West Houston Pool Renovation

[mac4lyfe]

Our 30 year old pool was in serious need of a renovation.
Here are some old pictures...









You can see the old tile and coping on a stamped concrete deck. You can somewhat see the old hot tub area that we never used.

The plaster had a couple popups and overall discoloration in places. It's a large pool, I can't find a good complete shot (and apologize for the dark shots) but it's at least 20'x40' and 9' deep.

We wanted to renovate with new plaster, tile, and coping. We also wanted to knock down the spa wall and make it just a seating area and increase one of our steps into a tanning ledge. Plus remove the outdated ladder and ladder steps, that was just in the way. We had several quotes and decided to go with Cobalt Pools. Clint at Cobalt is very informative and has helped us every step along the way.

 

[Casey]

Can't wait to see it finished!

 

[mac4lyfe]

Thanks Casey. We're almost done. Hope to have water filled by next weekend.

The Pool was drained last week. Here's a picture of the old spa wall and the pool entry steps.




Here's what we decided for the renovation.

Coping
Classic Travertine Noche Honed from Mastertile

View attachment 28655

Pool Tiles
Noble Tile Supply - NSHC 681 - Crystal Lake
http://www.nobletile.com/six-g-o.php


We wanted deco tiles as well but didn't go with the deco that is normally with the Crystal Lake. We went with.
National Pool Tile Tusany Pietra Azul Deco HBLU Deco
http://www.nptpool.com/tile/tuscany


This is the deco that normally goes with the Crystal Lady tile but my wife liked the Tuscany deco. 6" Hill Country Decos - NSHC 681 Deco
http://www.nobletile.com/decos.php


Here's what the complete tile, deco and coping looks like.

 

[mac4lyfe]

Here's the entry steps and spa seating area with the spa wall gone.

View attachment 28661

It's hard to see but we extended the 2nd entry step to be a tanning ledge.



Here's another view. The small 1x1 tiles are going to be used as step trim.





- - - Updated - - -

The pool is cleaned and prepped for plaster.



Adding trim tiles in the morning. I'll keep everyone posted.

 

[Isaac-1]

Looking good

 

[Casey]

I love how you guys took the spa wall out and extended the seating! And the tiles are very nice!

 

[jro33176]

I like the change to the spa area as well! Looking forward to seeing how it all looks. Post more pics!

 

[mac4lyfe]

Appreciate the warm comments.

Trim tile was installed today. Hopefully, we plaster on Monday (if the weather holds up).

Top views...





Front views...




I took my solar pool panels off the roof a few weeks ago to leak test and it was a ton of work. Now I have to drag them back up and reinstall which is going to be a bear. If anyone is ever contemplating doing the same, don't do it.

 

[mac4lyfe]

I did have a question that maybe someone can assist. We're going with CL Industry Sun Stone Select Cobalt and wanted to add an Abalone Shell finish. Cobalt didn't know of people using it with SunStone (although I saw a blog by CLi) and mentioned using Moon Dust instead. I've never heard of moon dust but apparently it's smaller, with the same shine? Is it worth the extra cost (~$450)

 

[Casey]

I can't answer your question but I'm willing to bring my own beer and a towel when it's complete!!!

 

[jro33176]

Are you keeping the jets in the spa section? Sorry, I can't help with the plaster finish. I'll be curious what you choose and how it looks...

 

[mac4lyfe]

The bar is always open...

I'm working on the media room as well (too many things at once). Hopefully it will be ready by next football season. If you visit Houston, hit me up.

I can't answer your question but I'm willing to bring my own beer and a towel when it's complete!!!

 

[Casey]

The bar is always open...

I'm working on the media room as well (too many things at once). Hopefully it will be ready by next football season. If you visit Houston, hit me up.

I sure will!

 

[mac4lyfe]

Yep we kept the spa jets. We can adjust the flow so it won't push people out of the seats. LOL

I've been busy at work so here are some updated pics.

Start of the pool plaster...



Plastering the steps...




Additional views...

Are you keeping the jets in the spa section? Sorry, I can't help with the plaster finish. I'll be curious what you choose and how it looks...

 

[mac4lyfe]

Starting to fill the pool with water.





My water pressure on this hose is SLOWWWW.

 

[Isaac-1]

Looking good, hopefully the rain in the forecast the next few days will help with the fill

 

[mac4lyfe]

Closeup of accent tiles and SunStone Select Cobalt plaster.







Drain covers are exact same color of plaster. Love it.




It took 3.5 days to fill the pool but it's finally complete. I'll take more pictures tomorrow.

 

[mac4lyfe]

Thanks Isaac. Of course it didn't rain with my luck. All I heard all week was how hard it was going to rain Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Thinking we'd time it just right, it barely sprinkled here one afternoon. Dark skies, clouds everywhere, high winds but not a drop of rain.

Then to make matters worse, It overfilled up to the top of the pool overnight. I spent most of the day cleaning the DE filter, skimming off leaves (buying a $36 leaf net when the one year old one broke), prepping the robotic cleaner and backwash/draining the overflow to the right level. Can't wait to see the water bill.

We've had more pollen this year than in many years. I also moved a bunch of outdoor furniture in order to wipe them down real good in the morning. All that's left is for me to haul the 12 solar panels back onto the roof and re-plumb it. Not looking forward to that.

Looking good, hopefully the rain in the forecast the next few days will help with the fill

 

[Casey]

I can not wait to see the updated pics! The pool finish looks amazing with the tile!!! LOVE IT!!!