Hi!

We're building a pool as we speak in Fairfax County (Vienna). Not sure where you're located, but, FFX has some new regulations to comply with the Chesapeake Bay Act that are really a PITA. Just warning you.

We interviewed Huston Pools, Lewis Aquatec, NVBlu and Town&Country. We've also heard good things about Pools by Young but never asked them for a proposal. In the end, it came down to recommendations, quality of the plans, experience and price. We are very glad that we went with Sandy Huston.

http://www.lewis-aquatech.com/

Lewis Aquatech's website is still up and running. Again, they are a really high-end builder so I just can't imagine them going under. As you very well know, we live in the most expensive county in the nation and we're all still building pools, even in this economy!

Definitely keep me posted on your decision. You're the first NOVA poster I've seen since I started checking this site in February! I think that, as long as you stay away from some of the national chains, you'll find that any of the local builders will do a great job.

We are in NoVa and have begun our search. We are pretty set on fiberglass, but the information on those installers is very rare. We met with River Pools and Spas and liked them very much.

I'm actually looking for a Barrier Reef Fiberglass Pool installer in this area to see what they can offer. Unfortunately I have not had any luck on that front.

kamacdaddy - I have heard wonderful things about River Pools and Spas. We used to live in the MD area and if we still did we'd be using them for our pool build in the spring. We're located in SC now. In fact I actually contacted Marcus from River Pools to ask some advice about fiberglass pool types as there are no Leisure builders in our area and I wasn't too sure about Barrier as there was little written about them out there. Marcus was very helpful and spent a few hours spread out over a few phone calls answering my questions and being very helpful and I'm not nor could I be a paying customer.

As far as barrier reef goes, I contacted them personally and they hooked me up with a rep in my area. He then helped me locate a pool builder that would install their pools. As I said we're going to have it put in this spring (2010). I will post pics, etc once we get there!

Marcus has been a great source of information for me as well. It's nice to get some insight into the industry from him.

I would love to use him for our pool, and likely will, but I'm not crazy about the Leisure designs. I'm sure I will be happy with whatever we do, especially in light of the 100 degree weather today...but I would like to have more options.

For some reason I am drawn to the Barrier Reef Manhattan Range, and I saw in their newsletter they are adding a tanning ledge to that pool too.

We will be having our pool put in this winter, its just a matter of which one and by whom.

viennamommy-thanks for all of the info and i will be contacting Youg and Huston this week.

kamacdaddy-interesting you say fiberglass, yesterday i visted my neighbor who has a 20X40 gunite, and more money than God, and he informed me that he installed a FG pool at his new lake front home 2yrs ago from Rivers Pools and would do it again. My first question is what led you to FG?

Why Fiberglass? I've been doing a lot of research over the past year+ and the research led me to fiberglass. I grew up with a vinyl liner pool and I'm keenly aware of the issues with those types of pools. They are much better now, but they still have the issue of replacing the liner, etc.

I've never been a fan of concrete pools. I've read too many horror stories. Yes, there are thousands of concrete pools that have no issues, but there are thousands that have to be replastered after a year, cracks develop, etc.

Fiberglass is smoother, requires less chemicals, is lower maintenance, has 25, 30 or lifetime warranties on the shell themselves and upwards of 15 year warranties on the gelcoat (the colored part you see). The downside to fiberglass is that you are limited to size and shape, but even that is more of a non-issue these days. There are some beautiful designs and colors in fiberglass these days. Gone are the days of the white bathtub buried in the backyard. Look into it. Here are some good resources:

www.riverpoolsandspas.com
www.leisurepoolsusa.com
www.barrierreefpoolsusa.com
www.trilogypools.com
www.sanjuanpools.com

Leisure, Trilogy and Barrier Reef pools seem to have the best finish warranties in the industry from what I have seen. Viking and San Juan have some of the more unique designs. Trilogy's Fusion Line is pretty cool as it allows some customization.

Bbam40 - I'd like to add to kamacdaddy's reasons for a fiberglass pool vs. gunite. Have you ever swam in one? We were drawn to this type of pool during our vacations in VA Beach where almost all of the homes we've stayed in have fiberglass. I grew up with gunite and above ground vinyl and can say that I truly prefer the feel of a fiberglass pool. ANd if you go with a brand that has a superior gel coat you can expect it to last longer without repair then gunite (ie barrier or leisure). We did look at Trilogy as well but there are no installers in our area so I didn't look too closely at their finish and warranty.

kamacdaddy - Make sure you call and talk to someone from Barrier before deciding on one of their models. Not all are being made here in the US at this time and some have changed design a bit. We liked the Hayman style but they aren't producing it here. So we decided on the Pacific I which has actually been redesigned now with more of a bench area in the shallow end. I do believe they are doing the Manhattan still but the specifics of the design and size may have changed. This is all based on info directly from their SC sales rep who met with me back in late June.

We had a spa/pool built last year in Leesburg, VA. Used NVBlue and build went well, on time, on budget, and we'd recommend them to others. We also talked with Lewis Aquatech but they were much higher although their pools were impressive. The third builder we talked with was Maryland Pools- very cookie cutter and didn't follow up with us after the initial discussion for months and seemed to be very set in their approach.

hi, we live in vienna and just started this pool shopping business. does anyone know if it's possible to get a small pool with a waterfall/shrubbery for 10-30k? we have a meeting set up with nvblu, but is there anyone else in the area we should talk to as well? also, how much is the maintenance, and is there a minimum pool size? we're really new to this, so any background info. on how to shop, plan, etc. would be greatly appreciated.

Hi iwantapoolreally bad!

We're located in Vienna as well. I think that you could do a bare-bones, basic pool for @30k. Fiberglass may be a good option. However, with any pool, keep the following costs in mind because you'll have to tack this on to the price of the pool:

How many acres do you have? If it's less than 5, I believe, you will need an engineer to do a grading plan (anywhere from $5k-$10k) and possibly a drainage system to comply with the Cheasapeake Bay Watershed Act if the county deems it necessary. This could cost anywhere from 5k-20k!!! County fees include a refundable environmental bond (ours was $5k) and various permitting fees (I think we paid $2k)

viennamommy19 - thanks for your response. we only have a little under of 0.25 acre. our land is flat and we barely have any trees. do you have a fiberglass pool? nvblu seems to only do gunite. who would you recommend for fiberglass?