Good day, Sam from Gordon Avenue Pools here. I’m going to introduce you to the seven most commonly asked questions when we come out to a site inspection to give you guys a swimming pool quote.
Pool cost
The following factors I’ll discuss will determine the cost of your proposed swimming pool.
Pool size, shape and colour
Really, really important, obviously to you guys, because you want to put your pool in. This is a decision that you guys have made, so you probably already know the sizes and the shapes that you’re after. But we will run through the reasons for and against different shapes and different sizes. We’ll ask you how you’re going to use your pool. We’ll bring out the shapes catalogue and we’ll make sure that we listen to everything that you say, and we’ll get the right pool for the right space for you guys.
Your backyard
Obviously we ask the customer on exactly the size of the pool that they’re after before we come out and see you guys. But once we visited the site, there are contributing factors that we need to go through to make sure that the pool’s actually going to fit into your backyard.
Pool easements
The majority of backyards or yards that you’re going to put your pool in has an easement. If they do, we need to, one, think about exactly how wide that easement is and how close that we can build to that easement. So we may ask you for plans from your waterboard or plans from your council to see how far away we can legally install that swimming pool.
Soil type
There’s a range of different soil types throughout Victoria, especially in the areas that we install swimming pools. So we’ve got to also check exactly the type of soil that you’ve got in your backyard and then we will manufacture and install your pool to that type of soil. That will determine exactly where that pool can fit and how far away from buildings we need to be.
Proximity to buildings
The last thing that we want to do is install your pool close enough to a building that will impact the integrity of that building. So we may ask you for engineering drawings of your footings of your house, we may talk about a thing called angle of repose, and these will be contributing factors on how close we can put your pool in your backyard to your dwellings or buildings.
Space in your yard
Obviously, we don’t want to put a pool that’s going to overpower the amount of space that you’ve got in your yard. So we need to consider, one, how far away from boundary fences we can build. Two, how you’re going to access around your swimming pool, and three, we’ve also got to consider pool fencing, plays a big part in your backyard. It’s mandatory in all States throughout Australia, and we need to make sure that, one, we can fit your pool in safely with pool fence around it. So that will also contribute to how far we can build the pool away from, one, your fence, two, your boundary fences, and three, the dwelling.
Pool maintenance
Everybody has got a pretty hectic lifestyle nowadays and wants as low a maintenance possible swimming pool. So we’ll run through the different types of things that you can do to maintain and treat your water. Clean the bottom of your swimming pool and test for your water chemistry.
Pool heating
In Victoria, it gets pretty cold down here. You need to have some type of pool heating to continue swimming at least throughout the summer months. There’s three types of main heating that we offer. The first one, which is the most common, is solar heating. Now it’s black matting that sits up on your roof and the water will get pumped up onto your roof. The sun heats it up and it gets pumped back down into your water. Now, that could give you anywhere from October to April swimming. The cheapest possible way to heat your pool. You’re only running one pump and it’s also probably the most cost effective in the installation process.
Gas heating
The next option is gas. This is more of a rapid fire heat up system for your pool. You can get your pool to almost any temperature that’s able to swim in. Obviously, one, you need the gas. Two, it’s going to cost you a lot more to run, and three, you may need a thermal blanket or solar blanket to go on top of the pool to save those costs. So you must consider that when you go.
Electric pool heating
The next is an electric heat pump. Now this is an option and I get asked numerous times about an electric heat pump, because it’s becoming more popular in the industry. Heat pumps run off, obviously, off your power. They take a very long time to heat your pool up, so they’re more designed to keep your pool at a constant temperature with a thermal blanket. They may suit or they may not suit your needs. We will come out and make sure that we discuss these options with you.
Pool cleaning options
A big question we get asked nowadays is how do we clean our pool? Well, we offer numerous options on cleaning your pool.
Self-cleaning pool
One is obviously our most popular, which is Vantage In-Floor Cleaning. The little pop up heads on the bottom of the pool that spray all the water and debris down into a main drain and it gets sucked away. Like a sprinkler system, a pop up sprinkler system in your lawn. Does a very, very good job. The lowest of maintenance swimming pools that you can put in, and we can discuss that option with you.
Robotic pool cleaner
The next option is a robotic cleaner. Now these are plug and play sort of system. Plug it into the wall, drop it into the pool, they’ll scan your pool. This little robot will scan your pool, clean the bottom and sides of your pool. When it’s ready, it’ll float to the surface. You’ll lift it out, clean its own filtration system and you’ll go and put it away in your shed ready for next time you want to clean it.
Suction cleaner
The other option is a suction cleaner. This uses the filtration system of your swimming pool via a long vacuum hose. Very similar to the robotic cleaner, although it does use your main filtration system. Ask for suction cleaners in your local pool shop.
Your pool use less chemicals and clean itself
Vantage In-Floor Cleaning. We’re lucky enough with our swimming pools to have the head of the industry self-cleaning systems throughout our pools. We’ve got, the Vantage In-Floor Cleaning, not only cleans the bottom of your pool and steps, it also is a great circulation system for your pool. So if you’re thinking about putting a cleaning system in your pool, that’s not only going to save you time, it’s also going to save effort and it’s also going to keep your pool chemistry at a much better level. This is the best time-saver, the lowest maintenance going around. So very much consider this.
Pool access
As Construction Manager at Gordon Ave, this is probably the biggest thing that I consider when I come out and quote a pool, and the ongoing decisions that we’ve got to make to be able to get your pool into your backyard. The biggest questions that I will raise is how wide of an access we’ve got. We’ll also consider how long of a run it is to be able to get your pool and excavation material in and out. The size of the machinery that we will use and whether or not you’re going to need a crane to lift that pool in, either over the house, the neighbors house or down the side of the house.
With our excavation side of things with our business, we’ve got the best options possible to be able to get any size pool into any size backyard. Obviously the tighter the access, the harder it is, but it definitely doesn’t deter us from getting your pool into your backyard. So we’ll discuss all these options and make sure that we can service everything that you need with the size of the pool in the size of the backyard that you’ve got.
So thanks very much for watching guys and we hope to see you soon.
