rbielefeld's pool build

[rbielefeld]

OK, well, here it goes. I will be building my own pool. I will be doing most of the building with the help of a friend that used to build pools in Georgia. The only parts I will be subing out will be the gunite and final finish. I have done as much studying as humanily possible to prepare for this and with my friend Rick's help, this adventure should have a happy ending. :-D The process is well underway. No, no digging yet, but believe me the process is well underway. I designed the pool, hired an engineer to review my drawings and sign off on them (needed that for the city building department to buy into this and give me the permit to go ahead and dig). Just getting the permits has been an education. I knew things were going too smoothly. I just about had the city permit in my hands when the first bump in the road materialized. My septic field failed! So now, we have to have a new septic field installed before we can get the city to give me the permit to start the dig. This is necessary because whoever built this house back in 1981 decided it would be a good thing to put the septic field in the back yard. Fine idea if you never want to use your back yard for anything, bad idea if you want to put a pool there. So, now that we need a new septic field we can move it and make more room for the pool. Not a bad thing to have happen after all, just a big delay and an extra 3K I did not expect to have to spend. Ouch! Hope to have real on the ground pics soon. New septic is going in on Tuesday, hope to have the city permit by the end of the week. I will keep in touch. Ron 8)

 

[rbielefeld]

Pool specs

Here are the specifics of my pool build:

35' x 19' IG Gunite free form with two swimouts
3.5' shallow to 6' deep end
96' perimeter
18,000 gallons
2 skimmers, 5 returns
No main drains
1 HP filter pump (Sta-rite Max-e-pro)
1 HP waterfall pump (Sta-rite Max-e-pro)
Polaris 380 cleaner with booster pump
Sta-rite system 2 modular filter
Goldline Aqua-logic P-4 automation system
Goldline Wireless base and handheld remote
Goldline SWG
Fiberstar Fiberoptic lights for pool and waterfall
RicoRock 4' double modular waterfall
RicoRock 9" coping for perimeter
RicoRock notched boulders for perimeter
Rheem 8300Ti heat pump
Florida Gem "Kahena" pearl finish to produce dark blue water

 

[SeanB]

Sounds nice. You're a brave guy. Can't wait to see it all come together!

 

[rbielefeld]

Hey, I figure, if I can build a house, I can build a pool. The only thing I am really worried about is what I cannot control, and that is the weather. We will be into the rainy season soon, and if I do not have the tank done by then. It could get messy. Come on permit people. Give me my permit so I can get started.

 

[MaryLee]

How exciting!! I can't wait to see pics of your progress as you move along!

Good Luck!! :-D

 

[Buggsw]

Nice!

I'm curious though about your depth decisions. Why 6' at one end instead of the middle?

Mine is 3.5 x 6 x 4 - Mine was already here, though, so I didn't make any of the decisions. It's great for volleyball.

Anyway, I was just curious at your thought processes in the design of your pool. My DD is planning on putting in a pool at her home next year, so I'm gathering info and find it interesting to read why people make the decisions they do about their pools.

 

[SeanB]

Thread hijack in progress... :cop:

Ours is not as long (32') and we opted to go from 3.5 to 5.5 because otherwise it would have felt like the whole pool was sloping. This way it is a subtle grade. I think people who use their sports pools to play volley ball are more the exception than the rule. It's great if you do it, but I just figured the odds were that after a time, we wouldn't do it much. Whereas we enjoy the extra usable space everytime we swim.

 

[rbielefeld]

My kids are not much into volleyball, but they love to dive down "deep" and pick up things off the bottom etc. Also, we will be putting a slide on the deep end. Just thought it would be best to have a larger area of deeper water. Ron

 

[Buggsw]

Aha! Thanks. Both those reasons are very good and something I would never have thought of.
My pool is 40', so no major sloping feel to it. I'll tell my DD about these considerations.

 

[rbielefeld]

Got my permit today, excavator was delivered today, we get the bobcat tomorrow morning and we will be digging by late morning, as long as it does not rain.

 

[ktdave]

Exciting! Keep us posted and take pics.

 

[rbielefeld]

I will be taking pics and posting them as we go along. I am so excited I know I will not be able to sleep tonight!

 

[ktdave]

Just like Christmas eve (when you were a kid, but in this case you really are the kid!)

 

[rbielefeld]

Well the pool is underway. We have the excavation done, Steeltex in, and the final forms up. We had to remove a bunch of huge pine and palm stumps and let me tell you that was tough, but we got them out. Of course it has started to rain every day, so we have to pump water out every 2 hours or so to keep the hole dry. The water intrusion has necessitated putting gravel over the entire bottom to give a good foundation for the shotcrete and the steel. The extra rock I need will be here on Thursday. The plan from then on is to do the rebar on Friday and Saturday, stub in the plumbing on Sunday, get everthing inspected on Monday, and shoot the tank on Tuesday of next week. I have a bunch of pics but have been too busy to post them. I will shortly. Wish me luck. I will report in again soon. Ron

 

[rbielefeld]

pics of the build so far

I wish it would stop raining.

Rock tomorrow and then rebar. 8)

 

[The Mermaid Queen]

Wow, are you gonna have some tropical oasis with all those palms!! How perfect around a pool!

(love your sig, btw!)

 

[rbielefeld]

We do have a lot of palms. The trees will add the to the cleaning time, but hey, it is a small price to pay IMO. We had to remove two palms where to pool is located. I hated to remove those, but the pool would have been kinda small if we did'nt remove them.

 

[rbielefeld]

rocked the bottom today, tomorrow we take care of a few remaining roots in the bottom and then start rebar install and stubbing in the plumbing.

 

[Buggsw]

Oooooh, that's going to be pretty. Are you going with a dark finish? I have a friend who has a pool surrounded by a lot of vegetation and such, they have a dark/black pool. It is very dramatic. I'll see if I have a pic and attach it here in a few minutes.

Found it. Here it is.

 

[rbielefeld]

Buggsw, your friends pool is awesome. That is exactly the look I am going for. Thanks for the picture. Yes, we are planning on using a black pebble finish to get a very dark blue water. Can't wait! :-D