The PebbleTec was included in the "package" They upgraded me to the PebbleSheen for free. I've seen where folks have paid 6-8K for a 20K gal pool.
Heres a pretty good pool forum... I got alot of info\ideas there during my build
Pools

It varies widely depending where in the country you live.  Every house has a pool here and a nice 15,000 Gallon pool with Pebble Tec, Arrylic deck and will run you about 25k for everything including a robotic cleaner.

Yes we do loose a significant amount of water to evaporation, but the pool cover whihc we do use most of the years prevents 90% of that.  Temperature out here in Vegas is a blessing as solar heat and a gas heater allow us year round use.  We refinished the pool this spring with a 3M Quartz added to the plaster in a black & blue base.  The pool now matches the beauty of the sky for color.  I hope this picture shows the improvement.  This of course is over a gunite base.

Got that right

Hate to rain on your parade, BUT

You will wish you didn't...

You have to maintain it all the time...and you hardly use it....it is a HUGE hole in the ground that you throw money into.
My parents house in FL has a pool..it's almost never used and eats up $$$$$

The last house they had in the northeast was a vinyl lined pool....liner leaked, constant problems with alge, pumps, arranging for someone to feed it chemicals while we were on vacation...winterizing, pumping the pool cover...

Trust me, it fucking sucks having a pool....and it does NOTHING for the value of the house in most areas.
You would have to give me money to take a house with a pool.
Send your kids to the community pool, or better yet, find a nice lake or a calm river....

You have been warned...if you still want it, go for it...money is meant to spend after all

How badly do ya'll with pools get hurt by the tax appraisers?

How old are those pumps? I'm running a 2.5hp 8-10 per night and they don't cost me half that.
That includes running the spa quite a bit and another 2 HP pump for the waterfall.
And elec in AZ ain't exactly cheap.

Salt water + Infloor cleaning FTMFW!!

$10 bucks a month for acid. That's it.
15 min a week in maint. to give it a quick sweep and empty the skimmer basket.
Couple hours twice a year to clean the cartridge filters

Thats very nice. Love the windex blue color

We had a 15 x 30 irregular with hot tub installed in 1996 along with a 45x30 screened enclosed deck. Final cost was $21,000.00. Last year our cost to operate and maintain was less than $1,200.00.

Gunnite with Diamond Brite and Tile finish. So far no problems with the finish, deck or tile.

get  a spa pool

I have a 15x20 rectangular fiberglass. Was here when I bought the house. Chlorine pool with a Barracuda G3 sweeper. Pump runs only 6 hours per day. Monthly maintenance cost: $45. Electricity: negligible. Time: 15-30 minutes per week. Crystal clear year round.

The key is to keep the pool maintained all the time - if you let it get out of hand and turn on you it can be very expensive (time and $$) to correct it.

It's amazing how those that don't even OWN a pool (" or other stuff") come on Internet post and shares their OWN others experience with others and has all the negative things to say, but they don't want to "Rain on your Parade".  I actually own one and I have a liner that has been in for 9 years and is like new. I have never had algae. I have the same pump's (pool and Polaris) since it was installed. Mine is a salt water system, that uses at the most $180.00 per year on salt, calcium, and conditioner. I don't do any winterizing. The pump runs between 11:00pm and 5:00 am when I pay a lower price for electricity.  Oh and by the way when we had our home appraised, it was appraised for $17K more than what we had put in the pool and the enclosure. I live (and grew up) close to the Gulf of Mexico and 10 minutes away from a couple of rivers and creeks. We have 5 grandchildren and use our pool from April to October, since we have a heat pump on it.  It was one of the best investments we have made. I have other friends that bought one, the kids grew up and moved out and they don't use it any more. We use our a lot so it was money well spent. In fact we just got out of ours.  Just because someone else you know had a bad experience or doesn't use something for whatever reason, doesn't mean it is that way for everyone.  If you have young children (or grand children) that love to swim and you think that the money you spend will be worth it, then do your home work, look at the different systems and talk to those that ACTUALLY OWN one and make up your mind.

Look into a spool.  My wife insisted on a pool but our landscaping co. talked her into getting a spool.   I was totally against it but now I love it.  Even in the winter.

+1. Looking to add value? Bad investment. Looking for fun? Good invesment.

LOL our pool is 57 degrees right now and the kids are swimming.

That is true.  My company did the books and billing for two different companies that installed pools, and both started calling customers five years after a new install or after replacing a liner to try to sell them a new one.  I remember the owner of one of the companies said that you typically you start having problems with the liner after three years, and it needs to be replaced after six.  My great-nephew owns a side business that fills in pools in SC, and most of his customers give-up their pools because they're tired of replacing liners.z

WOW! My kids asked me to heat ours today because it was "only" 80. Desert rats

And some things in life....well they're just worth it.

this has made me decide that you need to use spellcheck bustin your balls here hans

Have had a pool in Arizona for 20 years.  The house (previously owned) came with a pool and I assumed it would be expensive to maintain and a pain to keep clean.  It's not.  Total expense (electrcity, chemicals, and normal maintenance when required) probably is less than $100/mo.  After a dust storm, its a couple of hours to clean up but normally less than 15 minuts per week.  Water gets real warm in the summer––low 90s.  Swimming season in Az (for me) is mid-May thru September.  Water too cold otherwise.  With a gunnite/plaster pool, have to assume a replastering every ten years or so––maybe more if you're lucky.  The replastering cost is not included in the normal monthly cost.  Bottom line is that if you use it, its worth it.  If you don't its not.  Of the ten houses in the immediate neighborhood, eight have pools, and of the eight pools, two get used.  Had to replace the water this year, and in the middle of the desert a pool's worth of water to refill it cost $15.

Moral of the story: If you're old and not going to use a pool then don't buy a pool



Moral of the story: If you're a cheapass or poor and are only going to buy the cheapest pool, cheapest materials then don't buy a pool.



Moral of the story: Even if you don't own something but have heard others that do own something talk about it, then that qualifies you as an expert by proxy so that you can feel free to give your expert advice to random strangers all over the internet.

I've known more people that have had existing ones filled in than I've known people who had new ones put in.

Choose where to spend your money carefully.

Basically what I said above... Only different!

I know, I used to do it when I was a kid.     Now, if the temp isn't 88-90 it's to cool for me.  If it gets to 87, I'm in the Hot Tub. With the wife's titanium knees, she really feels the difference in water temp's.

I try and keep ours right around 87-88 and 90 the first two weeks in April and the last part of October, because it is a little cool outside. If we didn't have the heat pump, I wouldn't use it as much.  When the temp outside get below 55 at night I turn the heat pump of and that's it for the season. I do use a solar blanket just to retain the heat when needed. Nine years and still enjoying ours.  The youngest grandchild is 6 months old, so I would imagine we will be using it for some time to come.

My kids live in ours during the summer.

Makes our house the place to hang out.......not somewhere else.

Plus, it gives you insight into the kids that your kids run with.

I have known a lot of people that have pools that vow never to have another if they move.  And 90% added a pool within 2 years of leaving the house with a pool.