Wow, that is a huge project. Are you also building a cabana? If so, I have a similar project going on in Houston. Keep posting pictures as you go through the process.

Hi Flowermoundaggie, your project looks awesome. My wife and I have decided to build a pool and just this past weekend I drew a plan w/ a very similar layout to yours in google sketchup.

Would you mind if I asked a few questions via e-mail? Please e-mail me at tlsoilandgas@pldi.net if it would be OK. Thanks and great luck with your pool.

I like it from a design standpoint. A couple things I might change if it were mine:
-eliminate the two sharp corners of deck left and right of the "Patterned Concrete Patio" label. I like to stick to free flowing lines on a pool like this.
-I would shift the right light down towards the house a little to avoid it shining right at the cabana guests...a little lower and it will really light up the weeping wall/grotto, and still give the pool ample light.
-again, if it were me, I would make the deck planter larger. You have massive deck areas...I'd enlarge this planter and make it a real nice area to soften the hardscapes/deck and bring some plants close to the pool.
-put at least 2 umbrella sleeves in the sun shelf. cheap investment, love it later when you have the flexibility to adjust as the sun moves.
-and lastly I wouldnt do salt, as I prefer ozone...but you sound set on salt.

Ozone doesn't kill anything in the pool where people are. It can only supplement the chosen sanitizer by providing additional oxidizing for that which passes it's injection point. That might take four or five turns of the pool.

Scott

Hey Neighbor...I am in Frisco! We started our pool in January and can't wait to get it finished up. Your design looks really great and I can't wait to see pics.

Yes, we are building a cabana also. I really like to be in the shade, particularly in July and August. I'm setting it up for a 47" LCD TV to be recessed in the stone wall. That should protect it from the elements and allow us to enjoy our outside media room most of the year.

The area marked Patterned Concrete Patio is the existing patio that was constructed 4 years ago when our house was built. The stone edging around the house approximates the extent of the landscaping close to the house. The edging is not mortared together so we can soften the lines by opening the edging up more. What isn't shown is the large area of landscaping from 12' to 15' wide that covers the back fence. This should provide a nice backdrop for the pool.

I'll ask my PB about the direction of the light in the deep end with respect to lighting up the grotto. For the enlarging the planter, we have followed a Texas natives landscaping style and I haven't decided what to put in the planters or behind the water feature. Will most likely defer to a local expert since I expect some amount of salt water splash out. If more size is needed in the planter, I can make that change before the deck is poured. Thanks for pointers.

There is an unmarked umbrella sleeve behind the sun deck gusher and another unmarked umbrella sleeve in the in-pool half circle table. In the late afternoon, the cabana shadow will also provide additional shading of the shallow end.

For the saltwater decision, my PB/designer got his start in pool maintenance years ago, has run a successful pool business for 29 years and has been building saltwater pools for 18 years and still believes in them. In the end, I trust the guy I chose to build my pool. :)

Howdy partypond! We used to live in Plano at Ridgeview Dr. and Independence so we are familiar with your neck of the woods. It must be quite exciting to finally see the shape of your pool. Are you getting the star put into your deck?

Yes, the star will be in the deck but we are not sure how it will be done yet. Still working out the details. I am jealous of your cabana. We have a huge coverd patio planned for "phase 2" but that will probably be next fall so we will have to survive one Texas summer without it. I hear good things about Paul Miller so I hope everything goes smooth for you. We want to do a Texas native landscaping so I look forward to seeing your pics.

Love the design! We finished our pool last year in Flower Mound and went with native Texas landscaping and couldn't be happier. Make sure you interview several landscaping contractors if you haven't already. We learned after meeting with a few that not everyone has the same idea of native. We had one recommend a Sabal palm while another wanted to put in a cactus garden.

Thanks. We have gone with Shades of Green from Frisco for both our Plano house and Flower Mound house. They are Texas A&M trained horticulturist and we have been happy with the results. Since we will not be adding as much landscape as we have in the past, I might use a local designer instead. Do you mind telling me which company you ended up using?

We used a Flower Mound company called RW & Blue. They did a great job and have been very responsive to my post-installation questions. You can reach them at 214-735-1363.

Our beds have Texas sage, autumn sage, dwarf wax myrtle, red tip yucca, soft tip yucca, and three different grasses. We have medium river rock and decomposed granite for mulch. Your welcome to drop by sometime if you want to take a look.

flowermoundaggie, congratulations on moving forward with your pool build. i know it's an exciting time for you and your family. paul miller built our pool her in keller and it was finished last year in February just before the huge snow storm. as you know, when going through the process it can be quite stressful of interviewing builders and becoming quite confused with equipment and such. in the end you have to go with who you feel you can trust. during this whole process for us paul was better than advertised! he always had the answers to our questions regardless of how stupid we felt asking them. he always put our minds at ease and i'm confident during your build you will experience the same paul miller as we did. the only thing we wish we would have changed is we would have added more umbrella sleeves on the deck to move umbrellas as the sun moves. we also have been extremely happy with our pool and particulary the salt water. you still have to keep your water balanced and treated once you are finished and the folks at troublefreepools.com can help you with that! again, congratulations on your pool build and although the experience can be stressful, it's all worth it in the end!!!!!!!!! can't wait to see pics! here is a link to our build: http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/pools/msg102113574866.html?99

Thanks ajones,

I'm very familiar with the link to your forum posting because I used your experience to put Paul Miller on my short list. It also gave me a blueprint as to what to expect for the whole pool building process. I loved the grotto he installed in your pool and requested something similar.

I'm happy to hear that you are still positive about Paul Miller a year later. He was extremely easy to collaborate with on our overall design and I am confident he will build a quality pool. Thanks again for the referral.

I am moving to the area and am looking for a pool contractor for my new construction home in Keller. I was wondering how much a pool and outdoor living areas like the one you displayed costs? Thanks!

Texasbound,

Welcome to Texas! Click on my username and send me a personal e-mail.

Based on good reviews on Paul Miller, I had him come by to bid our pool remodel. Nice guy. Very personable. Saw him on Monday, said he would have a bid to me by Friday. He mentioned that he had built several pools in my neighborhood. I never heard back from him. So I emailed and called on the following Monday. Spoke with his wife who promised me that he would call back. Never heard from him again.

I'm guessing he didn't want the business. I ended up going with a well-established company. My thoughts are: if he won't call me back before the job starts, my chances of him calling me back after he's done and has my money in his pocket are pretty small.

C'est la vie.

congrats, looks amazing, I am in the flower mound area near tour 18.. had my outdoor kitchen cabana done two weeks ago, last year had my pool finished in just 11 days by a local custom builder.good luck

urotex,

Sorry to hear about your experience. So far he has been very responsive to all my requests but I can understand your concern.

solrac626,

Thanks I'm still waiting for Flower Mound to approve the permits. The gas lines for the grill and fire pit seem like the sticking point with the town.

11 days seems incredibly fast. Are you in Flower Mound or Bartonville? If Flower Mound, how long did it take you to get the pool permit approved? Do you have published pictures of your project?

After a 2 month wait for permits from the town of Flower Mound, the fun can begin. The permits were approved Thursday afternoon and the excavation started today (Tuesday). I've never been so happy to see my backyard get torn up.

My PB arrived at my house at 8am to help prepare the site for the excavation company. The excavation company arrived around 8:30am and began unloading their excavator and bobcat. To protect my driveway, the excavation company laid down these little 1" x 4" planks to keep the tracks of the excavator off of the concrete. It was shocking to see so much weight on such flimsy pieces of wood but it worked. A rubber-shoed bobcat was used to shuttle dirt from the pool area to the street to avoid backing up the dump trucks onto my driveway.

Excavator coming up my driveway

The excavator scrapped the top 6" of sod off to roughly mirror the pool, deck and cabana area. Using the pool plans, some of the guys quickly put down the forms of the pool and then the real digging began. The soil composition appeared to be a good mix of clay and sand in the first 5ft and then mostly clay from 5ft to 8ft. The excavator seemed to have a very easy time of removing the soil.

Deep end of pool

Unfortunately at 8ft, they hit a huge, flat stone ledge that covered the entire bottom of the deep end. It took the excavation team about 2 hours to get a jack hammer attachment to continue digging the deep end. Since the pool was slated to go to 8ft, we needed another 1ft of depth for the gunite shell bottom. They ended up busting up most of the rock by evening but will have to return tomorrow to finish up.


Large stone at bottom of deep end

Not sure how the rock will affect the schedule, but the plan was for the plumbing and steel to go in tomorrow and the electrical the following day. If all went well, the gunite would be shot by Friday or Saturday. I'll keep you posted on the progress.

Nice to see your project is now moving forward. Do you have a revised completion date? I know your original goal was mid May....

The excavation guys had to finish hauling out the rock and digging out the shallow end of the pool on the second morning. They finished before noon and my PB was able to get the belly steel and plumbing guys out that afternoon. I am quite impressed how much work was done in the first two days. Today, the electrician came to setup the LED lights and ground the pool. The inspector came by at 10:30a and gave his approval with no hiccups. It really nice to see some movement on the project after the long delay. Below are my pictures from the second day with the belly steel and plumbing guys.

Before breaking up top of rock

After breaking up top of rock

Drains in deep end

Pipes for drains

Equipment

Spa

The gunite crew arrived at 7am this morning and were finished by 2pm. They were very efficient and fun to watch. Now it feels like a pool is getting built.

The work on the pool is really moving now. Started watering the gunite on Saturday morning and by Tuesday afternoon the Tile & Coping guys were installing the tile for the waterline. The rest of the week they will be doing the Flagstone coping, spa veneer and rock waterfalls. The electricians have also run all the electrical lines underground and hooked up the equipment.

Since my girls were excited about the swimming pool, I put them to work on it.

Tile in shallow end

Close up of the Noble Tile Pacifico

It didn't come out well in the picture, but there are some hints of rust in the tile that should be seen when the moss boulders are placed near the tile.

I love the tile color! Excellent choice. Just think of all the fun your family will be having this summer!

Oklahoma flagstone coping

Step out

Half table in pool w/ umbrella sleeve

Spa w/Milsap veneer

They finished the grotto and weeping wall today. I'm really looking forward to what it will look like when the water is added. One area of concern is that the roof of the grotto is sawn straight across the front. I'm wondering what type of effect it will have on the waterfall and if the waterfall will have enough character.

Grotto

Added my 9 year old and 6 year old daughters for a little perspective.

Behind the waterfall/grotto

Jump rock

After several weeks of rain, I finally have some progress on the pool. The backyard has been an unbelievable, muddy mess for weeks but the deck guys came in today and cleaned it up quite a bit. The deck inspection is tomorrow and the pour and stamping should take place Wednesday or Thursday. I have included lots of different angles of the pre-poured deck.

Lounge chair area

Pool side built-in planter (8' x 4')

From existing patio looking towards fire pit and cabana area

Close up of bound rebar

Fire pit

Footing for cabana post

TV wall, grill and bar footings of cabana

Back side of cabana

Bar footing

Back of cabana looking towards the pool

Fire pit relative to pool

Any updates? Can't wait to see the finish product!

The weather has finally cleared up and they were able to pour and stamp the deck on Friday. I haven't posted any pictures yet because I'm waiting for them to return and power wash the deck to remove the release powder. The deck looks very light colored at the moment but it should be much darker after a power washing and sealing. One bit of good news is that the cedar for the cabana has been delivered to my backyard so I will get to see some progress on the cabana.

Ok cool! I am looking forward to it! =)

Beautiful pool so far. What type of finish did you select for the bottom of your pool. Anymore recent photos? Also, what is the stone called on the side of your spa? Thanks!
shorelinedesign

shorelinedesign,

We have selected Blue Granite Pebblesheen but it is still about 10 days away from getting installed. The stone around the spa is Milsap limestone and the caps are of Oklahoma flagstone just like the coping. The rest of the stonework will match the spa.

Since we have had 10 days of sunny weather, they have started to make progress again. The deck has been poured and stamped but not sealed. The cabana structure has been completed. It will take all of next week to do the stone work for the TV wall, grill area, bar and fire pit. Below are the pictures of progress to date.

Deck pour

Apply the Dry Shake Color Hardener

Primary concrete color only

After release and concrete stamping has been applied

The release powder stayed on the deck for 7 days before it was power washed off. The final color should look much darker than this once the seal is applied.

Initial framing of cabana

Interior cedar plank roof installed

Underneath cabana roof

Shingle roof installed

Bar chairs where stone bar will be

This is real nice! I enjoy watching the progress!

BEAUTIFUL POOL!!! We are in progress of building our pool...our water fall is alot like yours...I put flagstone on our tanning leadge & steps, love how it looks, can't wait to see it under water...we have stained decking...my BIG problem is plaster...I want a tropical looking water...our PB is not helping at all...he only showed us two pools one white(I did not like at all) one gray ( I liked better than the white) I would pay more to get the right plaster,but he is not going to agree to anything...I don't know what to do at this point....I'm in MS...things are bad for PB here...Do you have any advice?

I came across this post from the wires and I want to advise you on using a sealer for your flagstone pool. I get that question on my website a lot and the pool chemicals will cause the flagstone to flake.

I don't make any money from the sealer. It's just a friendly tip that I thought you would want to know.

The pictures look great.

Here is a link that might be useful: Flagstone Pool Sealer

The stone work for the cabana and fire pit is taking a lot longer than I thought it would. It has taken a week to do the grill, bar and fire pit. It will likely take the rest of this week to finish the column boots and TV wall. I am very pleased with their work so far.

Completed grill and bar area

Top of backsplash

Completed fire pit

@MSgrana: Is a Pebble Tec/Sheen type product available in your area? I've not seen it in my pool yet but you can get some very striking colors with their variation in pebbles and plaster.

@David: Thanks for the tip. Is the sealer something I should expect the PB to install or a DIY project?

Started the TV wall today and a ground crew significantly cleaned up and graded the yard. The project looks totally different after enduring 2 months of mud and trash.

TV Wall

Very nice, you should be swimming by the 4th of July. I do not see any provisions for a sink in the cabana. We just installed a sink in our Dolphin Bar and Grill aka summer kitchen, and it only has cold water running to it but we are amazed how much we use. Keep the pics coming:)

Here is a link that might be useful: Outdoor Summer Kitchen in the Dolphin Bar and Grill

Thanks FlowerMoundAggie! Your willingness to share this experience in such great detail is a big help to those of us about to take on the "let's finally put in a pool" project.

Can't wait to see what happens next.

Much appreciated.

Thanks for all the pics. I'm getting some great ideas for our build.

@brentr : We would be swimming July 4th but unfortunately we will not be home to enjoy it. :( I thought about getting a sink for the cabana but all PBs discouraged it because of cost of installation due to local regulations. I'll just have to do without one.

@EJR_21 & jackty : I'm glad you are getting some ideas about the process and the design. I got a ton of information from this site and I wanted to return the favor. When I was reading, there were never too many pictures.

I'll be posting the interior finish (Blue Granite PebbleSheen) and subsequent pool fill when I get a chance. My landscape also got installed last Friday and the sod should go in today. I went with a fellow poster's (hwade) recommendation of RW & Blue Services for the landscape and we are very pleased with the result. Finally my yard is returning.

It looks beautiful. Can't wait to see the finish. We just sprayed Blue Granite today. Exciting!

The pool and cabana are just about finished. Below is a picture of the completed TV wall with my 6 year old daughter for relative perspective. The landscaping was installed at the same time as the Blue Granite PebbleSheen. Lots of work in the yard on Friday but it makes everything look a lot better. Started filling up the pool on Saturday and it was still filling Monday night. The pumps are going now and hopefully it will not take long to get the right look of the water. The remaining items are the re-sodding of the backyard, sealing the deck and finish wiring of the cabana. It feels like we have run a marathon and can now see the finish line.

TV Wall

Landscaping

Filling the pool

How exciting!! Love your little stepping stone path. I want to do something like that with ours.