Here is the pool shape. We made some minor tweaks and added a different decking layout around the pool.

They started the dig today. What a great crew!

Horray! No rock and done in a day. Those guys are fast!

Looking Good!
It can seem like a whirlwind how fast some things move right along.
Our build was completed in August 08 and we were 33 days start to fill. That did not include the sprinklers, sod, landscaping etc.
We did not build a spa either. While I'm sure the teenagers would use it, the husband and I would not, most likely. It was not worth the expense for us.
Someone mentioned on another thread about there not being enough decking. After they do the coping, you can get an idea of by laying a garden hose, where your deck lines will lie. We changed ours when they came to set the forms and rebar and are very glad we did. One can never have too much decking or closets!
Keep the pics coming

Thanks for the suggestion on the decking. The PB is going to lay out what we have and I already told him we will want to add some more. He was fine with it and said they would allow us to add as much as we wanted at cost. Also added an auto-fill line to the mix today since the plumber will be out tomorrow. Didn't cost hardly anything and will be a nice convenience when it gets hot in the summer.

We had another beautiful day here in Texas. The PB and crew are really working hard and got all the r-bar in today. Tomorrow we will be getting plumbing and Saturday will be gunite. I can't believe how fast this is going. Here are a few pics from today's work.

Wow! Today was a whirlwind. I left for work this morning and the plumbers came and ran all the plumbing. They finished up in the early afternoon and then the gunite company showed up and they just finished (about 8 PM). So, there you go... four days after I signed the contract. I had no idea it would be this fast. Here are a couple of pictures from this afternoon. I will post some more in the morning once the sun is up and I can see the finished product.

Nice pool!! Who is doing your pool??? I live in Granbury and hope to get Seahorse pools to do ours.

It is being built by Vincent Custom Pools out of Aledo. I interviewed 6 different builders: Claffey, Complete Backyard, Karbos Bros., Hacienda Pools, Fort Worth Custom Pools, and Vincent. It came down to Complete Backyard and Vincent. I felt either one would do a great job based on references and working with the PB. I ultimately chose Vincent because he designed a bigger pool with a number of nice upgraded features.

Can you believe they dug our pool 25 years ago with a Bobcat as there is only 7' between our house and a retaining wall for the neighbors property. They had to haul each scoop 100' to the dumptruck parked in front of the house.

Here are some more pictures from the gunite. I started another thread this morning because there was a crack that developed overnight. Fortunately, the gunite company is coming back out to reapply in that area and fix. So all is well.

Here is the equipment.

RollTideTX,
Just an observation/comment FWIW. Appears there is a lot of existing grass around portions of the pool. This material should be removed prior to putting down the deck.
Good luck.

Thanks for the observation! They are going to be cleaning up, grading, and prepping the deck area around the pool next Monday and Tuesday. I will post some pictures when they do.

I would recommend building a protective/shade cover for the Pool Equipment to protect from the elements. This will help extend the shelf life of the equipment and protect exposed pvc. Have the builder spray the exposed pvc with Almond Color paint.....
Also, the single Hayward Colorlogic will not provide sufficient light from the deep end to the shallow end...I am a pool equipment distributor in So. Cal and wish I would have installed (2) Colorlogic Lights in my pool. Too late for you unless the builder can work some magic.

Posted by gws58 (My Page) on Sat, Jan 29, 11 at 9:23

Nice pool!! Who is doing your pool??? I live in Granbury and hope to get Seahorse pools to do ours.

Bob at Sehorse built our pool. Stand up guy and awesome build.

I suspected that one light was not enough but my PB told it would be fine for a pool of our size. Oh well... now that the gunite it is in it would be more effort than it is worth to try to add a light.

We finally thawed out in Texas. Went from 15 degrees back to wearing shorts today. Anyway, had the tile guys out today to do the pool tile (Noble Tile - Pietra). They will be back on Monday to do the stone coping so I will post some more pics then. All the Texas pools are looking good! Hopefully we can get them finished in the next several weeks!

Such a pretty pool! Really coming along nicely! Thank you for sharing your pictures :)

We chose Noble Tile - Vesale and it looks very similar to yours. Will look forward to seeing your coping.

Came home today and the stone guys were installing the coping. I was extremely excited to see how well everything matched up. I can't wait to see the final product! Here are the pictures. I will post more when they finish the rest of the coping.

We had an extremely busy day today. Finished the coping, electrical, and then had the deck shaped out/prep started. As you can see from the pictures, the left hand side of the deck is squared off. We are prepping that side for Phase II - a 24'x18' cabana. I am in negotiations with my pool builder and the guy who built my house to get some construction plans drawn up and an estimate. We are considering going ahead and pouring the foundation for the cabana and getting it ready for construction in early Spring. Any thoughts from the group? Good idea or bad idea to go ahead and pour the foundation even though it may sit for several months? Anyways, we are having a lot of fun and enjoying the process!

I would wait. You're going to have utilities to run like water and sewer. It's a lot easier and less costly without the slab there.

I don't see the bond wire. That is part of the electrical. Nor do I see grid around the pool or a gravel bed for the slab.

Scott

Thanks for the input. Knowing that we are going to be putting the cabana in soon, do you think it makes sense to square off that side where the slab will be poured? We are willing to live with the odd shape since it won't be that way for long.

Not sure what the bond wire is, but there was conduit with wire that they buried today and piped to the house, equipment, and pool light. They spent all a good part of the day working on it. I will ask the pool builder to be sure. The grid and gravel will be done tomorrow for the deck. Today they just shaped the beds out to make sure were happy with it before they started the rest.

I urge you review the search results. NEC codes are quite strict on this important electrical safety requirement.

Scott

Here is a link that might be useful: Google search results of NEC Bonding of a pool

Will do. I am meeting with PB this morning and will bring this up. I will post back what he says/shows me in regards to this.

Spoke with my builder and he indicated that the bond wire is there and will also be connnected to the steal in the deck as well. Not sure if I am saying that right but he said the electrical meets all NEC codes.

It depends what all you're planning on having in the cabana. However, I'm currently building a pool and cabana simultaneously and there is absolutely no way I would pour the foundation for the cabana until I was ready to start. The amount of digging I have going on for plumbing, gas, electrical and drainage in the cabana area is significant. If there was a foundation already there, it would be a nightmare to get set up. You need plumbing for any bathroom or sink, gas lines for a fireplace or grill, electrical for lighting/outlets, etc. These items are for the most part brought into the cabana through stub ups underneath the foundation. It's all set up prior to pouring the slab...

Thanks everyone for the cabana comments. We are going to start it after we finish the pool and just do it all at once. They added bed sand and steel the deck area and will pour in on Monday. Electricians are coming back today to connect the bond wire to the deck steel. PB says they will be cleaning up the pool next week and getting everything ready for plaster.

Today the concrete decking around the pool was poured. Ended up with about 725 sq. ft. after I adjusted it.

We had the pool plastered and filled with water last Friday. We went with a dark gray plaster with black quartz. I was a little terrified when they were spraying it on as it was like black tar, but it came out perfect! It is the exact color I wanted. The pool is now having an acid bath and brushing to bring out that quartz. Tuesday, they will be grading, cleaning up, fixing sprinkler heads and installing irrigation behind the pool area for our landscaping. We are very excited about the fun we'll be having this summer!

Very nice Rolltide!!!!!! I will have to send my daughter and grandkids over.ha,ha, They live in Aledo also.. Hope to get mine started soon...

Thanks! Still got a lot of work to do. I will be posting some more pictures here shortly of the final grade and the "real" pool color (now that the acid and brushing has had some time to work). It is really starting to look good! Starting the sprinklers and wrought iron fence on Monday.

After putting in the new irrigation system around the pool, and fixing about 20 sprinkler heads/lines that were busted on the current system, we have now started the wrought iron fence. Setting posts today and will install the panels/gates later in the week.

It is turing out beautifully! I know you will enjoy it.

rolltidetx, I am wondering why the pool is so far from the house. Just an observation, however it looks great.

BrentR, good question. There are a couple of reasons. First was because we are planning on building a large covered living space off the back of our house with steps down to the pool deck. Second reason was that part of the yard was nice and flat which cut down on the excavation cost and we wouldn't be tearing up our existing sprinkler system (yet). Here is a rendering of our pool with the covered patio.

Very nice, can't wait to see the finished project.

They finished installing the wrought iron fence today. It really finishes off the area around the pool with class and keeps the little ones safe. Next up is landscaping! But first, take a deep breath! :)

We added our first phase of landscaping around the pool. We went with mostly native, sun-loving plants that will add some color and variety to the landscape. We will be adding crape myrtles along the back of the bed and Leyland Cypress trees on the outside of the fence for some privacy.

We are looking at building a pool very much like yours. Can you give me a estimate on what the cost was? Pool and fence?

Pool was $28k, fence was $5k