New pool build in North Texas! A long and skinny pool....

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C

cchopkins

0
May 28, 2014
246
North Dallas
Hi, it is nice to find a website like this, and I wish I found this site during the planning stage. We have a pretty large lot, but the house is sitting close the the back of the lot because the garage is in the front of the house, and there is no alley. Therefore, we have a huge front yard, and we spent a lot of time landscaping and gardening, but our back yard is very narrow. Last year we start the process of planning for a lap pool....and finally broke ground about a month ago. So far the process has been ok, there are a few bumps already.......that is when I started to do more research on my own and found this site. I really enjoy looking at your pool pictures and discussion, and learned a lot in the process. I figure why not put my building process here to share, and maybe you guys can help me through this turned out to be pretty difficult process.

Here is the master plan of the whole outdoor space.....we are doing in stages due to the amount of money that are involved. We are focus on getting the pool in, and the hardscape, which is the concrete patio and all the preparations for later on custom fire pit, BBQ grill, seat wall, veggie garden....

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Welcome to TFP cchopkins! Please tell us about your pool and the equipment you are having installed. Also, post a lot of pics!!!
 
This is our narrow but long yard.....The PB and designer marked out the pool, and the pool was moved too much away from the house. In the plan, where I was measuring was supposed to be 4 feet, but they marked 6 feet. Not happy at the time. I had to called and asked them to move the line back to where it supposed to be. At the end, I actually got them to move the line back and got one more foot added to the pool width to 10 feet instead of 9 feet.


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Digging started!


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Sorry, have to learn how to shrink the file size to upload. Here is a picture of the finish product after a whole day of digging. I am not sure why so far every sub thinks that they can finish our job in 4-5 hours....but they all ended up spent 10 hours or so here to finish their job. All of them really under estimate this pool. The perimeter is 178 feet.


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So, after the dig, the PB and plumber came for a meeting onsite, while I was at work. Later on that day, I got a phone call from the PB and designer and they said that the plumber wanted an architecture plumbing plan before they will do the plumbing and steel. I was like "ok.....why?" The PB said since our yard is narrow, and the standard plumbing plan will not work. The plumber was afraid that the fence will fall down if they start trenching. I was like "ok....so what now?" The PB said he will consult with the architect and let me know.....I was starting to worry that if I made a mistake in wanting a pool in our narrow yard....I asked the PB "I thought that we had a architecture plan to submit to the city, and why no one was concern of the space issue before the dig?" PB said normally the architect is utilized for the structure aspect of pool build, not plumbing, but he will get with the architect to work out the plumbing plan as soon as possible.

For two weeks, I thought that I will forever have this big whole in the backyard. We also had rain heavily.....and I was worry about the foundation. The architect finally drew up the plumbing plan, with the hydraulic system??? I guess it means the plumbing is in the wall of the pool not around the pool, as the PB explained to me. So, no other options....hydraulic as it is, whatever it means.
 

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Thank you! We hope that we made the right decision considering our yard is narrow, and the whole pool and floating deck and the spa really will occupy the whole backyard....however, the good thing is that we can see the pool from the living room, master bathroom, and we are changing the window and door in the master bedroom to all floor to ceiling windows and patio door so that we can just step out to the floating deck, so to speak. The dry deck in the pool is really not floating bur has water channels surround the deck connecting the spa and the pool. We are waiting for the mason to come to build the water wall and put glass tiles in the water feature and water line! So far no luck with this particular mason....he is really popular and he is very good with doing the glass tiles. Will post the pictures of steel and shell soon.
 
cchopkins, just want to let you know you're not alone with the narrow yard. When we bought our house, we were told the yard is not feasible for a pool. That was fine at the time, thought we would never build one for several reasons, mainly out of fear for our little kids. One hot summer in Texas with no pool of our own, no neighborhood pool, no nearby YMCA or other pool facility we could join, and drive-you-crazy-bored-kids changed our minds. And we all love to swim, so it's for the whole family, not just them.

Anyway, sorry for the long background ;), our pool is also only 10' wide (the maximum it could be) and about 47' long, not including a small spa on one end. Tightness between back of house and fence is like your photos. Thank goodness for no easement in the back, it's now all pool. We are just awaiting plaster and expecting that to happen this week. Dealing with the building process was maddening, but we all absolutely cannot wait to swim in our own backyard.
 
Wow, thank you Ale788! We are almost having exact the same pool! My husband wanted a long lap pool .....but the way our master bedroom is situated, if we carry the pool that far, we will be stepping out and right into the pool. Anyhow, yes, this process is maddening for sure, but definitively worth it. If you get a chance, I love to see some pictures of your building process.
 
Past the inspection, and ready for gunite...I wish that I learned a lot more about pool building prior of we sign the contract. I was told that we will have pool light and spa light, LED, the best lights, color changing.....sounds great. I thought. Then I found out we only have one pool light and one spa light.....not sure if we have enough light .....

Below is the finished gunite shell. Again, the crew came and thought they were going to do another pool after shooting our pool.....needless to say, they again underestimated the complexity and the volume of this pool. I left work at 7:30 am and got home at 6:30 pm, they were just about to finish up shaping the dry deck in the pool and stepping pads.

Here is a picture of the shell just finished...looks so pretty!


A little messy....after a few days rain....but gives the idea of the swim area of the pool from the stepping pads and dry in-pool deck


Another view of the pool from the dry in-pool deck


A pic of master bedroom, showing the water channel, and the existing small patio door. We will be replacing the small door with a floor to ceiling window, and put the double patio door so it opens to the dry deck.


View of the spa and dry deck from the swim portion of the pool.
 
We finally decided that we are going to use the same glass tiles on the water wall with three sheer descents as the waterline tiles. This upgrade cost us $5500 for (178 feet of waterline tiles). The tile is NPT Artic Lagoon. My husband did not like any of the standard pool tiles, and we debated back and forth.....could not reach a decision.....the PB called everyday and see if we decided on the tile so they can order without delay....I finally gave in.....I like the tiles, and know it will be pretty, but I did not like the additional cost came with this upgrade.

Here is the picture of the tile we choose.


They will be coming to install the tiles this coming Thursday. Excited!
 

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