I hope you can speak and write spanish...we are DIY not by choice and the language barrier has been huge. Kinda makes me wish I had not slept through spanish class!!

I thought about that also, my spanish isn't great but I have friends that are fluent.

hmlinca-

Congrats on having the motivation and creativity to build a pool in your backyard. I too am an engineer and designed our pool from scratch using a lot of information and pics from this forum and other pool industry publications and articles written by award winning PB's and professionals. I had all the links saved under my internet favorites on my work computer. Unfortunately, it was stolen this past summer at an airport so I'm going from memory here.

A few online pulications that were invaluable to me were, Aqua Magazine. They publish annual awards for different categories of pools, example over 700 sq.ft., under 700 sq.ft., fiberglass, vinyl, etc. The pictures and description of the pools were inspiring but what was more beneficial to me were the articles in the publication that were written by design and pool professionals about the pools featured. I learned a lot about negative edge pools and how to properly design for hydraulics and apply 2 speed pumps to the design to help keep the pool clean and lower maintenance needs as well as energy costs. Another online resource I remember is Pool and Spa News Online. Look in the archives files for articles that may be of interest to you. Lots of good stuff here written by pool professionals offering good advice and design/construction techniques. I remember learning a lot about delamination problems with negative edge pool weir walls and how to avoid the delamination problems with proven construction techniques, the use of rebound material in gunite consruction and why that is bad...that kind of stuff. Just start googling key words for something you want to learn about and you will start to see a pattern to professional pool industry sites that have lots of good info (some that I mentioned above). Once you find those sites, just start drilling down into the archive files and articles to find what you need....lots of good stuff out there.

I went with a local PB when we built our pool in 2007, but the pool design, hydraulic design and other features were all my own, which created a situation where all the subs came to me for questions along the way and allowed me to QC the job and actively get involved with several aspects of the build so it was done to my satisfaction. The PB didn't mind as long as we kept paying the installments as scheduled. When we were done, I felt the PB price was fair and there were many times when I leaned on them heavily for construction advise along the way.

As most DIY projects, there is a high level of satisfaction when the project is done and ours was no different. Our pool was recognized nationally with a bronze design award. I still joke with my PB every time I walk into his office and see my pool hanging on his wall with a bronze design award....I ask if he has my award money yet.

I have written a lot about our pool design and DIY experience in an earlier thread. Below is a link to the thread to provide more material for your homework.

Also, I ran into the spanglish problem with some of the subs and found a picture is a worth a thousand words. I found that it wasn't just enough to have a diagram or a plan for the pool, I also had 3D sketches of the pool and design features to help convey the message. This was usually met with enthusiasm to try to create the image I showed them and kept us on the same page for most of the jobs. It does require a lot of QC work on the sight from my experience to minimize any surprises along the way. The surprises seemed to happen more with our pool construction than it did with any of the 3 homes that we self-contracted over the years....still can't explain why but that was our experience.

Hope some of this helps!

Here is a link that might be useful: Our Pool

I just finished my second DIY pool - both went very smoothly. I learned a lot from this guy http://www.howibuiltmyownpool.com/

I don't know him and am not advertising - but it at least gave me a feel for the workflow. Most of the site is free or you can pay a nominal fee for all the pages.

A couple pieces of advice from my experience -
1) it is worth paying for a professional landscape design
2) Have an experienced pool guy do the layout and elevation before the dig - critical for drainage
3) I think you naturally get a better product if you are polite and thankful to every worker. I bought them drinks, snacks, pizza, etc. Also made sure to say "Gracias" a lot. As long as they are truly doing a good job, of course.
4) If you can't be at the site all the time, put up a webcam to check on progress from the office. I liked the extra safety aspect of checking on it as well.
5)Let a local pool builder get your equipment for you if you can find one. I paid his cost plus 10%, and he recommended what I needed, picked it up, and delivered it to my house. I found it was as cheap or cheaper than the internet prices once shipping was added in. Travertine for coping was the opposite - I got it delivered to the house from a web site for 1/2 the $$ I could find it locally.
6) The most confusing thing I found was in getting pipe diameter advice. Hopefully as an engineer you can grasp that - I sorta hoped for the best.
7) You don't save any money digging trenches yourself, although it is a terrific upper body workout and when you are done you will be really glad you don't do it for a living.
8) Most things can be made a lot bigger for just a little more - ex: bigger electric panel for future expansion is only a little bit more now, but a lot more to add later. Digging an extra foot deep costs very little, etc.
9) You will never say "I have too much decking" - "I have too many electrical outlets" - "My pool is too big" - you get the idea.
10) If you can pay in cash as soon as the sub is done, they are always free tomorrow, even if tomorrow is a Sunday/Holiday, etc.

Good luck.

You have a chance at building a premium quality if you dont rush the job. Congrats. for doing research first.

There is maybe a hundred things come to mind, but today:

Install extra suction such as a second set of main drains. They could be very nice to have in the future and wont cost much to add now. NOBODY does that. But what if, say five years from now: 1. You want to add a waterfall ( or whatever) 2.The main drains leak and would be costly to repair. 3.You want more water returned tothe pool. The drains could be reversed.

trhought-

I looked at your link and your pool is great. My kids are jealous of your slide, we live in CA where all the lots are much smaller! Thanks for the information, I will visit the sites and resources you suggested. Was there anything that you wished you would have included but didn't or perhaps you would have done differently.

My next piece of advice: Dont use flex pipe. Iknow that statement is going to get a bunch of builders in an uproar.

But flexpipe = job security.Okay forget about the dozen ways that it fails, how about restriction.
A roll of flex is like a case of 90's.

hmlinca-

Glad to help a fellow DIY'er and thanks for the kind words about our pool and slide.

Two things I would have done differently....1. use blue tile for the negative edge cap and for the negative edge pit waterline tile. A blue color that would match the water color. The stone color we chose matches the rocks which is what we thought we wanted, but after all was done, I think the blue would have looked better. The second thing would be to use diamondbrite at the weir edge of the negative edge pit to make the waterline truly disappear. Instead we did a 2" stone color tile at the weir edge which calls attention to the edge when the light is just right. Maybe the blue tile would have helped here also. These are probably nits, but it's these little things that bother me even though the casual observer would never notice.

Also, agree with mikethepoolguy, avoid flex and keep the plumbing big with minimum 90's to let the pumps work easier against the lower pipe resistance and save energy on monthly utility bills.

Hope this helps!

I plan on using sch 40 pvc for everything. I don't like putting in cheap materials.