San Diego In Ground Pool Build w/ Pictures

[MattM]

Just got the call from our pool builder, Sundancer Pools in San Diego, that our permit has been approved and that excavators can be out here on Wednesday, August 31st. Estimated completion date -- sometime in November, hopefully in the first half.

I'll post pictures/etc and all details as build progresses, but for general info -- here are rough specs:

34x16 In Ground Gunite, 4ft shallow end, 7.5 ft deep end
550 sq ft helio cool solar + 110K pentair heat pump
automatic safety cover by pool safe w/ encapsulated recessed track
saltwater, pentair intelli chem + intellichlor, auto muriatic acid
Intellitouch i5 automatic controls w/ indoor panel
intelliflow 4x160 variable speed pump, Quad DE Filter
3" plumbing, deep heating, water auto fill
wide steps at entrance in shallow end,
small built in steps in deep end for exit,
durable sealed rails at both entrance and exit,
dual drains separated by 3ft, hydrostatic valve
1 cleaner outlet, 1 skimmer, 2-3 inlets
small shed to cover all pool equipment
~800 sq ft of sealed stamped concrete decking (many discussion about how to make non-slippery)
blue granite pebble sheen

First jump into any major construction project but I think I did my due diligence when designing and selecting builder, along w/ signing contract. Scared to death of anything going wrong during implementation (especially with san diego construction costs), but hopefully we'll have a nice pool soon.

** UPDATE: Flickr Photostream: **
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pacificsho ... 641088720/

 

[MattM]

Re: San Diego In Ground Pool Build

Drawing of pool design:

 

[MattM]

Demolition of existing backyard is almost complete, here's the obligatory "pool will go here" pictures:

 

[BigT8600]

Out of curiosity, what made you wait til the end of summer to build. Better deal? I didn't buy my pool until July when they had a sale. I was just curious if the pool builders came down in price towards end of season. Ready to see how it turns out!

 

[MattM]

Nope, building at the end of the summer wasn't some master plan, just the way it turned out....we've been thinking of having a pool for many years but were always put off by the cost and the fact that our yard is relatively small, but we finally changed our thinking at the end of our kids school year when we started to think about what long term changes we were going to make to our back yard and how to keep the kids physically active plus balancing how to ensure the family as a whole could find time to make it to gyms and go swimming long term...and of course, it took all summer long to put together a design, select a builder, finalize a contract, and have the permit go through...I don't think the pricing would have changed much...the builder we selected seems pretty busy even now.

 

[frogabog]

San Diego is an amazing location (the only place I've visited and loved is San Diego. The marine mornings and hot afternoons made me fall in love) and you have plenty of swim season left I'm sure. I'd swim in the snow if I had a heated pool but you can probably get away with keeping the pool open all year down there right?

Who am i kidding? I'd swim if I had a heated pool no matter where it was or the outside temperature.

 

[MattM]

I've been told by our pool builder that we should get at least 10 months/yr of swimming just with the auto-cover w dark color and 550 sq ft of solar heating here in San Diego. The heat pump serves as a backup to the solar, especially for cloudy days/etc. We'll investigate the economics of whether we need to shut down the pool in December/January or just let it keep running. We're near the coast so we get a nice cool wind in the afternoons and it's not as hot as the more inland areas. San Diego is an amazing place, and other than maybe one hot month (August) and one cold month (January) there really isn't any seasons/weather to worry about.

 

[MattM]

Picture at the end of the first day of excavation:

 

[BigT8600]

Nope, building at the end of the summer wasn't some master plan, just the way it turned out....we've been thinking of having a pool for many years but were always put off by the cost and the fact that our yard is relatively small, but we finally changed our thinking at the end of our kids school year when we started to think about what long term changes we were going to make to our back yard and how to keep the kids physically active plus balancing how to ensure the family as a whole could find time to make it to gyms and go swimming long term...and of course, it took all summer long to put together a design, select a builder, finalize a contract, and have the permit go through...I don't think the pricing would have changed much...the builder we selected seems pretty busy even now.

That makes sense. I was just being nosey but I like your thought process. Why send the kids to other peoples homes when you can keep them at home and out of trouble! Looking really good.

 

[MattM]

update - after 2 days of demolition and 3 days of excavation, we're still a day or two away from being able to start on the steel and rebar. The seismic engineer that was sent out was happy with the ground, but noted that 2-3 feet down along the walls there is evidence of dampness along a 1-2 ft high strip of the entire pool perimeter. Nothing to stop the build though, as all the lower areas are perfectly dry and natural, and where the pool foundation/floor will be is still being dug out is very solid. Zero signs of any moisture beyond that single strip and the floor is almost rock solid dry. There also isn't any evidence of anything leaking anywhere near so its somewhat of a mystery.

We had both a bobcat and construction crane working together today and trying not to hit each other while moving dirt out - pure gold entertainment for kids.

 

[MattM]

Excavation essentially done -- updated pictures:

 

[MattM]

Steel guys arrived at 6:45am and completed work around 11am. I'm told that the engineering blueprints required more reinforcement for deeper depths and for the side facing the hill. It can be quite difficult to understand the drawings, but I assume the work has been done correctly. I'll have my main pool builder contact check later today. The bump at the back of the deep end is to allow steps. I'm not sure if there should be more steel near the front left for the entrance - need to find out. The other area of steel in the front is for the automatic safety cover.

Pictures below.

 

[MattM]

additional views:

 

[Melt In The Sun]

That is looking great! With your solar heat, you can probably swim most of the year, like your PB said. It'll just be a little chilly when you get out! I love San Diego, the plants you can grow there just blow me away...you need a nice Aloe 'hercules' or two around that pool once it's finished

 

[hayabusa3]

Looks simple and straight forward! Love it!

 

[MattM]

Spoke to pool builder several times yesterday:
- The entrance steps for the pool will be added after gunite. They'll be a completely separate concrete structure.
- There will be at least 3 inlets and apparently because we have an intellitouch, it might be possible to have inlets face down to push warm water to deep depths when solar heating is active and then switch direction to sideways to increase water movement through skimmer when heating is not on.
- Plumber plus crane to dig trenches will be out here next week, and that portion should take 3 days, with city inspection shortly thereafter. Gunite the week after inspection. The automatic safety cover people will also be monitoring the gunite process.
- Solar guys want to be out at the same time as the plumbing, so the panels will be installed at end of next week.
- Apparently there is some controversy over the right way to ensure steel shell doesn't move when guniting while still allowing the final structure not to directly connected to deck, as decks have a tendency shift over their long lifetime. Our builder wants to focus on guniting the bottom of pool first and letting it harden somewhat to stabilize the shell before starting on the sides.
- Also, we may end up being the first customer our pool builder has with the newly released intellichem installed, we may have someone from pentair come out to help educate on use and install.

 

[MattM]

Someone should have told me before we started how much anxiety is involved with ensuring contractors and pool builders don't take forever to show up and start new stages. We finished excavation the saturday before last...steel guys didn't show up till wednesday....plumbers apparently weren't available until start of this week, and none of them showed up today. It seems I'll be lucky if I get 3 days of work each week.

 

[ROB N]

Someone should have told me before we started how much anxiety is involved with ensuring contractors and pool builders don't take forever to show up and start new stages. We finished excavation the saturday before last...steel guys didn't show up till wednesday....plumbers apparently weren't available until start of this week, and none of them showed up today. It seems I'll be lucky if I get 3 days of work each week.

You should feel lucky, we could hardly get our PB to show up one day a week . At one point in time, he did not show up for 2.5 months!!

 

[MattM]

Plumbers seem to be essentially done with pre-gunite stage piping:

 

[MattM]

more pictures.