What the backyard will never look like again!

Fence comes down. Thankfully, I have a cooperative neighbor. The other two walls were installed by the City, and they are extremely sensitive about it. In the permit, the highlighted footnote says, "Do NOT remove any blocks from the block wall!"

Bobcat removing the existing patio. Looks like the home builder actually did a good job with the concrete--it's nice and thick.

Breakin' up is hard to do! ;)

Cleo (the cat) surveys the 90% completed grading.

Cleo meets her Bobcat!

Bobcatrait.

Laying out the forms:

Digging starts even as the form is being finished:

Half dug after the first day:

Much less dusty watching some of the second day dig from the breakfast nook:

Carving the niches for the returns and lights:

Came home to find the dig all done!

2" for each skimmer, 2" for cleaner from booster pump, 1.5" for returns, 1.5" for each bubbler:

Trying to decide on the "diamonds" that will go on the benches and steps. One is called "Aegean Sea." The other is "Galaxy Blue." Leaning towards Galaxy Blue.

4" plumbing for the WF (waterfall), individual 2" for skimmers, 2" pool sweep, 1.5" return loop, 1.5" bubblers.

Rebar!

Deep end ramp that was used for ingress and egress during excavation.

Moving the bubblers that were spaced incorrectly at first. Lit bubblers in the foreground with fiber optic cable.

Bending the ties on the rebars back. Got a tip from a friend that told us to bend all the ties back to prevent rust spots later. Our pool builder said not to worry about it since his guniters used a good mix, but we did it just in case anyway.

175 PSI, over 400 mph.

Discovered a problem with the WF wall. Rebar was not reclined, so guniting had to stop, rebar removal and manual excavation commenced. It took the crew 4 hours to do it, jackhammers and all. Further guniting had to be put off a day.

This is more like what it should be.

Guniting starts again the next day!

My PB overseeing the guniting of the WF wall.

Forming the WF wall.

Shooting the deep end.

Forming the swimout bench in the deep end.

They started at 6:30. It's 4, they're out of material and quite tired. Sitting wall and steps are not complete. That'll have to wait till Monday.

Spent a few hours on the weekend making sure the form for the sitting wall was set correctly. This was critical to the deck design. So on Monday, the creww simply had to work off the forms we set.

Chipping off some of the second step to make it three steps.

Forming the steps.

Sitting wall.

Two questions.
1) did they drill and pin any steel to hold the steps they added.
2) How are they handling the return they buried in the top step.

just-a-pb: They did not have any rebar on either the steps of the swimout shelves. They did on that long bench underneath the WF wall. Do you think this is a concern I should bring up with my PB?

As for the return, PB said they'll chip out and modify/move it up to the bottom of the waterline tile. Not sure when they're doing that. Maybe after the tile goes in?

There is a lot of plumbing left to do--I didn't want the 4" pipes on the outside at the equipment pad because of the deck/planter design right around that area. It's almost impossible to hide the ugly big pipes sticking out of the ground. So that's being moved to as close to the back wall as possible.

There's also a lot of dirt mounds in the way, and everywhere. It's for back-filling the planters in the WF wall and the sitting wall. Not sure what to do with it since we need a large clear area for the incoming stone that will be used on the walls.

Waterline tile is next! I'm kinda anxious to see how the design is going to look. I had some 12" Blue Eyes granite tiles (same ones that were used in the Master Bath in the house) cut to 6"x6" and they are going to be installed every 7th tile with a simple and neutral marble-like tile. I'm a little worried that it's going to end up looking too busy.

All done!

These Blue Eyes granite "deco" tiles were cut to size from 12"x12" tiles to match the rest of the Crema Marfil marble-like tiles. This is to carry over some of the materials used inside the house to the outside.

The Blue Eyes granite should really sparkle once submerged.

Kudos for hanging in there with the gunite process and getting what you wanted. Your deep end swim out steps are such a functional design!!

Unfortunately, we won't be installing the medallion anytime soon. We ran into a snag with the mason--who's now the ex-mason. More info in the photos to follow.

The deck guys who came en masse to grade the deck areas.

Deck guys digging a new trench to move the electrical plumbing. Can't say we're 100% pleased with the plumber ourselves.

Cleo likes the dirt. Here, she's demonstrating how to lay by the pool and stretch.

All graded and planters filled.

Delivery of 6 tonnes of Three Rivers ledge and tumbled flagstone.

Plant fossil in the rock! It's just like me--old, but cool! ;)

This is what it looked like after the first day. Hmmm.

After the second day. Aargh!

And after the third day. Three strikes, and he's out. Grrrr.

Hopefully, this photo shows one of the reasons why we had to fire the mason. It's one of many problems with the way the rock was put on the wall.

You can see the disappointment in Cleo's face. We will be tearing all the rock out and starting all over with a new mason tomorrow. Actually, I already started taking out a few pieces as part of my self-prescribed anger-management therapy. Remind me to never hire a mason who thinks that Three Rivers rock comes from the Pittsburgh area.

Here are more progress photos:

We sorted the rock for the new masons to give them a head start. It took two of us three hours to sort through about 2.5 tons.

First, the new masons jacked out all the rock.

New masonry crew to the rescue!

These guys were much better. They discussed, planned, measured, leveled, measured some more. They had a wet saw and a portable saw (the ex-mason simply had a hammer!). Unlike the ex, they also cleaned, cut rebar off instead of burying it behind rock and mortar, etc.

They installed one row all the way accross at a time! This was the right way to build the stack that I had in mind.

We bought another 600lbs of the longer pieces needed for the straight portion of the Waterfall Wall. They are only 10% of every pallete, so what I got pretty much exhasted my suppliers eigth palletes and the three we had bought.

Then the next weekend, we sorted some more and tried cleaning some of the mortar off the rock that was jacked from the wall with muratic acid.

Sitting Wall is almost finished. Needs to be capped. Plan is to have fiber running underneath the flagstone overhang. Also, a "hole" is left near the brick wall for power outlets.

The masons acid washed the Sitting Wall. Now the colors really pop on the Three Rivers ledger.

Nothing but blue skies and wispy clouds. Great weather for work on the fourth day.

Lots of leveling and dry runs. There is no comparison--the new masons are doing it right!

End of fourth day. Can't wait till they acid wash the Waterfall Wall. You can actually see how much darker and more colorful the stone is on the Sitting Wall on the right.

There are two dedicated intakes from a single 4" line for the 180, and the VS pump will also have intakes from two dedicated 2" skimmer lines plus another 2" from two drains. The plan is to use the 180 pump "drunk" mode only--the waterfall will normally be fed with the VS.

How wide is the span of your planned waterfall? 36"-42" height ought to be really cool!

Not one single person thought what the original mason (if you could call him that) did was acceptable. In the long run, I don't think the two week setback because of this issue will be of any consequence.

Waterfall Wall coming along.

The sides of the wall look dramatically better than before.

The deck crew show up bright and early to form the coping although the rock walls are not quite done..

We found these thin 1/4" to 1/2" pieces of Three Rivers flagstone that will be used to cap the spillway as well as line the back wall of the through/vessel..

The Sitting Wall is finished saved for acid washing and sealing.

In my design, the wall will be approximately 36" - 42" tall from the deck height, and about 10' - 12' long. The intent of this waterfall is to hide the portable hot tub, and provide a nice water feature.

I think any flaring on multiple outlets is going to give you the "well up" effect rather than the fountain effect. Also if you have larger diameter plumbing from the pump to the outlet, you will need lower velocity to get the same volume. Hence less fountain, more welling. ;)

Your design sounds like a great idea, and should provide a much nicer "side" to the portable tub.

Laying out The Ring.

Staking and forming The Ring.

Lots of stakes everywhere! It was quite a task travesing them all without scraping our legs.

Another round of acid washing the stone before concrete is poured.

Ribbon gets poured! Orchestrated mayhem.

The entire crew works quickly before the concrete sets!

Ribbons colored and stamped!

Early morning prep for the second pour.

Once the concrete flows, everyone gets busy.

Stomp, stomp; stamp, stamp.

Hosing the deck off the next morning.

The deck has yet to be detailed, but it already looks great. They left a layer of the oil-based color hardener to act as a "protectant" till after the pool and landscaper is finished.

Cleaning the skimmer.

Panoramic view of the deck.

View from the East side-yard.

View from the covered patio.

Not much progress in the last few weeks. But the pump equipment arrived, and the landscaping is nearly all in.

Planters got dug up for installing irrigation.

A mess of fiber optic cables and electrical cables.

Plants arrive! They are laid out overnight so we can get a feel for what the landscaping will look like.

Plants get "installed." ;)

Three Japanese Maples anchor the planters.

The waterfall through was waterproofed as well. Pool equipment goes in next week. The medallion and step diamonds as well.

We have a lot of extra rock. So we put some of them along the side yard walkway. Yes, we moved probably another ton of rock around--again! :(

Inspection by the end of this coming week? We hope so!

Laying out the step "diamonds."

Medallion was transported in four sections.

Finding the centerline.

This is what I call runway lights. ;)

Diving target!

All done!

All the rebound gunite is jacked out. Don't want any weak areas.

Acid bath! The fumes were stifling. :(

Baby blue goop! This looks like a low pressure version of when they shot the gunite. Had them add extra mother of pearl and abalone shells for a modest upcharge, eventhough Blue Pacific Coast WetEdge Primera Stone already has some in it.

It looks like icing on a very large cake!

The process pretty much took all day. Lots and lots of troweling.

Sponge Bob shoes for everyone towards the end.

The unpolished smurf blue surface feels rougher and dries a little darker, but not much. Here's what the polished sample looked like next to it. Next up--polishing the surface!

The pebble surface is pretty hard after just a day. These wet polishers required noisy high pressure generators to work.

Five Mario brothers and four generators, a pump to get the water out of the deep end, and you can't hear a single thing other than the din of motors and water.

When they were done polishing (took the whole day), they started the water to fill the pool!

There's little water pressure in the house when both hoses are running into the pool. We had to shut off a hose whenever we needed to take a shower or cook in the kitchen.

All kinds of leaves were already blown into the half-filled pool from the wind and rain storm. We used our new pool toy to skim the leaves off the surface.

Unfortunately, we filled the pool knowing we had to drain it again. The polishing scratched up all the glass step diamonds as well as the medallion. The pool finishing company agreed to replace all of the Lightstream glass tiles and some of the really badly scratched pieces on the medallion at no cost to me (well, except for the electricity to pump the water out, and also the cost of the water itself). But the custom pieces would take a week or more to make and Thanksgiving holidays was smack-dab in the middle of it. :(

Scott

The pool was emptied and worked on last week. It was refilled again this past weekend. The Primera Stone surface has a lot of plaster in it, so we have to brush the walls at least twice a day for a week at least to prevent calcium buildup during the curing process. It's a lot more work that we thought. :(

Check the pH daily and add acid as needed to keep the pH at 7.3 to 7.6 . Add a sequesterant like HTH's (one a only a few HTH products I will use) as Muriatic acid sometimes has some iron in it.

The pool will raise it's pH fairly quickly with new plaster, Expect to use a few gallons over the course of the next few weeks, The acid demand will take about year to fully stabilize, dropping gradually over the course of the next six-twelve months. As plaster cures, the hydration process raises the pH. Too high and you will get calcium scale deposits forming.

If you haven't already, read the Pool School at troublefreepools.com to better understand pool chemistry. As I have said before, I have no affiliation with them other than being a contributor there as I am here.

Scott

I have a question for you on the planter. What kind of system did you use for draining?
We are building a pool in Sugar Land, TX. We have a planter at ground level, next to the pool and looking got options to drain it so that rain/water from below the pool doesn't come into the pool.

Thanks,
firstpoolforme