I've been following pool pricing for the last 3 months....for comparison I'll share my bids..

20x40 gunite (Diamondbrite)
Jandy equipment
2 LED lights
3 aqua jets
3 swim out seats
Depth 3.5-6.5
1300 sq. feet of concrete decking
for 60-65k

Now when I priced out all the particulars, even paying the subs (got quotes from friends that backhoe, plumbing, pebbletec installers, etc.) it would pretty much cost me 35k to build what I want...so there's a 25k markup...I know everyone is out there to make a buck, but I think it would be more than reasonable for me to ask them to build it for 50k...if anyone bites I might save me the hassle of GC'ing it out..if not, I'll just build it myself and hire a consultant to help me with each of the checkpoints...I think for what you're getting you should be able to do that between 45-55k...just my opinion...

Tara

Pool prices vary around the country - what area are you in?

that's what I was gonna say. It's about a 35K pool here in Houston. I don't know how much a screen enclosure costs, but I didn't see a spa on the specs. I think a spa is about 7K to add onto a pool.

The price of the pool is actually $45K. It's that darn screen room that just kills me. It's over $13K. I live in FL and back up to a nature preserve so it's a necessity.

How do you go about contracting some of the services yourself? I'm wondering if I can buy my own heat pump & pool lights through ebay or similiar and save some money. The quote for the heat pump is $4K & the LED lights are $1500. Also, see if I can get a better quote on the screen room? How do pool companies feel about their clients trying to purchase some of the equipment on their own to save money?

No spa. It would add another $10K to the price of the pool. Live in NE Florida.

A good screen enclosure is not cheap. Here in SFL the rates are like $8-$12 per square foot, with the better contractors charging 11-12. I just had mine redone, thankfully via insurance due to hurricane damage and it was like $37k!

$37K!!! Yikes, that's one big screen room you've got. I feel like the screen room is like having to replace your roof or purchase a new A/C. It's nothing glamorous but it's a necessary.

This will be a large screen too. We'll have 1000 sq. ft of deck space.

Yes, those prices are ridiculously high on the lights...I priced the colorlogic LED lights and they were $400 + $65 for the housing unit...here my guy was charging me $650 for the light and installation, I'm sure he might be getting a better rate on the lights than what I've finding online, but maybe not.

I wouldn't skimp on your enclosure, you'll be happier putting in the money now than repairs earlier than expected. It's not hard to put in a salt water generator..lots of help over at trouble free pools site that folks show how to put it in...just have the pool guy put in the manifold for you and you can install and save some money. When I priced what I needed for my pool, I went with prices on the higher end equipment ($1300 for SWG v. $400 for lower brand) and added 15% to my total for wriggle room...actual parts/contractor fees/permits/materials was less than 25k...but I priced my pool with a surface that cost 6k more than what the pool builder would and better coping than he would have used..I think there's plenty of wriggle room with that rate they gave you...try and have 2-3 more pb's come out and give quotes...

Tara

In the quote there are some "no charge" items the PB is giving us. Now I know they aren't really free.... They are the SWG, no upcharge on the Crystalstone color choice and Great White pool cleaner.

Also, does $7.50 per sq. ft. seem high for pavers?

This isn't our first quote but it's the first pool design I really like. It's the largest pool that's been proposed but not by much. Definetly the largest deck space quoted. The others were around 550-650 sq. feet of deck. Also, we were considering doing a RicoRock waterfall but have decided against that design choice. Instead we like the raised stacked stone wall w/ copper scupper waterfalls. Very surprised that the stacked stone waterfall feature was cheaper than the RicoRock waterfall.

The pool enclosure is not that big, whole deck (including pool)is like 1200 sq ft. 3 sides and a mansard roof. $7.50 for pavers does seem pretty high too, should be around $4-$5 for standard stuff unless you pick something really fancy.

cowboys1,

We live in Orlando area.

I agree with t-rex: $7.50 for pavers is high. When I got my bids, one PB wanted $6.35 per SF. The PB I eventually went with allowed me to outsource the paver job (PB scheduled the paver crew, but I had a separate contract with the paver company). Paver cost for me was about $4.50 per SF.

Not all PBs outsource. Mine did. In fact, I could have bought my own equipment... they would have installed it for a fee, but would not have provided a warranty on the equiment (naturally).

You might want to entertain the idea of going screenless. See my link. We are in the boonies on 5+ acres... at night, we hear the frogs (sounds like millions of them), but don't have a bug problem. We do have 8 tiki torches that burn citronelle oil. We had a screen on our last pool... we much preferr screenless. Our fence cost $5K (about 228 LF). It's aluminum, 4'.

You already have a heat pump in the bid... so a spa (flush mounted like mine) will run about $4K. Mine is 8x6 with 6 Waterway therepy jets. Spas get more expensive if they are raised. But you may not want a spa.

No spa? Why the 2 HP pump? Sounds like the old "Hey, I'll give you a bigger pump cause bigger is better" routine. Do yourself a favor: buy an IntelliFlo pump. Filter long time and with low GPM... save on your electric bill.

-Gorilla

Here is a link that might be useful: My Pool

I think its great to get advice of others, but for someone to put a dollar amount with the items listed is far from accurate.
There are alot of unknowns based on the items listed that can completely change the cost of the pool (type of pavers and method of installation, type of flagstone and thickness, access, electrical run, size of plumbing, type of stacked stone, etc.) just my .02
It does seem like it will be a very neat pool... stone with copper scuppers, etc all sound gorgeous.

On these screen enclosures - are we talking one-story or two-story heights for those prices?

"You might want to entertain the idea of going screenless."

I couldn't imagine not having a screen in N FL. Lots of oak trees, bugs, and reading others post about the animals they have to remove from skimmers does it for me. I love the way the screenless pools look when the setting is right, but the enclosure really helps keep the mess outside of my deck and pool. All I've cleaned out of my skimmers are a few bugs occassionally... and pollen from the skimmer socks. Last thing I want to deal with is a dead squirrel, rat etc...

Natural_one, I agree, it's hard to get an accurate picture of the pool design and bid by just going what I'm including in my messages. I do appreciate the advice and knowledge I've gained by coming to this board.

As far as the pavers, they are standard Tremron pavers. The designer & I discussed the Stonehurst style, tumbled. There wasn't an upcharge for that style. Can't answer the question regarding the installation of the pavers other than they'll be laid on a sand base.

Type of flagstone will probably be Tennessee flagstone. Thickness, I don't know. Flagstone isn't that common in my area so the PB didn't give me the dimensions. One quote I got from another PB bid was approx. 80 linear feet of flagstone. That quote I got from the PB I like was $840 for the flagstone coping.

The screen room is 1 story - 10' walls, Mansard style with 2 doors.

The stacked stone is man-made. I saw the sample board but I don't recall the brand name. The copper scuppers are by Polaris.

Plumbing is all scheduled 40 PVC pipe. Not sure about electrical. I would presume it's comparable to the other bids I received but, of course, this will be clarified.

The original paperwork I received for the 16x32 pool they install a 1.5HP pump. They increased the size to a 2HP pump. What's the pros/cons to increasing the size?

I wish we could go screenless. I agree a pool is much prettier w/o the enclosure but we wouldn't be able to enjoy our pool with out it. The knats, no-see-ums and mosquitos would keep us inside.

"The screen room is 1 story - 10' walls, Mansard style with 2 doors."
I hope the height is the reason for the difference in price between your bid & t-rex's recent job. I believe ours will be almost exactly the same size & style as yours - except that I am looking at using alternating columns of some other material (brick would be my ideal, but probably too expensive) instead of all aluminum supports.

We're in TX & screen enclosures don't seem to be as common here so I am dreading to see how much more expensive our bid is going to be. So they base the bid on the square footage of your deck rather than the square footage of the enclosure?

I grew up in Plano, TX, and don't ever recall seeing screen rooms around pools.

Graceunderpressure, you must be around the Houston area then, huh? Jacksonville, FL, reminds me alot of the climate in Houston.

I've only seen screen rooms the way they install them here. It's very unitarian looking so alot of landscaping is needed to make them pretty. To answer your question about bidding on the screen room, yes, I would think they need to know the square footage first before they can determine how big the enclosure needs to be. Here in Jax, there's a big cost difference once you increase the size of the enclosure over 30 feet in width. Something about having to use larger aluminum pieces which increases the cost. Just an FYI to find out if it's the same in Texas.

Yeah, we're just west of Houston (actually only one block away from a Houston zip). I grew up in Tampa & we moved to NW Houston in '81 - it was not a dramatic climate change, LOL! (Dramatic beach change though)

We had relatives in Plano so I have visited a couple of times. It seemed much drier though that could have just been due to the time of year we went. Houston's heat & humidity is bug heaven so I would have expected there would be more screen enclosures here.

Those mosquito misting systems seem to be the popular alternative instead. Frankly, I've spent too much time first researching organic gardening & then later with my own kids' neurological/ immune system problems to even consider chemical or biological sprays at this point. Even though it is not a direct spray, the residues get on everything & will get picked up (even by one's shoes & then tracked into the home).

It boggles my mind that people assume because something is declared natural that it is somehow safe (usually they are only derivatives anyway which is not really natural either just marketing manipulation of the public). Nicotine & arsenic are natural and effective, too. Regular repeated usage even of mild toxins is a bad idea.

Anyway, I am seriously digressing. There is a PB in FL who has posted here as bella-orlando. Has some really nice stuff! I can't post the pix here because they are protected, but take a look at this link.

This screen room is very similar to what I have in mind for ours IF we can afford it (though ours will be colored to blend with our house). I think it looks better than the standard cage & I am hoping that eliminating a lot of the aluminum supports will make it more affordable. It might be an option to consider if aluminum is as pricey in your area as it is in ours (and assuming you even like the look, of course).

Here is a link that might be useful: Bella Pools - The McGee Pool

Wow! That's a very nice screen room. I've lived in FL for 8 yrs. & haven't seen anything like that before. Yes, I would assume that is going to be an expensive upgrade. A mason will have to do the brick work so that's going to increase the cost, I would think.

If you do go that route, please post pictures after it's completed. I wish I could do something like that. Really makes a difference to the whole look of the pool enclosure.

Quote: "I think it looks better than the standard cage & I am hoping that eliminating a lot of the aluminum supports will make it more affordable."

That is really beautiful, but my educated guess is that it would cost MUCH more than a standard enclosure. An enclosure builder would have to sub out the EIFS and framing work (EIFS = exterior insulating finishing system which is what material that is). Shaped EIFS is relatively inexpensive for large quantities (shopping center) because there's a lot of repetition, but for something small like that it would be very pricey. That most certainly looks better than a standard enclosure though!

Ooh, bummer! I hope you're wrong (though I doubt it). We had actually already been talking about putting in a brick pony wall around our patio area so I figured we might just work that in with the screen room idea. I'm going to start asking around & I'll let you all know what I find out!

This a design question. In the proposal, the PB has the raised back wall only 12" high. It's going to be stacked stone with 3 copper scuppers. Does 12" seem high enough? If not, what height looks good?

just wondering if you like the 12" wall, or did you go higher?

Yes, I went with an 18" wall. I did have them put in a ledge which makes it look like the coping goes all around the pool and that took away from some of the height of the stacked stone wall. It still looks great though. I'm linking a web album of our pool. The finish goes in tomorrow. So excited!!

Here is a link that might be useful: Pool pictures