pool recommendations in landes 40???

[lisaroo]

hi there we are to be very soon the proud owner of a gorgeous house in messanges, landes 40!! the house is very contemporary, and it will have a very high standard finish, so i need a pool to match haha!! it is a minefield to say the least?? i am after some advise i suppose as we would like a tiled pool, the house has been granted planning permission for an 8x4 but we feel that is a little small for a 5 bed house?? does anyone know how difficult it would be to change it to a 10x5? (there is the room), also we need it to have minimal maintenance as we wont be onsite so was thinking a salt water pool with solar heating??? do the pool companies set up a maintenance contract where they look after it?

oh any excellent pool installers in the area will be appreciated as well!!

sorry for all the questions xxlisa

[Circé]

To increase the size of the pool you'd need to make an application for planning permission, usually the one called a "déclaration préalable' unless you are in a special area such as a national park.
You do this, not the pool installer.
You don't say if the house is for your personal use, or for rentals. If it's just for family, how many people will you be? Will you be off to the beach a lot?
Most pools in France are liner rather than tiled. You'll pay more for a tiled pool and your choice of contractors will be more limited.
Pools cost money to build and to maintain, and the cheapest option isn't always the best.
Minimal maintenance still needs someone to deal with problems when you're not there, for example after a storm and a power cut.
Some installers offer maintenance too, but not all do. You'd be better off finding a local person to do it, preferably one with a small business below the TVA threshold otherwise you'll be paying TVA at 19.6% on top of the work.

[Jimbo]

Most pools in France are liner rather than tiled.

We inherited a tiled pool in 2005 (which looked stunning) but it's been a war of attrition ever since to keep water reliably in the pool. There is ground movement in our area which makes tiled pools a bad idea, but we didn't know this when we bought our property. We're having a liner fitted over this winter, having expensively exhausted other options.

Jim

[lisaroo]

great thanks for that guys, well we will be using the villa for all purposes mentioned, personal and holiday renting! and with my hubby and kids being avid surfers i guarantee a lot of beach going!!
do these pool liners come in different colour then? i know its sounds a bit of a naiive question but we do have a particular colour of pool in mind being a deep blue as apposed to a bright blue??
i will have to maybe have a good look around in my area when i get down there february! i am assuming then that i need a architect drawing for another pool plan to go in? so that'll be another thing to find!! aahhh!! looks like ill be very busy for a while before any enjoyment commences

[lisaroo]

great thanks for that guys, well we will be using the villa for all purposes mentioned, personal and holiday renting! and with my hubby and kids being avid surfers i guarantee a lot of beach going!!
do these pool liners come in different colour then? i know its sounds a bit of a naiive question but we do have a particular colour of pool in mind being a deep blue as apposed to a bright blue??
i will have to maybe have a good look around in my area when i get down there february! i am assuming then that i need a architect drawing for another pool plan to go in? so that'll be another thing to find!! aahhh!! looks like ill be very busy for a while before any enjoyment commences

[Circé]

Pool liners come in several colours, and you can have a patterned base (hides the dust!) and plain sides, and a mosaic-like band (not tiled, it's part of the liner) along the water line.
Cheaper liners are made of thinner plastic.
Go to any one of the big pool suppliers' websites, such as http://www.cash-piscines.com/ or http://www.everblue.com/ for example and you can see a range of colours.
A beige liner gives a very pleasant water colour, by the way.
Be very careful when comparing quotes, do check what is included (or not).
You don't need an architect to apply for the permission, you can do it yourself if you can read enough French.

[la vache!]

When I replace my liner again, I'm going to get a sand coloured liner. Mainly because the disgusting inevitable sunscream stain on the line d'eau will be more camouflaged than with a pale blue liner.

[lisaroo]

excellent thanks!! we have this idea that we would like a really deep blue, but the sandy colour sounds lovely too!
thats good news about the planning to change the pool size, hopefully my estate agent may help us with that, or maybe our solicitor? i think i prefer salt water to chlorine personally so will probably go with that, do the pool companies speak english at all do you know? thinking it may be a bit difficult if the dont, i am learning but got a way to go yet

[Beachcondo]

Pool liners come in several colours, and you can have a patterned base (hides the dust!) and plain sides, and a mosaic-like band (not tiled, it's part of the liner) along the water line.

Sounds like a sand colored band along the water line could do the trick to hide the the sunlotion grease?

[Circé]

Lisa, I doubt an office-bound solicitor would want to do your planning application, he'd have to get out in the open air to take photos.
The agent might, for a fee.
pm me with your email address if you'd like more precise help on the paperwork than can be given in open forum.

[CarolineH]

. i think i prefer salt water to chlorine personally so will probably go with that, .

Note that a pool that is accessible by other people than friends and family is classed as a public pool - this means that water quality needs to be checked by the DDASS (sanitary department) and they will only consider chlorine pools to be classed as public - they can close down your pool.

I know that a lot of gite owners don't declare their pools with the DDASS, but it is something that you should be aware of. My liner is sand coloured visit my site and you will see that it gives a sea blue colour when the water is in - I'm very happy with it, but I don't have a problem with suncream and oil lines because of my anti-UV cover.

For colours of liners, almost anything is possible see here for the make of my liner - pvc sandwiched with polyester for strength and durability.[/url]

[lisaroo]

oh i am dissapointed about that caroline!! i much prefer the salt to chlorine, although 2 villas we have stayed in down there have both been salt?? obviously they havent mentioned it?

thanks, yes i like the sandy/beige colour too xx

[CarolineH]

i much prefer the salt to chlorine, although 2 villas we have stayed in down there have both been salt?? obviously they havent mentioned it?

I'm not saying that you can't have salt - but that if it was declared with the DDASS, it wouldn't be accepted - you don't have to declare it, but should be aware of the rules and regs. TBH, if I could go through the process again, I don't think I would bother with the declaration .... will elaborate more if you need me to.

As far as I understand it (and I could be wrong because I decided to go with chlorine fairly early on, and didn't explore the alternatives in any depth) there are two types of salt pools ...
one where the salt is added and is converted into chlorine by a chemical process (salt purification ??) the other type is a natural pool where salt is added directly to the water in order to give a sea-cleansing process.

I watched a programme on the TV in the summer which followed people who were installing pools and for the second, natural pool option - the owners had a nightmare with the water quality and couldn't stop the water from going green all the time - so if you decide to go for a natural pool, make sure that you find reference sites so that you can visit and ask them how they manage their pool.

Good luck!