They where taking are water from Conroe to fill up Lake Houston.

Yeah they have to keep Lake Houston a certain water level for the city water usage. Lake Conroe was designed as a back up reserve, as is Livingston. Trust me though, opening the dam didnt fill up anything, it just kept it from dropping any further. Its a shame, lets hope this summer isnt a repeat.

Well not much else except water chemistry has been going on in the back yard. I hope to have the deck sprayed and the dirt cleaned up this week. I REALLY want to start landscaping so I can say this bad boy is DONE.

Anyway, the Aqua Blue Pebble Sheen turned out excellent and the water probably still has a little more clarity to go. It looks so much better in person than I have seen in pictures. We looked at some pools in Blue Granite and Prism Blue, but Aqua Blue is by far my favorite with Prism Blue a close second. Aqua Blue is a medium sky blue...no green or grey at all. I think the fact that my pool is narrow and the deep end is 8 feet makes it look darker than most folks who choose this color and might have more room to build a wider pool.

I'll post more pictures as things progress! I dont think they can get much bluer than this...awesome!

Looks very nice. I am a little jealous of the grass you still have. Our pool takes up most of our yard and what is left is still covered with excess dirt and flagstone. I know our dog would love to get his yard back.

Spray decking is done and they did a superb job! I even had them add it to the foundation under the side of the house to better blend in.

We are almost finished and ready to start landscaping. I still need to get the sprinklers fixed too.

Matt looks Great!! LOVE the finish! That's what I was looking for! Mine came to light!

That looks like one long pool

Yeah I just didnt have much room to work with width wise, the property line ends pretty much where the coping meets the grass. I figured I would use as much space as possible to make it worth while. I am glad we are almost finished!

We are now in the final stages of the build. There are a few imperfections that I am trying to get sorted out with the builder, but other than that we are happy with way the project turned out. I will reserve my final judgement of Vista Pools until the problems are sorted out. I paid my final payment last week, and my pool has been running for about a month now.

I will say communication between the builder and some of the work crews has been a little problematic. They have had to come back on several occasions to work on items that were incorrect or missed on the first trip out. All of these issues have been minor, but it is a pain none-the-less to keep having them come back again and again. I am just ready for it to be done and finished!

Here is the latest pic. I spent the weekend creating a marble rock border along the left side of the pool. My sprinkler guys should be out tomorrow to fix the damage caused by the digging. I still have much more landscaping to do...thinking of 3 italian cypress on each end of the pool along the fence....and some bushes in between them for privacy.

As soon as I saw this pool, KatyDave came to mind and I know all the regs here would know who I'm talking about! Had the same thing with squeezing a pool into his back yard with easements and such.

Your pool looks amazing! I love it and I hope you and your wife enjoy it!

Thanks!

Chris at Vista Pools has really been great and has helped turn my backyard into a wonderful oasis even though we didnt have much room. We maximized what we did have and the final results have turned out even better than I imagined. I will post more pics as the landscaping is finished and I am having a spiral stair installed to access the second floor balcony which is attached to the master bedroom upstairs. I will then be able to go to my room/bathroom without dripping water all through the house.

I found KTDave's thread minus the pics. http://www.troublefreepool.com/ktdave-s-pool-build-t377.html

UPDATE

We have passed all inspections and Vista Pools has finished fixing a few items at my request. They overall did a great job and we are very happy so far. I even noticed a mismatched color spot on the Spray Decking and they re-rolled the whole deck to make sure everything would match, no questions asked. Chris even threw in 3 free extra pieces of 12"x24" travertine coping at my request. I even offered to pay but he said it was on the house. We also had some extra waterline tile left over so he brought that by too. If anyone in the Houston area would like to ask me about this builder, PM me and I will share my full experience and answer any questions if I can help.

Anyway, since I am doing all the landscaping on my own it is taking longer to finish. However, I am getting great excercise!



The pool is doing great. I am almost at 35 ppm CYA from using 3" tabs since we started, and my liquidator should be here this coming week. I also added Borax a few weeks ago and my pool really sparkles and feels great. Everyone who swims in it really likes it. The pebblesheen is terrific, although it takes a little getting used to. Its rougher than regular plaster like in our last pool but as long as you dont slide your elbows hard against the wall or something its not bad at all. I have received one scrape the first or second time we swam but nothing since. The look and durability are well worth it in my opinion.

I hope to finish soon and will post more pics as things progress! Thanks for looking at my build!

Thanks for sharing.
I will get a bid from Chris this week. I sure will have question later for you!
Enjoy your pool! It looks great!

Looks great! We are in Kingwood and strongly considering putting in a pool. How did you like your builder?


EDIT: I will send you a PM I missed that last update message.