3D Design by Bruce Carlson at ELC

Our Yard Before the Bobcat...

Our yard AFTER the bobcat (Sept 24, 2009)

Is this the same Bruce that used to own Lifestyle pools in Conroe? Just curious...

Best of luck with your build!

Scott

Travis - I don't think its the same Bruce as Lifestyle. He's been a KW builder since way back and moved to Colorado for a few years. I gave him the link to forum posting so I will let him chime in.

Poolguynj - thanks! Battling rain right now and missing the change of seasons you are experiencing.

It is the same Bruce, at least if I read the website correctly.

http://www.executivelawncare.com/Family_bruce.html

I don't think it's the same guy.
I believe the owner of Lifestyle's name was Bruce Thrasher or something like that.
I remember several families who threw out his name when I was quoting the finish ups on his pools when he went down.

See ya,
Kelly

Looks like you are right. Is your interest curiosity or something more? Thanks

Bruce Carlson used to be the owner of Forest Mist pools which worked mostly in kingwood. He left town a few years ago and I guess is back now working for ELC.

quote" Is your interest curiosity or something more?"quote

I've been working in the pool business in our area for a very very long time and have seen the best of the best and the worst of the worst over the decades.
To date this year alone I've finished 9 pools behind bankrupt builders who left the buyers hanging with uncompleted projects.
I don't want one of the industry good guys to be confused with one of the scoundrels who conduct business and compete against us.

See ya,
Kelly

Thanks, Kelly - I am thinking that my Bruce is the good guy, right? We sure think so!

Plumbing finished on Monday, gunite on tuesday. Pics to follow.

That's affirmative!!!

See ya,
Kelly

Since you've got a lot of pool builds, any chance you have a Diamond Bite French Grey anywhere that Bruce and I can come look at? Having a hard time finding a local one.
Thanks!

I've got a D-Brite French Grey I built in The Woodlands last year for a buyer who got relo'd to Austin. I haven't met the new buyer of the home yet. I've been meaning to go by there to introduce myself to the new homeowner because it's been a really awesome street for me and staying in contact with homeowner's is very important, I have 5 pools out of maybe 20-25 Village Homes on this street in less than 3 years.
Prior to that I haven't placed that Mfg's color into service in 3 or 4 years.
Shoot me an E-mail (kelly@atlantispool.com) and I'll give you my cell phone number, I'm pretty certain the people will allow a showing, these are usually pretty close knit neighborhoods and I'd feel sure they know my name and the name of my company.

See ya,
Kelly

Friday = Rebar and Today = Gunite

I think the guys that do rebar could arm wrestle Superman and win!

Wow - gunite really makes it look like a pool! Important tip - do not "water" the gunite for the first time in the dark - too much of an obstacle course!

The stairs are hard to see from this angle. Basically at the bottom of the photo.

Thanks to Mother Nature our backyard looks like the Erie Canal! Not much progress to note on film but important stuff like plumbing and electrical have been inspected and complete. We did finally get to see French Grey Diamond Brite in person and committed to that color. Tile work and plaster pics coming soon (or as soon as it stops raining!). Using the lull to get DYI aspects of project done - gas line for BBQ, landscape drains and running low voltage wire for new lights that are on order. Getting a bit anxious to see the guys back out there but in truth the rain hasn't stalled us too much.

I do believe our pool build is personally responsible for ending the drought! I don't recall when we've ever had so many consecutive days of rain. In between showers, we've been doing our DIY projects like running drainage pipes, low voltage wiring through conduit, tearing out old landscaping, setting concrete footers for new arbor and hired a crew to replace fence.

In addition to rain, we've had fun with utilities as well. In spite of our PB getting all the lines mark appropriately, we've so far managed to hit water, gas, cable and telephone. Plus blown a few fuses so we've gotten electrical covered as well. Fence crew did gas and hubby did water. Others weren't marked appropriately. Needless to say, I am glad the professionals are back on the job site!

Finally 3 days in a row of sun - 2 to dry out and 1 to pour...decking that is. Ulitimately having 1100 sq feet of stamped concrete overlay to blend old and new seamlessly. Provided the weather holds, overlay will start Friday work for appx 4 days. Last but not least, French Grey Diamond Brite. Can't wait!

Cantilevered decking in progress(will have saw cut joint over beam).

Since its been so long a delay, I updated the subject line too :)

my pleasure building your pool . . . it looks better then expected !

Really...I always knew with your ELC TLC it would be great :)

Congrats on the new pool, it's an AWESOME look!!!
Your cantilevered coping and multi color stamps are really really nice, the view walking through your breezeway is to die for.
I didn't realize that bruce poolguy was your builder.
I'm curious, is Juan or Noee Bocanegra your man that did the sub-base and stamping?
The work is great.

See ya,
Kelly

Kelly - High praise from you, for sure. Glad you like it, we love it and Bruce has been super to work with. I am thinking Juan did the concrete base but Robert did the stamping and coloring. I've misplaced his card - office is out off 290 and Baker/ Hwy 6 area. He did custom blends and stamping for us as scale of pattern was a focus along with colors. His guys were so detail oriented. We went with the stamped because we had existing patio/ sidewalks that we wanted to blend with. Very happy with the final product.

Posting night pictures in a moment....

Here are some pictures we took tonight. I really like the deck jets - they add a nice feature without a lot of cost.

The lights don't glow quite this much...not sure what happened to the camera setting!

Pics look amazing.

I hate to ask, but what did this project run? I'm trying to get a feel for the price range of nice pool.

Thanks - glad you like it. Our design was a bit different then the norm, kind of more contemporary without being "modern." Even our PB was uncertain about our vision but gamely jumped in. (as you can see from his post above!)

We attempted to keep costs for the pool under $32, but that doesn't include the deck or other elements, like lighting, landscape, sprinkeler fixes, painting and arbor. We are doing alot DIY so that saves on labor costs at least. Our PB was really helpful in letting us know where to spend extra money for quality equipment/ features and where we could save some. Our goal from the beginning was to keep it simple so we could stay on budget. We did add a lot more concrete then we originally planned and with the stamped overlay, that really hurt from a dollars
standpoint. I think we poured the equivalent of a small house!

Congratulations. You have really transformed your backyard.

KW do you mind posting (or emailing) some more pics of the french grey. I'm having a hard time deciding because I am fearing "green" - any chance you can send me your sunny day pictures?
Thanks!