the salt in a tank and fed the chlorine into the return line. You didn't put the salt in the pool. The by product however was caustic soda, and you had to drain that off from time to time. They required a little more maintenence and that kind of ruined the idea that you were saving time and money.
Sounds like it's going to be a nice pool.
Enjoy!