Still a lot of work to be completed with landscaping and slide installation but at least we can cool down between outdoor work sessions.

This forum has provided wonderful information since we started our pool design a year ago and has continued to be our primary source for information during the construction process.

The kids love their new pool!

Where is the slide going to go in?

The slide itself is a custom slide that is 72 feet long and will start on the hill close to the house and wind between some of the trees.

Right now, we are waiting on final grade to be finished so we can install the slide columns at the correct heights.

Lot's of work left but it feels like the hardest part is over now.....getting water to pacify the kids!

Enjoy :) Can't wait to see that slide...

I went with a local pool builder who shared the same vision as I did and they agreed to build the pool from my plans. I later learned this created a situation where all the subs came to me for any questions on the pool design and layout. It also meant I had to be with the subs most of the time they were on the job because the design was not routine for most of them. Most of the subs enjoyed doing something different and embraced the challenges. It is amazing what the subs will do when you feed them and pitch in to help them do exactly what you want! We contracted our house when it was built 9 years ago so this type of situation was not new to us.

We ended up overseeing all the work completed by the subs and they were not done until we were satisfied. Our pool company didn't seem to mind this situation as long as we kept paying the installments as scheduled. The salesman was great to work with and provided his own expertise along the way, especially with structural questions and construction techniques to make our dream come true. He also took a lot of crap from us as numerous phone calls were made each week to find out when the next sub was going to start or come back to finish. This is pretty normal from our experience when we contracted the house.

The pool contract was for $60K. The original contract did not have everything we wanted after learning so much about pool features, equipment and controls on this forum. We ended up paying another $10K to the pool company for extras, such as extending the pool 5' in length during the dig, extra mosaics, extra boulders, extra SAM light and extra pumps and equipment on the pad.

The contract did not include electrical, decking, landscape or drainage. We also had to have many trees removed as the pool is in a heavily wooded lot at a cost of $3K.

Along with helping the subs with boulder placement and waterfall construction, I installed the pool automation equipment, electrical and fog system for a cost of around $5.5K for material. I also installed hose bibs around the perimeter of the pool, ran speaker wire, installed low voltage lighting and drainage pipe while the trenches were still open for another $1K.

Decking will be another $8K for stamped concrete with animal and bird tracks. We will install the landscape and irrigation ourselves as well as the slide. So total cost will be very close to $100K when all is done.

It has been a long journey and still not over yet, but having a pool that is built exactly as we wanted and being able to enjoy it in our own backyard has been, as the commercial says, priceless.

tlbb - the fog is very cool. It adds mystery to the experience and takes on a life of its own depending on humidity, temperature and wind. An added bonus is it keeps the insects at bay this time of the year. That is important in Louisiana!

gotpool- Thanks for the feedback and kind comments. We will certainly share more pictures as the rest of the poolscape comes together.

donnaw- I just seen a picture of your pool in another thread....wow. I've always liked the topography of central TX and your pool captures it beautifully!

Thanks,
txjim

Installation of these systems is time consuming but not that hard if one is handy with brazing copper. There is an artform involved when placing the fog nozzles in water features. If the nozzle is too close to the water stream, then no fog. If too far away from the water stream, then the effect looks contrived. The copper has to be in conduit in between the mortar beds, so a lot of hands-on supervision was needed during placement of the boulders and getting the conduit installed in the right places (the subs never did this before). Once the conduit is in place, then the copper tubing can be placed and brazed at any time.

Hope this helps.

WOW very impressive - I just hope my kids don't see it - something like that here in NJ would cost twice as much.

That is a amazing / stunning looking pool & setup. All I want to say is WOW!!

If you get a chance to post your design plans it would be inspirational for sure... I dont believe I have ever seen a pool that was designed so well for the site.

christij - thanks. Yes, we have indeed enjoyed the different lifestyle our pool has provided and the memories along the way so far.

Here's some pics of our recently completed decking that was poured late last week. Progress has definitely slowed since we filled the pool with water! With the wet summer this year, the pool company was way behind on their dirt work and finally completed our rough grade. We also accepted a few more bids on the decking to get a few more ideas and pricepoints.

Ultimately, we decided to go with our original plan of stamped concrete with animal tracks to match the pool theme. Next up on our project list is irrigation system, slide installation and landscape. All of which is DIY, so the slow progress will continue. Hopefully by next spring, our poolscape project will be complete.

Will continue to post pics as this unfolds.

The kids love the animal tracks!

I think "christij" kids said it best... which water park??? and when are we going...

Take your sun shelf; I love the white plaster with brown quartz to resemble a true beach. The animal "tracks" are genius and fun. Fog machine....who the heck would have thought about a fog machine...love it...

I can't wait to see this slide. Get after it.

Kudos...job well done!

Lagoon – 45’x 28’x18’, 120’ perimeter, 35K gallons
Negative Edge
Boulders and Waterfalls Lining Perimeter
8’ deep end for jumping from 5’ waterfall
28’x 12’ court that is 3.5’ deep for basketball and volleyball
Modified Beach Entry starting at 4" water depth and sloping to 18" water depth
Baja Shelf at 4" water depth integrated with beach entry
18" deep bench 20’ long integrated with beach shelf, jets placed at lower back level
18" deep grotto bench 10’ long under cave falls with jets placed at lower back level
Beach/Baja Shelf area is a half circle with a 10’ radius
42 mosaics: various shells, turtles, starfish, crabs and sand dollars
Pebble Beach RiverRok on beach and Midnight Blue Diamondbrite in deep areas
Paramount PV3 floor cleaning system with MDX & SDX drains
Jandy Products on the pads
1, 2-speed 2.5 hp pump for filter/floor system
1, 2-speed 2.5 hp pump for negative edge and waterfalls
1, .75 hp pump for bubblers, aerators and deck jets
1, 3 hp pump for slide
1, Fogco High Pressure Fog Pump and 30 fog nozzles
Aqua-Cal Heat Pump
Jandy PDA P8 controller
2 JVA’s and 2 1.5" solenoids to optimize hydraulics in high and low speeds
2 SAMs
6 Low voltage lights placed into waterfalls and cave
6 outdoor landscape speakers, 2 cave speakers and 2 pirate ship speakers
Stamped Concrete Decking
1 72’ Slidescapes Custom Waterslide
Unlimited tunes via Zune
Never enough magaritas and food
1 Pirate Ship
1 42" natural gas fire pit with feather rock
1 Hot Springs Hot Tub
3 kids swimming non-stop

I’ll try to post a few of the plans a little later to give an idea on planning that went into the pool. There was a print for every phase of the build to ensure everything went as planned. The footings for the boulders were all shot monolithic to the gunite shell so a lot of planning and details went into this phase of the build. Later, such things as mosaic placement and fog nozzle placement were important to us, so we had a plan for those also. A pink conch shell would not look right next to a blue starfish and heaven forbid if the spacing wasn’t right or if a crab ended up on the step instead of under the waterfall !!

We also had a plan for the pool depths to make sure we had the appropriate depths and slopes so we could have both a sport pool and a recreation pool in one. 4 bronze anchor sleeves were placed into the gunite floor for the basketball and volleyball poles on the sport end of the pool and in the beach area for umbrellas.

There was a scaled drawing of our backyard so the appropriate trees could be removed and other trees were strategically left in place to create the poolscape and negative edge illusion that we wanted. And there was a print for the custom slide. We went through 8 revisions on the slide before we finalized on the design that will provide a ride twisting and turning around a few trees before dumping the rider into the pool. Oh, and did I mention the slide will begin on a pirate ship that will be floating in the air…Peter Pan style…..with fog of course. Other prints included plumbing and electrical schematics since we seemed to want things that were different than other pools my PB constructs.

Lots of planning and decisions along the way….and still more prints and decisions remain, but we take it day by day now without the hectic rush of making decisions, meeting deadlines and worrying about the work that was completed.

Hope this helps.

Ethiojazz – Fortunately, no fence is required so one less detail to fuss over.

Padrefan – Yes, deciding to stay in this house and area was the first of many tough decisions that were made along the way.

Big tex – Thanks for the compliments. Yeah..our imagination went a little wild. This pool has been 10 years in the making and every time we would see a feature we liked we would add it to the list. A little imagination was required to bring it all together and not be too overwhelming. Regarding the slide, my wife and kids are saying the same thing and now I’m getting it from cyberspace also! Guess it's time to get motivated again!

Ethiojazz - Attached are a few of the plans that were used to help convey our vision to the PB and subcontractors. I also attached a night picture of the pool which shows some of the pool shell contours and beach entry / sunshelf contours that we wanted.

Chulaman - Yes. We are pleased with the PV3 performance so far. The beach entry and shallow end of the pool are always spotless. Some leaves and larger debris that is not sucked into the MDX collect in one small 2'x2' area of the deep end of the pool this time of the year. I clean this small area with a leaf net about once per week and it takes less than a minute with 2-3 scoops with a leaf net. During the summer, without leaves, the pool was always spotless with about 1.5 hours of high speed pump run time per day. The other thing I like about the system is it is always moving the debris around the pool floor to prevent stagnation. Not sure how much of an advantage this is, but it makes me feel better that this debris is being blasted by chlorinated water periodically.

The landscape speakers were purchased from http://alloutdoorspeaker.com/pro679685.html and perform well for distributed sound around the pool without being too loud in any one area. The cave and pirate ship speakers were purchased locally from good ol' Radio Shack. Due to size restrictions for each of these applications, several trips back and forth to the Shack were required to get the right fit.

Hope this helps.

Next up on my construction agenda, the pirate ship! Hopefully all will be done before the swim season is here again so we can enjoy the slide this year.

Irrigation and Landscape is planned for Fall 2008.

Madelineg – the pirate ship will be custom from a plan I drew a few months ago.

Hope this helps.

That's all I got :-)

Thanks for the comments. I hope this thread helps those who are currently building or dreaming of building. When we discovered this forum, it was like an encyclopedia had been dropped in our laps, except better because it's interactive and full of real-world experiences.

tresw - Thanks. I enjoy your recent postings of your new pool project. Congratulations! Looking Good. I also enjoy your construction insight and advise on other postings.

gk5040 - no membership fees, we do accept margaritas though! Thanks for sharing your experience with these slides. I am glad to be following the slide companies instructions and ensuring the uphill ride surface is slightly higher than or flush to the downhill ride surface. Also, after talking with them on the phone, I think I will sand each joint and fill with gel coat. They are sending a gel coat kit today! Thanks.

banana fanna - I like your enthusiasm!

poolmd - I would rather not share the pool builder information publically. I am comfortable saying they are about 200 miles north of Lake Charles and do business as far south as Leesville from what I know. It is probably also worth noting that a few of the pool features that we wanted were not quoted by the pool company by mutual agreement and were DIY. This saved some money and avoided any unknown costs from the pool builder's perspective. This project is still a work in progress, obviously, and continues long after the pool company has left.

Hope this helps.

For us, the pool has changed our lifestyle by simply having one in our backyard now. Even this time of the year when the water is too cold to swim, it is simply relaxing to have the poolscape to enjoy and sooth away our stresses from the day. Especially on days like today when it is 65 degrees and sunny!

Regarding the pirate ship, the plans and material list are complete and construction will likely happen in the next month or so. I’m taking a little break after just completing the slide installation, the above pics were showing progress on the first half of the slide and now the second half is complete. The warmer weather is starting to motivate me again.

My "things to do" list is slowly getting shorter. After the pirate ship, I plan to finish all electrical and speakers around the pool and in the pirate ship. Next, will finish the natural gas firepit to cover the unsightly PVC that is roughed into the stamped concrete. Then will be irrigation, landscape and adding even more fog nozzles to the overall poolscape, hot tub, pirate ship, slide experience! Fortunately, the fog pump we have can handle the addition of quite a few more nozzles so this should be a fun project that will not cost that much…..my favorite kind of project!

You're right...the dreaming and planning is half the fun!

One thing...why no hot tub?

That is so very encouraging! We are pouring tomorrow for ours, we actually are subcontracting out ourselves. Amazing how we have cut costs but achieved the same work with the same contractors that the pool builders use. The inspector was just amazed when he came on Friday, he said the work is some of the best he has ever seen and told us we were probably the smartest homeowners he has met yet... his thoughts, I can't say I agree... ha!

Thanks for the update on your pool, the slide is just awesome!

Tim mentioned earlier that he has a separate standalone hot tub. I like that idea, personally I prefer the standalone hot tubs over the attached spa versions because they're more ergonomic and have focused jets.

Tim, how goes the pirate ship? :-)

Thanks for stopping by to check out our pool. Your kind words are appreciated. Will post some pictures soon of the completed slide and pirate ship floating in the air!

susannap - Congratulations on your pool! I just saw your progess pictures....how exciting....you are more brave than we were.......going the builder route. It took so much of our time and attention even with a PB.....but I guess we were very particular about every phase of the project too. Keep posting your progess!

barco - Thanks for the inquiry on the hot tub.....it is indeed a standalone and is located about 15 feet from the beach entry.....nestled in the woods. The thought of having a hot tub ready whenever needed appealed to us more than a built-in that needs to be heated ahead of time. Also, the comfort and specialized jets were more pleasing to us than gunite spas that we test drove.

Hey Tres....thanks for asking about the pirate ship. The lumber was delivered this past weekend. I plan to set the posts this coming weekend and start building the ship on top of the posts......floating through the air with fog underneath...pretty crazy! If all goes as planned, the deck of the pirate ship will be at the same level as the start of the slide. Just seen an update on your landscape...wow...what a difference. I think we'll install some of the different varieties of grasses also......will definitely be asking you for some advice come this fall when we landscape!

susannap2-

The pirate ship project will be getting underway very soon. I'm not usually one to start a project when another is not complete, so the slide has taken priority even though all the pirate ship lumber has been a site a few weeks now! Just finally finished the slide.....I would have never guessed it would take so many hours to put the finishing touches on the slide....probably more hours than it took to construct it! Let's just say that I'm now proficient at sanding, prepping, spraying and finishing gel coat and lacquer finishes....I guess this will be handy when my children start to drive and need bodywork on their cars! The slide also needs a wax job twice a year just like a car. Can't wait to test drive it!

Regarding your pool......bettcha' can't wait to fill it up. It's all coming together nicely!

kitchenshock-

Thanks for the kind words regarding our pool. Yeah...visiting kids all get a big kick when they see the slide!

Will post some more pics soon when there is more progress to share! I could post some pics showing all the really smooth, glossy slide joints, but they are not very exciting. Should have some pics of the pirate ship soon!

We are getting very antsy, as our daughters invitations went out 2 weeks ago for her graduation/birthday pool party June 8th. No, I most likely won't have some things done, but it's just not worth aggravating the ulcers anymore either. Maybe, just maybe with the margarita machine going and open bar, noone will notice?

Stonesmama – I’m still laughing about the reference to Wayne’s World…..nice one! That certainly brings back fond memories from the time! Speaking of which, Alice Cooper has a nationally syndicated radio show these days which is fun to listen to……..Party Time…….Excellent!

Susannap – If I see another sheet of sandpaper in a few years, it will be too soon! Getting a good finish on fiberglass is not fun. Hope you’re getting closer to plaster these days!

Funny you should ask about getting water to the slide……In the middle of doing all the sanding and finishing, I also had to modify the water delivery system after a phone call to the slide company on an unrelated topic. I just happened to ask at the end of our phone conversation if they had any new products for 2008 and that created another 10 hours of work for me! As it turns out, the original water outlets on the slide were 2" diameter and at 180 gpm, the water was shooting out too far on the slide and the rider would have to scoot out to the water to slide down. After our phone conversation, they sent me a field kit to fix the problem with some 45 degree elbows. While this directed the water closer to the rider, it created another problem with the 2 streams colliding and splashing a lot. So, the perfectionist in me tore out the 2" outlets and replaced with 3" outlets (picture below). Now the water should spill out of the outlets much closer to the rider without any splash. The slide company was impressed that I was able to fit the 3" fittings. They had to redesign the start tub of the slide to accept the 3" fittings….that was their "new product" for 2008….sounds like Microsoft to me….a fix to a current design is now called a new product! Oh well, I hope the 3" outlets work better when I re-connect the water pipe from the 3HP pool pump. Will report on that soon.

Hey Tres….just may have to have a pirate ship raising party….keep that thought in mind! We’re going to hit it hard this holiday weekend in between all the swimming that is planned!

Here’s some pics of the slide as it sits fully completed waiting for the pirate ship!

Thanks for the kind comments about our slide and pool. I just seen your pool pictures...fabulous....having a pool in your backyard is priceless. I just realized I missed your first comment and congratulations on your new pool build. Keep the pictures coming!

jmas-

Thanks for the flattering comments. You are right about just watching the kids play. There is something very relaxing about that!

Have a great holiday weekend everyone!

I already had your link saved in my favorites

... still waiting for you to show when your slide is all set up.

Your pool is the best I've seen on this forum.

Happy to see its you who picked interest in the water park project ... i am sure you have plenty advice to offer.

Best regards

Our 3 lane slide in the water park project is supposed to be 25m long... that converts to about 80ft. Is your slide actually that long? And you installed it yourself? Are those the final supports you are going to be using?

I dont mind sharing the drawings for the slides if you want to see

Thanks for your kind words and interest in our slide. The slide is 72 feet long as calculated by the slide company and they refer to this as the centerline distance. The overall length is probably around 80 feet from beginning to end and the start tub has a landing area that is about 3 feet by 3 feet.

At the time I purchased the slide in March of 2007, this was the longest residential slide they manufactured. Since then, they reported to me a recent slide that was about 80 feet centerline distance. Since I already mentioned the slide company, I don't feel comfortable sharing the price, but the range I paid was $180-$240 per foot as calculated by the centerline distance. This price was a result of hard negotiations between this company and one of their competitors that provides a similar fiberglass design.

The slide company quoted $1,000 per day for installation plus daily per diem for hotel and meals for the installation crew. They estimated about 5 days for installation....so I did what any homeowner on a budget would do and solicited the help of friends for installation!

I’m curious how this compares to the commercial slides and installation costs, even though the labor will obviously be different than here in the states. I am also curious how the installation of these slides are different between residential and commercial and will be following your commercial construction project closely! Hopefully, the commercial slides have better tolerance control on the slide joints. I had to do a lot of custom fitting and finishing on these joints to get the ride surface smooth at the joints.

Regarding the supports...yes, these are the final supports and I'm not real happy with the look of the supports but plan to cover them with some type of vine that keeps its leaves all year.....to anyone reading this post.....I need some help with recommendations! Wisteria does not keep its leaves all year but is easy to prune and remove from objects. Are there any other plants that keep their leaves all year that you would recommend for covering the underneath side of the slide and columns? I also thought about just planting eleangus underneath and in a few years time, it would be to the bottom of the slide, which is about 9 feet in the air at the highest point. Definitely looking for some ideas here!

Back to the supports, the slide company recommended poured concrete columns 2 feet in diameter. This didn't sound very attractive to us, so we decided on the 8" timbers with a 12" diameter concrete footing 4 feet into the ground. The slide company said this will work as the static and dynamic loads on the slides are not that big. They recommended 2 feet diameter concrete columns for one reason only....this gives a large target area to anchor the slide joints during installation. With longer slides, they said that predicting the column locations is not an exact science so they allow for a lot of error as a result. That is why I had to extend the sides of the columns at some of the joints to meet the bolted joints. On commercial jobs, this is also why you see slide supports cut and welded on site to meet with the bolted slide joints. Definitely will be following your commercial project closely and look forward to the slide construction details as well as the wave pool and lazy river construction…..very cool!

Cyndidj – Thanks for the kind words regarding our pool.

Susannap – Congratulations on your new pool……just in time for all this hot weather we’re getting!

Lmhall – Thanks for your kind comments and interest in our pool lighting. From reading your recent posts, it sounds like you are a DIY’er also. The pool lights are indeed SAM’s and there are 2 of them in the same locations as indicated on the print. I have no idea how bright the SAM’s are compared to the LED lights but understand there are differences in brightness….just thought I would mention this if you were considering LED’s instead of traditional lights. I probably would have went with LED’s, but at the time, they were still new to the market and they did not interface with my pool automation system. Since then, I received a free upgrade to my automation system….long story…….and now it controls the LED lights so I’m ready for LED’s when it comes time to replace the SAM’s. The LED lights last longer and use far less energy than the SAM’s. From what I understand, they are not as bright as the SAM’s. In my case, I feel that 2 LED’s will still offer enough brightness, even with our darker pool interior.

The 6 waterfall lights are low voltage landscape lights, just like you buy at Home Depot or Lowe’s. These lights simply provide mood and effects lighting for the waterfall, cave and rock features around the pool. These low voltage lights provide the amber color lighting in the night picture above and contrast with the pool lights nicely. I can provide a close-up picture showing how to modify, paint and install these lights along with conduit in the rocks if interested. I am currently away from home for a couple weeks on vacation, but will be able to post the pics when I get back home later this month.

Dd50 – Thanks for the kind words….yeah…that’s what our guests say also about the slide!!!

Also, for those waiting for the pirate ship……I just completed construction of the ship before we left home and will post some pics when we get back. The slide is not operational yet, as I have to complete the catwalk from the ship deck to the slide deck. Also, have to finish the plumbing from the pump to the slide, but it should be operational before the end of this month!

I would like to hear more about your grotto/ waterfall lighting, I'm gathering up the supplies to do the LV lighting around our pool and haven't quite figured out how I'm going to do the grotto and waterfall yet. I think I'm going to mount a light or two on the underside of the grotto, on the waterfall I'm not sure whether to light from below or above.

I look forward to the pirate ship, I'm impressed that you got it done so quickly!

Really answered my question.

80 feet is really long for a residential slide. I am beginning to wonder if I have my metric to imperial conversions right at all. I cant seem to find where you mentioned the manufacturer on your post. Would have liked to check out their web site.

I am posting more info on the water park slides on my thread now, if you want to check it there ...

Still waiting for more progress pics from you.

Well, this is my info source, so I would like to ask a few questions regarding how the slide is supplied water. And generally the best pumps available. 10 Nos. 10HP pumps for the lazy river, and a total of 10 submersible pumps 2 EACH OF 3,7.5 and 10HP; and 3 5hP for the other features. Is there any particular manufacturer of pumps whose products you would recommend?

For vines, confederate jasmine is nice, but it blooms, has great smell, but could bring bugs with all those blooms! I like Jackson vine because I don't think it has blooms and fills in really quickly, easy to train, just buy those little chain links in green and use eye hooks to run them up...

You did a great job on the slide! We're all anxious to spend a weekend with you! :)

Enjoy the results and thanks for sharing!!!
Tara

Thanks for the recommendations on vines to help us hide the slide structure. This is exactly what kind of information I am after. Thanks!

Tres - yeah...we hit the pirate ship build pretty hard over memorial day weekend and just had a few finishing touches afterwards...which always take so long to complete. Can't wait to get back home and get the slide operational! Neither can the family. Will definitely post some pics of the LV lighting to help with ideas for lighting your waterfall grotto! Thanks for the recommendation for the slide plantings. I have never heard of this plant and it looks like a good candidate!

jmck nc - It was really hard to leave for vacation this summer! We already miss our pool. Regarding the lighting, maybe a brighter light with more focus would help, but even then, I would be concerned with swimmer's getting blinded when swimming in the light path....kinda like a deer in headlights! From my experience, the only way to do lighting right around pool features is to have the lighting as close to the object of interest as possible. This provides 2 benefits: direct, concentrated lighting on the object for maximum effect and ability to point the lighting so it is not directly visible by any swimmers from any angle. Direct light in the eyes are blinding while indirect lighting on an object is pleasing. If you do not have the ability to install lighting close to the waterfall, maybe another option would be to place a spotlight above the waterfall, maybe in a tree. This would provide indirect lighting and may not be so blinding for the pool occupants....just a thought and not even sure if this is possible with your setup.....hope this helps!

miebi-

I posted your question regarding pump recommendation in your commercial pool post and hope that someone can help...unfortunately I can't answer any questions related to commercial equipment as all my experience is with smaller residential equipment. The slide manufacturer is Slidescapes as mentioned in the pool specifications earlier in this thread.....I know....this is a long thread.....Hope this helps!

Tara-

Thanks for the confederate jasmine recommendation....I think this is the same as 'star' jasmine and I was thinking of this plant when I posted. We planted some of this in our asian jasmine next to a downspout and it has climbed it nicely...thanks! Hmmmmm.....a gardenweb party....that sounds pretty cool!

We had a blowout 4th of July party and the slide was put into operation 2 hours before the party started……nothing like special events to accelerate a project along!

The slide was a big hit….we had over 30 guests from all ages and sizes enjoying the slide. My workmanship was put to the test. Even though the slide rules were explained to everyone….later in the day….there were riders that were going down in train-fashion holding onto one another while enjoying the ride….yeah I know….not smart and I busted them when they landed! The irony is two of them were grandparents who should have known better! So much for leading by example. At the end of the day, everyone had a blast, no one was hurt and the slide/pirate ship/decking system all survived the traffic and delivered the smiles!

The kids have been enjoying the slide daily ever since. I’ll post some pics of the slide as soon as I get some action shots. Also, will post some pirate ship pics as soon as the punch list is complete to my satisfaction. Still need to add a lot of features to finish the pirate theme we’re after.

Here’s some pics of the low voltage lighting used around the pool for those who have been waiting patiently….sorry this took so long. These lights were purchased from a local hardware store and were black out of the box. Lowe’s, Home Depot, and other national chains also carry these lights. After a coat of spray paint, splashed with sand and then another coat of spray paint over the sand they match the rocks around them pretty closely.

The conduit for the low voltage wiring was placed in the mortar beds during rock installation. The conduit is ½" clear poly to allow the 12 gage wire to be pulled through easily. The clear poly also makes for a clean install because it is almost undetectable after it is cut flush to the mortar after it dries. I also used this conduit for the speakers in the cave and used the same 12 gage wire to power the speakers. 3/8" clear poly was used as conduit for the ¼" copper lines for the fog system. All this conduit can be purchased from your local hardware store.

The lights include a stem that is threaded to the base of the light for placement into landscape.
For each light that was placed, I cut the stem to the desired length and mortared the stem into place to permanently anchor the light. So, the light now has a permanent anchor with a threaded fastener that allows the light to be removed for replacement. For electrical connections, I used the bullet type terminations to allow easy disconnect down the road.

Hope this helps!

sssmason - Thanks for the kind words. Hope these photos help with your decisions.

I’ll show a few close-ups of the light that is illuminating the big boulder in this picture. The light is in the lower left hand corner of this picture.

Here’s a front side close-up of the light.

Here’s a back side close-up of the light showing the wire connections.

Here’s some more lights in the cave.

And here’s how the waterfall looks from about 20 feet away illuminated by all 6 lights as the sun goes down.

Thanks for the feedback and kind words about our pool pictures. Sometimes I’m not sure if some of the stuff I post here is of interest to most pool owners or those in the middle of planning their backyard oasis. For me, the information and pictures on this forum have been a wonderful source of information that has helped inspire the ideas and creativity that goes into our backyard.

We are still in the middle of our build obviously and can’t wait until we have landscape this fall. First, though, I must complete the pirate ship....just lacking the canopy that is being made for the pirate ship and it will be done.....finally......will post some pics of the pirate ship when all is done!

Next on my project list is the sprinkler system installation then landscape. Also need to pull a few more wires for electrical outlets around the pool deck but that can wait until after landscape!

Oh and I plan to finish our DIY fire pit by having a gas line ran from the meter on the house to the fire pit. Can’t wait to fire it up this fall and it will be fully automated through our Jandy PDA with some parts that I have pieced together over the last few months....I guess the work never ends, but it is our own doing to keep having ideas to be made into reality. If only our budget allowed all this to be done professionally, maybe we would feel like we are done, but this has turned into a labor of love!

Here’s some action shots of the slide that I promised.

Our 5 yr. old son rocketing down the slide head first. After hitting the surface, he porpoises underneath the water for about 20 feet and ends up in the cave on the other side of the pool.

Our 3 yr. old daughter has learned to climb the waterfall this summer!

She has also learned to jump from it! It looks like she is plugging her nose on this action shot, but she doesn’t....much to my surprise.

Here’s our oldest daughter making sure I have captured her moment on the slide also!

And here’s a shot of our two youngest taking advantage of Dad having a camera in his hands and not enforcing the slide rules.

I read you used a midnight blue color for the bottom. Does your water look aqua blue? I'm considering an aqua blue color for our pool.

Thanks for the pictures...

Thanks for the feedback and compliments on our pictures. Glad to hear some of this is helping others figure out what they want and how it can be done. I seen pictures of your negative edge pool and it is gorgeous……hopefully some of the lighting ideas I shared can be applied to your pool also. With all the trees you have, you may be able to put some lights in the trees for nice indirect lighting effects around the pool if you haven’t done so already.

Sssmason-

How did your visit go with your PB and are you still considering lights around your pool.

Tres-

Thanks for dropping a note and for the words of kindness. Hope your family is enjoying their first summer of pool ownership. I must say we are asking ourselves these days what we did during the summer without a pool now that we have one! I really like your tiki theme you have going on…..I can definitely see a few tikis around our pool in the near future and will be leaning on you for some ideas and resources once we get to that phase of our backyard oasis. Keep your pics coming and can’t wait to see your hand made tiki lights and tiki hut!

Brena-

Thanks for the kind words. Yes, the midnight blue has a darker blue look to it that we wanted. We also mixed the midnight blue with onyx to darken it more. The mixture ratio was 5 parts midnight blue to 1 part onyx.

Hope this helps!

Thank you so much for any help!

Your pool and slides look great but you may want to consider putting something to hold on to on those "steps" up to the top of the waterfall. I know my 3 year old has no fear (and no sense of death!). If she slips, falls, hits her head and falls into the water, she can die before you even realize it.

Katherine (worried mom)

Thanks for the kind words and dropping a note...Sounds like your family is enjoying their first summer with pool....I can totally relate to the comment from your teenager. Some guest have been known to utter the same words! Hope the swimmer's ear is better these days. My wife is a nurse at our local ER and recommends a solution of vinegar and alcohol mixed 50/50 for those who are prone to ear infections. A few drops in each ear after swimming will keep the doctors away!

sssmason-

Glad the light pictures helped. Thanks for your compliments! The beach bubblers are very simple and low cost. They are simply black eyeball returns just like any other return coming into the pool. They do stick up beyond the plaster about .5" but are rounded and have not been a trip hazard or a toe stubber as we were concerned about initially. They work fine and are easy to install just like any other return except they are in the floor of the pool instead of the walls. Hope this makes sense!

countrypools-

Thanks for stopping by and for the kind words about our backyard. The pool plan was my own design as well as the backyard plan with pirate ship, slide and walkways. One of the hardest tasks was determining what trees to keep and which ones to remove. We like our trees and it was hard to cut a few of the nice ones to make room for the pool. Each tree and other non-moveable objects were located on a scale drawing which was then used to design the pool and the pirate ship / slide system. I had over 12 different slide designs before deciding on this design which winds between the trees. The elevations for everything had to work out also. Many hours were spent shooting the grade of the backyard in addition to measuring the location of each tree. Lots of planning and working with ideas and things we have seen over the years. This pool was literally 10 years in the making. We always knew we wanted a pool and just made a list as we seen stuff we liked. The trick was putting it all together and modifying the ideas so they would work together. I've always enjoyed designing and building stuff including our homes over the years and now our first pool!

Katherine-

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. After looking at the picture...I can see your concern. The rocks actually have handholds that don't show up in the picture. They are rough and are not slippery which was one of our concerns. These rocks are manufactured concrete rocks and have been designed specifically for this purpose by a company in the pool industry. We actually went to see these rocks manufactured in Orlando while we were vacationing a couple years ago just so we could touch and climb on them before we made our decision. After watching kids of all ages play on these rocks, I've noticed they develop a respect for the them.

Hope this helps!

I tried to find where you might have mentioned the color you used on your beach entry and couldn't.

Could you please let me know what kind of pebble and what color you used. I would really appreciate it.

Thanks,

Brena

The beach is RiverRok and the color is Pebble Beach.

Awesome pool, huh? Crazy, crazy fun.

banana fanna is right. The beach plaster is SGM's pebble beach River Rok. We went with the mini pebbles instead of their standard agregrate which is larger. The choice of mini pebbles was in an effort to make the beach look more like sand.

Hope this helps!

Thanks for the kind words banana and helping while I was away from the computer for a few days!

I should have some pirate ship pictures to post this week for those who have been waiting patiently....sorry this has taken so long.....

In a way we’re ready for the change in seasons. I’m getting motivated to finish the homemade fire pit that I started earlier this summer. It will be automated through our pool automation system to turn on/off with the handheld pool remote. After getting quotes on a few ready-to-place automated firepits, we decided to DIY. The quotes ranged from $2.5K to $4K….and that was just for the fire pit with automation hardware and controls! The gas line installation will be another expense.

If anyone is interested in going the DIY path for an automated natural gas fire pit, I can share pictures and details of our fire pit which will be under $1,000 when all is complete.

The kids can’t wait to fire it up!

Next on the project list is the irrigation system and landscape…procrastination has been the operative word for these projects. The plan is to trench the fire pit gas line at the same time as the irrigation system, so maybe that will motivate me…we’ll see. Oh yeah, I also have to paint that big ugly white pipe going up to the slide.

Now for the pictures.....

My 5 year old son practicing his diving skills after watching the Olympics this summer!

And his Spiderman skills!

My 3 year old daughter in top form on the slide!

And none of the sliding madness would be possible without the pirate ship!

Congratulations on your work of art... and fun!

You have lucky kids.

Please plan on sharing the fire pit info and photos when it is ready.

But in the very best possible way! LOL All I think of when I look at your pool is crazy, crazy fun.

What's in the belly of the ship?

All that's missing is a coupla water cannons on the bow...can ya get right on that? :-))

He's probably working on it already!

Thanks for the perfect 10! I'll tell my son about the good score from NJ. I just seen your pool pictures you recently posted. Your pool and landscape turned out great! I can only hope our landscape turns out as nicely! You have a truly beautiful backyard.

readyami-

Thanks for sharing your kind words. We are in a small town between Shreveport and Alexandria.

jmas-

Thanks for the compliments on the pirate ship and slide. You're right, I was concerned about it all being overwhelming also. We wanted a lot of different things to be part of our backyard escape and a lot of planning went into pulling all the big stuff together. Still a lot of work to do with de-cluttering around the pool deck area and integrating the hot tub into the poolscape. I'm working on a landscape plan that should finish the look we're after. Will certainly share the fire pit details.

banana fana -

Love your enthusiasm! The bow is an open room with a few built-in benches. It's a place for hanging out and camping out. There is also a fireman’s pole that goes from the captain’s deck down to the bow of the ship. Good idea on the water cannons! I plumbed a hose bib to the slide deck for easy cleaning of the slide. Afterwards, I realized any cleaning with water only takes the debris to the pool where I don't want it. So now, I just blow off the slide with a leaf blower when needed. You just gave me a good idea for using the hose bib! I have a real telescope that I have not mounted yet to the captain’s deck.

teppy -

Thanks for the kind words! We have a lot of guests and the going admission rate is a pitcher of margaritas and snacks!

Judy-

Thanks for your compliments. We have a lot of ideas and DIY was our only option in most cases due to budget. Fortunately, we also have time which is usually the other constraint in a project.....and a lot of patience helps too! Fire pit details coming soon!

Yes….I plan to have fog underneath the pirate ship….good memory! Also, plan to have fog around the hot tub in phase 2. Fortunately, the fog pump was oversized to accommodate the additional fog nozzles in the future.

Wow….you are tackling a big project in your backyard. Doing finish work like you are takes a lot of time. I admire you for that….most of my work was rough work that didn’t require that much time to finish……kudos to you for tackling a DIY project like your tiki hut!

Looking forward to your tiki theme pictures!

Clever username! Yep....it's a Slidescapes slide. Their website is http://www.waterslides.biz/ and they're fine folks to work with.

Hope this helps!

Regarding the price of Rico Rock vs. traditional boulder placement, I found the cost to be about the same after getting quotes for traditional waterfall labor and material. If you want the big boulder look, Rico Rock is lighter and therefore does not need heavy equipment on sight to place the boulders. If you are a DIY kind of person, this may be appealing and could save significant money in labor and installation.

Rico Rock sells modular waterfall kits that are DIY friendly with some basic masonry skills. They also sell custom and hybrid designs which, in my opinion, look more natural and this is what we ended up using for our waterfalls. These type of waterfalls require more time and material to complete (custom re-bar bending/cutting plus 1-2 yards of concrete) and are custom for each job depending on the pool design. The modular waterfalls only require mortar to complete and go together faster like a puzzle..however, we did not like the look of the modular waterfalls as much as the hybrid and custom designs because they did not look as natural.

The Rico Rock website has lots of information related to their products and I spent a lot of time on the phone with them to get answers about boulder sizes and waterfall sizes so I had the right boulders and waterfalls selected for our pool design.

We liked the natural look of Rico Rock better than any other man-made waterfalls/boulders we had seen. This is the main reason we went with Rico Rock in lieu of man-made waterfalls constructed from real rocks and boulders.

There's a lot of thought that goes into their product, from boulder selection to concrete formulation and manufacturing. All their boulders are selected and molded from real boulders in South Dakota. They also take pride in their concrete formulation and molding techniques to get the right appearance and finish for a durable surface that is easy to clean at the waterline.

In the end, the Rico Rock installation including labor and material was about the same as other quotes for man-made waterfalls that our PB normally constructs with their skilled masons. We would have paid more for the Rico Rock just to get the look we wanted, but we were pleased the price was about the same as traditional waterfall construction.

Enough rambling...obviously, we are very happy with our waterfalls and boulders and feel this is what makes our pool unique and fun. Ironically, everyone thinks our boulders and waterfalls are natural when in fact they are artificial. That is the ultimate compliment when we hear that.

Hope this helps!

Thank you so much for your response. Your hard work has really paid off, by far the coolest pool I've ever seen.

I agree the structural Rico Rock looks better than the modular, only problem is, as you know, they don't sell the structural products to homeowners. I talked to Juan at Rico Rock and he was super helpful. He gave me some names of installers so maybe I can go that route. If I knew it would turn out half as nice as yours, I would be thrilled.

Thanks again for your response!

Another good contact at Rico Rock is Caleb, who works for Rico Rock in the field. He provides training to installers and knows the product technically and has lots of great tips for installation and boulder selection...hopefully he's still there. He's hard to get ahold of because his travel schedule, but he was onsite during our waterfall construction in 2007 and I spent a lot of time with him while he was in town...He and Juan were great folks to work with!

The end product will look great...that's what I liked about the Rico Rock product and support...you know exactly what you are buying and what it will look like when it's finished because of their commitment to using qualified installers for their structural product.

Hope this helps!

Thanks for the info. I would love to see the products in person, so maybe a trip to Orlando is in my future :)

Would you be able to give me a ballpark figure for the 5ft hybrid waterfall, installed? If you're not comfortable discussing pricing, I totally understand. Just trying to get an idea.

Thanks!!

msphynx...hello and thanks for dropping by to check out our backyard project and for the compliment about our pool. Now that the fire pit and outdoor speakers are complete, the last project on my list is the landscaping and our backyard hideaway will be complete...at least this phase of it. The next phase involves a small guest house near the pool for visitors and "adopted" guests. This is likely about 10 years out the way it looks right now.

incredible

I was in New Orleans during the early August posts enjoying Bourbon Street and was out of the state celebrating our wedding anniversary earlier this month.

Looks like we've been getting a lot of traffic on our photobucket site which is why it shuts down due to limited bandwith. Photobucket said I could have unlimited bandwith and the photos would always stay available if I paid a yearly subscription fee...yeah right...I haven't paid the fee so hopefully the traffic has slowed somewhat so the pictures stay up longer. Photobucket also said my account traffic resets at the beginning of each month if I don't pay the fee, so we'll see how that works out.

The photobucket stats indicate over 80,000 people are viewing our photos some months....Wow! Maybe we can start charging an admission fee for viewing our photos!

Thank you all for the continued kind words and visiting our backyard getaway. We feel we are giving back to the GW community with inspirational pictures and backyard ideas.

Oh...by the way...we just received our Bronze award plaque from the Acquatech Society of Pool Builders recently. Our pool won the award in 2007....guess the economy has forced Aquatech to start shipping via Pony Express! It was a pleasent surprise to receive the plaque in the mail...probably even more so now than if receiving it 2 years ago.