A liquidator would be a great combination with the puck feeder. The liquidator has a lot of the same benefits of a salt system, with few downsides, plus it's very easy to set up and inexpensive to purchase compared to other alternatives. Either way, I wouldn't spend the money on the ozone system. You just don't need it.

@Sean -- Thanks. I will look into the liquidator.

I just got some good news. The city permit has been issued. Layout is scheduled for Monday with the dig starting on Tuesday. If the weather holds out we could be swimming before the end of July.

We're well on the way. It took the excavators a solid 1 1/2 days to complete the dig.

Layout:


First scoop:


Not much grass damage so far:


Shaping the spa:


Digging it out:






Shallow end is done:


Comcast cable was way out of easement. Caused back wall cave in:


Going deeper:


Spa shelf caved in after excavators left:


PB called in gunite crew to flash the pool so it wouldn't keep caving in:






Grass along the clay highway doesn't look so good after about 300 round trips of the Bob Cat:

Landmark- I'm not sure about anyone else but I couldn't get your link to work

I could not get the link, either.

They should be working now. I had to change the way I was coding the link.

The plumbers came today to install the drains. I will post those pictures as soon as I can.

Good pix. Cave ins & clay highway

Keep us posted.

Looks great!

The shell is complete and the activity has died down so I thought it was time to post an update. Excavation was finished on Friday the 13th. We had a couple of cave ins that prompted the PB to flash the hole with gunite. The plumbers installed the drains on Saturday. The steel crew showed up early on Monday morning and hit the ground running. It was amazing to watch those guys work. The plumbers worked the rest of Monday and Tuesday getting the pool ready for inspection and gunite that was scheduled for Thursday 6/19. The drama started on Tuesday evening when a big thunderstorm moved through the area. We had to build the pool within 3' (4' to water) from the back of our house because the back yard isn't very wide. The heavy rain caused a large section ground along the patio to fall into the pool leaving the foundation of the house exposed. We were concerned that if the rain continued through the night there may be more cave ins under the foundation. I found that foundation repair must never be an emergency because none of the companies I called had an after hours phone number. The rain stopped and everything looked better the next morning. The PB showed up early on Wednesday to clean up the damage. By mid-day everything was back on track. The gunite crew arrived at 7:00 AM Thursday 6/19. They worked hard throughout the day. A heavy afternoon thunderstorm was moving into the area that caused them to cover the pool with plastic for about an hour. We were lucky and didn't get any rain from it. They finished up at 7:00 PM. The gunite guy said that it took 82 yards, more than they expected because they filled all the cave in areas with gunite.

Now the pictures:

This is the area behind the patio that caved in.


Deep end:


Finishing the spa:


Castlerock Ultimate spa:


View from the spa:


Plumbing:

Landmark- Wow ultimate is the right word for that spa holy smoke It looks great coming along nicely. Sorry to hear about all of the cave ins. Must have been wearing on your nerves.....but its in the past right. It's looking great can't wait to see more!

Thanks Whoozer. It came down to two PBs and the spa is a big reason we went with Castlerock.

The electrician came today and wired the equipment. PB said stone, tile, and coping should be here tomorrow or Friday. We've gotten a lot of rain so I hope they can get started.

Here are some more pictures.

Full shot of pool:


Tanning ledge and entry. It's 12' across:


Spa spillway is 8' across. It will have stacked flagstone:


Pool equipment:


EasyTouch controller:

The PB came out on Saturday and started the rock wall and waterfalls across the back of the pool. We've been lucky with the rain so they were able to finish most of it today. We didn't have much width for the pads so the waterfalls are only slightly larger than the rest of the weeping wall. I can't wait to see how the water flows.

Looking good. Keep the updates coming.

Landmark where are you located?

Thanks Tonedeaf. We are located in League City (south of Houston) Texas.

Hi, Landmark...awesome build so far! Very impressive...great plan. LOVE the spa. Looks like CastleRock is taking care of any problems that crop up..and promptly. That's nice to see. We're in League City, also...west towards Friendswood area. Just got a few showers earlier, so keeping our fingers crossed for you. NO TROPICAL STORMS..ugh. Must use our Pool Mojo to keep them away.

We're in the process of getting bids for a pool/spa now. Have one PB due to come out on the 9th. I'm so glad to know CastleRock builds in our area...I'd heard good things about them before. Will definitelly call them and schedule an appointment ASAP. We're picky, too (most of these PB around here I won't even schedule an appt. with)...and definitely want quality over fluff. We'll use our spa a lot, so that's a big deal to us.

Thanks for posting your pics and journey...you can't imagine how helpful it is.

Are you using CastleRock for landscaping? Just curious..trying to see who I need to line up for palm trees, etc. I'm so ready to do our pool...went out and bought a Margaritaville frozen drink maker...big time on sale (40% off) at Sharper Image in the mall right now.

Thanks again...can't wait to see more pics on the progress...GOOD LUCK with the rest!!

Welcome to the forum Pisces and thanks for the comments. You will find lots of helpful information and people here.

The summer started out really dry but the first heavy rain in 2 months came on layout day. Except for the cave ins we've been lucky that the rain hasn't caused much of a problem. We have been happy with the way CastleRock has handled the build. If you want more information about them feel free to PM me.

Our original goal was to get the landscaping and a pool house done at the same time as the pool. We discussed it with CastleRock and they could have managed the whole project. However, the pool turned out to be more expensive than we expected. Rather than compromising on the size, since we wanted to use the pool for exercise, we put the landscaping project on hold for a little while. I'm sure we will be anxious to get it done after the pool is finished though.

I hope you didn't get the last Margaritaville from SI because I'm stopping by on my way home today.

Wow, I can't wait to see your pool finished. I'm jealous... Also... OMG your filter area is a sea of PVC. There is valves to valves to valves. Are you going to automate them all or leave them all manually controlled.

Adam

Thank you Landmark...I've been reading the forum for about 2 months now, just browsing...the info is invaluable and GREAT FOLKS here. It's our first pool, too...husband used to have a big hot tub and wood deck he installed and built himself in his first home.

We have an appointment with Brent at CastleRock for Friday the 11th. Really nice guy to talk to...I'll definitely PM you when we get more into the works...thank you for the offer! We have a small backyard with an 8 foot easement, so our pool will only be about 20 ft. long by 10 ft. wide, plus a spa....but want to pack a lot of good stuff into that small place. I think you'll be very glad you didn't compromise on the pool..the other stuff can come later.

We're shopping around for a couple of specific palm trees for the end of the pool...eek. Reeling from sticker shock there, so we're researching two different ones that look a lot alike, but one is cheaper. I'll ask them to bid on major landscape things...dig beds in the easement for plants and see what their palm prices are. We can do a lot of the planting ourselves - I pretty much know what I want. We're also taking things in stages...Pool first with no compromises, then outdoor BBQ/kitchen (we're building it ourselves), and finally a covered porch added to the back.

Hey, I hope you got your Margaritaville machine...there were 11 more left yesterday! It's gonna come in handy to make me forget the $$$ we'll spend...oh well...you only live once...got enjoy. Keep the pics coming!

@launboy, I was surprised when I saw the equipment plumbing. It's a complex setup because of the spa and water features. There are 3 pumps (filter, upper spa jets, and waterfalls) and a booster for the pool cleaner. The filter pump also runs the foot jets in the spa and the weeping wall. The spa blower can also be switched between the upper and lower jets. There are 2 automatic valves right now but may be more coming.

@Pisces, Jim is the owner and was our salesman. We enjoyed working with him. He said his son was coming to work for CastleRock. I wonder if Brent is his son. We also plan to have a lot of different palm trees and know than some are very pricey. We originally hired a landscape architect to design the backyard but didn't keep them to do the installation. I envisioned that it would be like Landscaper Challenge on HGTV but it didn't quite work out that way.