Starting my Summer with a DIY in ground Pool Project

A couple of years ago, my wife and I decided it was time to make a change.  Our house was too small and it was too close to the soccer field, and it was just too, well, it was lacking.  It had been a wonderful house to start our life together in, but after about eight years, it was beginning to burst at the seams.

My house, from the street

So we sold it, it was sad but we sold it and began to look for our new dream house.

It took awhile, but we did finally find the house last June (2016)  and it was everything we were looking for, except for one little thing...  It didn't have a pool.  And one of the things we decided when we decided we were moving was we needed to have a pool.  We have four kids, two living at home and two living on their own, and we also have two grand kids.  We wanted to have a home were our family could congregate and be able to spend summer days just hanging out with their parents.

So, at the beginning of the summer, we decided to have a "Pool Guy" out to see how much it was going to cost us to have a pool installed.

HAHAHAHA

We received a rough estimate of 40,000 for the pool which was a 16 x 32 vinyl liner style pool.  This did not include a fence or all the trees which needed to be removed, which actually would add about 6000 dollars to that price tag.

I am sorry?  Nearly 50k for a basic pool?  It's not even a cement or fiberglass number.  We are talking about a bare bones, bottom of the line pool.

I had to break it to my family that we were not going to get a pool.  But before I did that, I went to the internet, and low and behold, I found out that this is actually something that can be DIY'ed.  So, being a go-getter by nature, I decided that this is a project I can do.  And, instead of it being a 50,000 dollar project, I am going to do it for under 20,000.  So, this is the plan, a complete in ground pool, with tree removal, landscaping and fencing, all for under 20k.  I am not positive if I am going to make that mark, it is going to be really close, but I am going to try my best.

As of the writing of this post, we have had the survey done, the permits pulled, the trees removed, the stumps ground, and the pool hole dug.  Currently I am waiting for the pool kit to arrive (pool warehouse)  and I am hoping that will be here by the end of the week.

This is the planned location of the Pool.

A lot of people have questioned my logic in trying to tackle this project on my own, and like I tell them, I am not cutting trees down, that I leave to the professionals, and I am not digging the hole, because that is also better left to the professionals.  I will not do the boundary survey, I have to leave that to the professionals (which I have to say is an extreme ripoff here in michigan!)

So, I am basically putting up pool walls, I am pouring the cement beam, I am cementing the pool bottom, I am putting the liner in... The excavator is coming back to backfill.  I am filling the pool with water, I am pouring a cement slab, I am building a privacy fence, I am setting the pump and filter, and I am plumping the pump.  I will most likely let an electrician finish wiring and bonding the electrical, and that's basically it.  Easy peasy, right?  Maybe, we will see!