re: Getting an in ground pool. Any suggestions and tips?

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Again, cost wise I am sure I am saving a little money

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I wouldn't say one way is cheaper than the other really. It's been shown that they are just about equal over the life of the system. It all just comes down to a personal preference on what you'd rather replace

Thanks again for the tips. Yes, that quote on the heater included installation.

My personal experience with the chlorinator is we live in an area that gets a a mustard algae constantly if your chlorine level dips even a little. It takes time and money to get rid of the algae. The chlorinator keeps the chlorine level constant enough that it's not even a worry. We use much less shock annually and the Ph has stayed easier to keep balanced. Our first cell lasted 5 years and we just replaced it this summer. For us, in our area, it's been way easier to manage than a regular chlorine pool. We were spending a lot of dough on tablets and chlorine and still needing to shock it a lot.

Splurge and get the whirlpool/hot tub. If one of your goals is to keep your teenagers and their friends at your house...this will help.

We have had our pool (gunite) for 3 years now and are very happy with it. We wanted salt, but our pool contractor talked us out of it. He doesn't recommend them at all.

We don't spend much on chemicals. A bucket of chlorine tabs a year from Sam's is about $90 and muriatic acid at Home Depot or Wall Mart is about $7-8 a gallon.

Pool service every other week and they take care of any other chemicals, like calcium, cleaning the filter, etc. It's $45 each time.

No whirlpool; 3 spigots for a waterfall that are on a timer and come on each afternoon for a few hours.

A "tanning deck" with a place for an umbrella.

A deep end (6 1/2 feet)

I run the pump a lot during the summer and saw about a $50/month increase in the electric bill.

This is important---NO TREES in our backyard to drop tons of leaves into the pool. That really helps in keeping it clean.

Good luck.

Edit: We have a Polaris. The automatic cleaner jets were way too expensive.

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We may add a few palm trees later down the line but not right now.

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I have several palms that are about 30' tall. Don't get the ones that get real tall. They drop seeds annually and those little bastards will clog up things like you can't imagine.

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I don't see how anybody can not tell the difference between being in a saltwater pool and a regular chlorine pool. It's a pretty big difference.

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Then the traditional chlorinated pool you are comparing it to was not done right. A properly "dialed in" pool using traditional chlorine would be almost impossible to tell. I guarantee you could not know which type I use if you just go in it without me telling you.

Just use your neighbors...cheaper and less of a hassle.

The pool will already be behind a locked privacy fence and we do not have small kids.

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Do you know what kind of palms they are?

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The tall ones are canary island date palms. They are beautiful but a pain.