Many people remodel rooms in their homes, but have you ever remodeled a pool? We knew when we purchased our home that a pool remodel was going to be first thing if we wanted to swim by summer. In today’s post, I’m going to show you all of the steps, choices and before & afters of our Pool Remodel.
Want to read more about our Total Home Makeover remodel? Check out our My Home Makeover Page where you can click on any room in our home to see what we’ve done so far.
The Pool Before
This looks like a Summer paradise, right? Yikes!
When we bought this house, the pool was gross. It was not well maintained. It was green and was in desperate need of resurfacing with new plaster. The waterline tile was nasty and outdated, and the equipment was ancient. We had a heater that looked like this:
That about sums up the state of the pool upon move-in.
I was never putting a toe in that pool as long as it was like that. We knew when we purchased the house that a pool remodel including resurfacing and repairing the pool was one of the top priorities. It’s hot here in Texas in the summer, and the pool gives us a place to relax and unwind with the kids.
The Pool Problems
Our home inspector hired a pool inspector to take a look at the pool and make a list of needed repairs. The pool inspector he hired happened to be our trusted pool repair GUY! It was a total coincidence, but it made me feel so much better about the findings. I knew I could trust him.
There was a long list of repairs for our pool remodel, so we got started right away.
About a week after we moved in, we had the pool drained so that we could get it resurfaced. The original plaster had been painted white, a big no no, and it had to be completely sanded down. That cost us about $400 extra. The old blue & brown tile was chipped off and outdated. We also had to replace most of the equipment. This was not going to be cheap.
So let’s get on with the pool remodel!
The Waterline Tile
After that was all done, we got to do the fun stuff in the pool remodel– the choices!! The tile choice was fairly easy. I’d been pinning glass mosaics for a while on Pinterest. I love how resorts use glass mosaics in their pools for water line tile, and we found a great option with some iridescence at Lowe’s of all places!
This mosaic glass tile was $11.96 a square foot, and we used our 10% off moving coupon to get it down around $10.50 a square foot. We needed 80 linear feet at 6″ wide, which was 40 square feet of tile, so that was a big savings!
Our tile looks like its no longer available online, but I found some similar versions without the iridescence here.
Love that sparkle! I love the navy and different blues of the tiles, and when the sun shines on it, there are these cool greens, purples and yellows that pop! I just love it!
The Quartz
Our new house is on a creek, and we have very tall 40-50 foot Ash, Red Oak, and Hackberry trees. So. Much. Shade. We decided we wanted to concentrate on ways to retain heat, since our pool was going to be in full shade in the late afternoon hours.
There are three price points on pool resurfacing materials from cheapest to most expensive: basic plaster, quartz, or Pebble Tec. We had pretty much decided on the quartz plaster – an upgrade from the previous plaster. Quartz is middle ground on price and lifetime, lasting around 10-15 years.
Our quartz is Caspian Sea, which is a cool grey color. I decided that I wanted one strip of the waterline tile along each step, and I just love the way it looks. It’s simple and modern. Exactly what we wanted in our pool remodel.
With the water in the pool, it looks dark grey/blue, kind of like a lagoon. It looks great with the tile.
The Heater
One of the other upgrades we chose to spend money during the pool remodel was the heater. We had to replace the heater, so we decided to go with a Heat Pump instead. The Heat Pump is double what a heater costs, but it is much cheaper to run. Our pool guy said its about $.04 cents per hour vs $.80 an hour.
The heat pump runs off of electricity instead of natural gas, and it works like an air conditioner. We set a temperature of 85 degrees, and the heater will pop on when it needs to maintain the temp. But, it will only heat up 10 degrees. This was a great option for us, since we do not have a spa at this house. We don’t really have a need to heat from 40 degrees to 100, like you do with a spa. This is just enough to give us a few extra weeks to the season on either end.
The Pool Cleaner
We swapped out the old pool sweep for a brand new Polaris 280 in black. We had a blue and white one at the old house that we named “Po”, so this one is “Black Po 2.0”. He’s pretty stealth!
The Party Pool Light
Another component that we chose to upgrade during the pool remodel was the pool light. Swapping out old incandescent lights to LED has been a project all over the house, and the pool is no exception.
We decided to spend a little bit more on some “wow factor” and we went with a color-changing LED light. This light allows us to choose from about 8 different colors and light shows, and can color-code or theme our swims! I even sent in the purchase for a rebate with our electric company!
The Smart Pool Controller
All of these upgrades are now controlled by our iPhones, because we had an iAqualink pool controller installed! The pool didn’t have any sort of system to control everything from inside the house, and that was something that we really liked in our old house. It was a little expensive, but it was so worth it.
We can control the pool temp, light color/show, vacuum and more right from our smartphones or tablets from anywhere. It’s really handy, and its nice that we don’t have to have a large control panel an inside wall like we used to.
The Budget
This pool remodel was not a cheap project. We had originally thought it would be about $8,500 for all basic stuff, and we probably ended up spending close to $15,000 because we decided to bite the bullet and upgrade things now. Part of the difference were the additional expenses for the Heat Pump, the Quartz, the Pool Light and the iAqualink. That stuff isn’t cheap.
However, we now have a pool that doesn’t leak, and is fairly energy efficient. We’ll probably have to replace the pump in a few years, but hopefully, not any time soon. ~We just replaced the pump in June 2020.
The Finished Pool Remodel
Here’s some more after pics:
What do you think of our pool remodel? Want to take a dip? I love this pool! It’s the centerpiece of our yard, and now it’s a place that we love to sit by and spend time as a family. My favorite part is the tile. I love the colors and how they change in the sun!
Want to see what we’ve done to the space since this post was written? Check out the 2020 Summer Spaces Blog Hop that I participated in for updated photos! We still have more plans for this backyard, so make sure you’re following me on Instagram for the latest updates!
Have you ever done a pool remodel before? What choices did you end up with? Did you do any upgrades? Tell us about it in the comments!
Check out all of the Stacy’s Savings Total Home Makeover posts here!
Judy says
Hi Stacy, we live in the DFW area as well and are speaking to several pool builders about a new pool build. Who did you use to remodel your pool? Also, who is your pool guy?
Stacy says
Hi Judy!
Congrats on the new pool! I hope it brings you many years of joy!
Unfortunately, our pool guy is no longer in business.
Good luck with your project!
~Stacy
Julie Ruso says
Hi! I would like to know what you used for your pool deck?
Stacy says
Hi Julie,
We didn’t touch our pool deck. It’s old aggregate. When we do finally remodel the backyard, we’ll probably be doing stamped concrete. It’s much easier to walk on and doesn’t get as hot as aggregate does. It’s also easier to clean.
Thanks for asking!
~Stacy
Janet says
Hi Stacy, I’m staying up reading all your blog posts and links to more blog posts. We are in the midst of a kitchen remodel and your pantry blog caught my attention on Pinterest. I’ve landed on the pool blog because that’s my planned project a year from now. Much like you, I’m anticipating the expenses and purchasing sales and out of season. Since the pool is next year, I need to ask the price break on the pool finishing. My pool is a plaster pool and it’s last 20 years. It’s 20,000 gallons but I don’t have a clue how to determine linear foot for plaster or tile. My grandson and I counted the tile once, but I forgot to write it down. Thanks for sharing all your fun!
Stacy says
Hi Janet!
I’m glad that the blog could provide you with some COVID entertainment and inspiration!
The linear feet for your waterline tile is just measuring your pool edge. That’s how many linear feet you need. Our mosaic tile was 12×12, and we cut it in half. So let’s say our pool is 80 linear feet, we only needed 40 tiles if that makes sense. Make sure you take into account tile for the stairs as well.
As far as the plaster, you can choose between 3 quality grades: plaster, quartz, or pebbletech. We went with quartz since it’s supposed to last longer and gives you better color options. It all depends on the size and depth of your pool, so the best way to figure it out is to get some free estimates so that you can plan your budget.
I hope that helps and good luck with your projects!
~Stacy
Mary says
Beautiful! How are the glass tiles holding up on the stairs! How do you like the pool fence you chose? Would you recommend it? Is it moveable?
Stacy says
Hi Mary!
The glass tiles are doing great! No issues at all, and its been about 6 years. The pool fence is removable. I love the locking gate. It’s not the prettiest, but it serves its purpose. When our kids are old enough, we can take the fence down, roll it up, and put it away. We had this same company install one at our old house. It comes with little caps to put in the holes in the concrete when you take it out.
Hope that helps!
Thanks for checking out the blog!
~Stacy
Debi estrada says
This was a wealth of detail. Thank you. We just bought a home with a pool. It was pickle green! Algae literally tore in sheets off the sides and bottom the first time we shocked it with far more choline than probably needed. We have a pool company coming next week to repeater, regime and repair cracks. We live in the dfw area of TX. And we have a hot tub but are considering removing the dividing wall between it and pool and making that a seating area. I don’t think we would use the hot tub often at all. The pool is over 20yrs old and the original tile is srill on it. What are your thoughts on removing the hot tub wall and having a seating area in the pool. Our pool will be painted a med /dark blue and tile a baby cobalt color. The previous owners paid for the repair but it was 4700 here. Wish I could attach a pic to show you the wall I’m considering removing.
Stacy says
Hi Debi!
Hot tubs are personal preferences for sure. In our last home, we had a hot tub, and we used it a lot, especially when it was slightly too cold to swim in the pool. We’re also in DFW, and our pool time is about May 15th to Labor Day. So if we wanted to use our pool outside of that, it was in the hot tub. We found lots of ways to have fun, including waterproof playing cards like these: https://amzn.to/3bb1ukB (Affiliate Link). We also have UNO cards! https://amzn.to/3c3nyNK (Affiliate Link).
Sadly, our new home doesn’t have a hot tub, and we really miss it. We are considering adding one in at some point in the future so that we can use our backyard year round.
Hopefully, your pool company isn’t going to use paint instead of replastering! I would stay far, far away from any company that suggests painting the pool. That is not a durable solution.
Good luck with your decision, and I know whatever you decide will be gorgeous!
Thanks for checking out the blog!
~Stacy
Kristin K says
I live in an apartment building, so no access to my own pool. But, I absolutely love what you did with yours!!! I love the tile! I would’ve like to see a picture of the pool at night, to see the lights!!!
Stacy says
I know! I’ll have to take a video soon and add it. I wrote this post over a year ago, but never got around to posting it.
Mai T. says
I wish I were rich enough to afford a swimming pool for the house.
Stacy says
We are far from rich, believe me. We live fairly frugally, and we spend a lot of time at home. Pools are cheaper when you buy them instead of build them.
krystel says
this is a really smart idea love how the after results how the pool is really clean