Excavation In Texas has begun! OB~ will Post Pictures as we go~first pool ever~

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heatherpinkdolls

heatherpinkdolls

0
LifeTime Supporter
Aug 18, 2014
36
TX
I have been reading everyone's Pool Build's and they are SO inspiring! We just recently moved to Texas from Orange County, Southern California. As part of the big family move here the deal is I won't be working and I will be at home with my three wonderful children. So, for the first time in a long time I will be blessed with a few minutes to enjoy my family a little more. And become a PB! Ha! However it's HOT here in Texas and we need a Pool! So, we have met with several different PB in the area they all seem to want to wait forever for each meeting and then wait again, months go by and we have yet to sign a contract with anyone. However not for the lack of diligently trying. I was told by many of the residences here in Corpus that this place is just different then the rest of Texas. Far be it from me to criticize I just want to get a pool put in our backyard. lol Well, nevertheless I have chosen to take on the Pool Building task myself. That is to sub out all the work and accomplish this before the holidays. To date progress has been made, I have drawn up the plans, called 811, received HOA approval, obtained city permits, city come out and placed setbacks, painted or laid out the outline of the pool. (yet it rained last night washed my paint away) Last week I decided to use the services of pool and spa designs to make sure my pool would be engineered correctly. Which so far their drawings look like copies of mine so I am not sure what I think as of yet. I will keep you posted. They are working on a plan with more details which they are to be giving me on Monday. So I will look forward to seeing them and sharing them with everyone. Monday is the BIG Excavation DAY, i'm so excited and nervous all at the same time. I will Post Pictures as I go, as so many have been so kind to do before me~

If anyone would be willing to scrutinize my listed pool equipment that I am so inclined to be using for this pool. I would be extremely appreciative for your wisdom and education. I am in the mist of ordering everything and I don't have a clear plumbing schematic diagram at the moment. :cool:
 
Re: Didn't learn how to build Pool's in Law School but I'm going to give it my Best!

Welcome to TFP!

Wow you have a lot going on there. Seeing a plan would really be helpful. How big is this pool? Swim up bar with 12 seats? That would be big for a hotel.

3hp pumps? That is moving a large volume of water? What are you using for a filter?

Have you lined up your steel, plumbing and electrical subs and gone over the plans with them?


Before commenting we really need to see a plan.

I also strongly recommend you read this thread: http://www.troublefreepool.com/threads/19915-Pool-Build-California-Dreaming-3-Years-Closer That is a DIY large complex pool with sunken kitchen and bar.
 
Re: Didn't learn how to build Pool's in Law School but I'm going to give it my Best!

You are going to need a much larger SWCG unless you plan to add chlorine manually during the hottest months of the year. Even the IC60 will need to run at 100% for 18 hours a day to keep up with a pool that size. ( I hope I calculated that correctly! ) On a 3hp pump that will be costly in terms of electricity. You will also wear out the SWCG early. You might consider running two IC40's. Good luck. Can't wait to see pictures!
 
Re: Didn't learn how to build Pool's in Law School but I'm going to give it my Best!

All Great questions! I am having difficulty uploading the pictures but I am working on the process~ I love hearing all your wisdom and education. I Will absolutely add an additional IC60 to my plumbing. Yes Gwegan I have them all lined up, in fact the rebar sub dropped off his rebar at my home yesterday in my backyard. Then it rained and it wasn't covered up, I hope that won't be an issue with rust. As far as the plumbing and electrical subs~ I have briefly gone over the plans and obviously will more when their day arrives.
 
Re: Didn't learn how to build Pool's in Law School but I'm going to give it my Best!

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this Will be our Grotto with two separate jumping places. One at 3 feet and one at 6 feet. Then a slide on the side, with lights.

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This is my Chicken Scratch when I was first trying to put my thoughts and plans together.

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This is a little bit better minus the ramp in front of the beach entry, that has got to go. Actually I can't seem to get it erased.

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The Backyard!

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Perfect place for the trucks and equipment to come in and exit the property! However at the end we will have to build a
gate in order to pass inspection.





Here our a few pictures of my plans, backyard and plans I am working on. Well a few pictures I think, eventually. lol
My Excavation has begun this morning, so I will be sure to take pictures and give details~
 
Re: Didn't learn how to build Pool's in Law School but I'm going to give it my Best!

Good luck with this process!

Your pictures don't appear to be visible (to me anyway). Make sure your permissions allow anyone to see them (also use the image tag to embed them in your post instead of them just being links).
 
pics are working for me.

That's a pretty large pool. Some of the brightest minds on this forum will be here soon to cover all the bases with you soon I'm sure.

I'm not one of them :p, so best of luck on the build, should be a very nice pool when you're done.
 
Wow very interesting design, looking at those drawings all I can think is how hard it is going to be to keep the pool clean. No cleaners are going to be able to navigate around all the bar seats and up on all the ledges. Is the floor going to be sloped from 3' to 5' to 9'? The drawing seems to show a ledge from 5' to 9'.
 
Thank you for all the encouraging words I needed them today~ it's been a long hot day out there! Hot Dig Day!! And Corleone, Cusepool and Mrcarcrazy for helping me with the pictures. I feel so NOT cool when it comes to things like that~ We have have the pool dug out and actually the guys are still out there I came in to breathe for a moment. Jblizzle You crack me up, for the fact you brought me into reality a tad bit. Cleaning this somewhat Big Pool!! Mi Oh Mi I said It was my first pool? Eh?? Right? Things to truly be working on. Any suggestion I would be appreciative. I need to buy my lights tonight and I want to by the Pentair Led Lights but there are several different model does anyone recommend one over the other? I could use the help. Yes, Jblizzle it does slope 3-5-9 with a a tanning ledge on the side near the 5 foot level~ We wanted to go 9' because on our water feature with the Grotto and slide we are putting a two level jumping area. One at four feet (4) and then the other at six (6) and with our wild and crazy teenagers we wanted to try to make it a little safer so they wouldn't hit the bottom. Yet, I know they only dug to 8 1/2, why I don't know. I will have to address it tonight or first thing in the morning.
 

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it seems you figured out posting pics....the best thing to do is get a photobucket account (free) and just hotlink the pics with the url. you can create an album inside photobucket to keep your pics separate from other pics.

keep us updated on the pool!
 
This is going to be interesting.

As for your filter, because you have a 3 HP pump, you might want to stay away from a sand filter. The flow of the 3 HP pump at higher RPM's will probably blow the sand around and not work out well. With a pool that big, and staying with Pentair, consider the Clean and Clear Plus 520 Cartridge filter.
DE filters also would work well, but have no presonal experience with a DE filter or how difficult they are to clean.

In looking at your sketch, I notice a couple of things.
1. Absence of skimmers (maybe I just missed them). For a pool that big, you need at least 2 for effective skimming. Placed on the north side of the pool so the prevailing winds from the south off of the Gulf will blow the floaties towards the skimmers, and not away from them. I would plumb them individually and then T them together at equpment pad with a valve on each skimmer pipe.

2. On the top right of your sketch are some sort of square shaped steps that jut out from the main body of of the pool.
A recommendation is to put some step jets in there pointed out towards the pool. Leaves, grass and other floaties will get in that niche and get trapped. The step jets will help immensely in blowing stuff out of the step niche. Its a pain in the you know what, every single day for the next however many years, having to net stuff out of the step niche. Ask me how I know.

If I think of more stuff, I will edit this post.
 
Divin Dave,

Wise advice, especially with placing jets on the steps! I have diagragmed in 3 skimmers they are hidden somewhere in there or on a different piece of paper. I'm
attempting to stay organized throughout this process. With several different bids and dates at least for me it's easier just to keep everything in one notebook. So many decisions,
I am sure I had no idea all the different choices that needed to be decided upon. Difficult when I lack the education and knowledge of what's needed. Especially when it comes to the plumbing, not knowing what brands are the best to purchase and which ones to stay away from.


Is there a brand you recommend another other then Pentair? I am not married to any one particular one and I am open to learning the good, the bad and the ugly of each.
Being new to the pool world I probably shouldn't even be tackling this adventure, but hey you certainly don't know unless you try, Right?

- - - Updated - - -
 
After seeing your plan one thing you need to plan for up front is a sump and pump for drainage of the sunken kitchen. The last thing you want is after a Gulf Coast downpour to find the kitchen with a couple of inches of water.

Are you putting some sort of shade structure over the Kitchen?

I'd also concentrate on completing the pool through plaster before you finish the kitchen beyond rough out if you can do that under your permits. That way you can concentrate on one project and not get bogged down in both.

I'd also go with the Pentair Clean and Clear 520. I think it will hold up better to the 3 HP pumps than either DE or sand.

As for lights I'd go with Pentair Intellibright color changing LEDs for your pool lights and the spa. But I would also put some Pentair Globrite lights in the grotto, around the bar area and in the beach entry. Hey, I'm only spending your money. Additionally, you have lights on both sides of your pool. generally that is a big no no. You generally don't want lights shining towards your house or main seating area. However, your pool is wide, 30 feet wide is as long as most pools, so lights on one side won't cut it. Just try to make sure that they don't directly face places people are sitting. This is where an experienced pool guy can help. You might try looking for the oldest crustyist pool guy around and ask him what he would do for lighting. Some of them can be very helpful.

Oh a little rust on the rebar won't hurt.
 
Heather in the big scheme, most of the major brands are about equal, give or take. Pentair, Hayward, Jandy, etc....They are all excellent quality.

At the end of the day, none of them are perfect and they all have their + and -, so I would recommend to read more on the forum about different ones. Go to the respective websites and read the owners manuals... And ask questions, and make a decision that you feel comfy with.

I mentioned a pentair filter because I notice some other pentair equipment on your sig. Pentair offers 3 year warranty if you buy 3 or more Pentair Items, so its definitely worth doing that to get the long warranty. Disclaimer: Lately, some mfr's and limiting full warranty to items which are installed by a "certified" insall tech. So that's something also to look in to.

In addition, if you ever want to automate, then having all of your equipment the same makes it much much easier to do that. (not that you can automate a filter, but you prolly get the point of keeping the equipment common). Plus on top of that, all of the equpipment will all be the same color, so it will all just look better too.
 
Our Excavation ~was a Three Day adventure.!


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I am not really sure how many pictures you all want to see, don't want to overload anyone.

http://i1309.photobucket.com/albums/s631/6odonnells/The%20Pool/IMG_5489_zpsf3432a72.jpg[/iIMG]

[IMG]http://i1309.photobucket.com/albums/s631/6odonnells/The%20Pool/IMG_5500_zps5c29035d.jpg

I think my son has talked her in to coming in!

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The cut out for the grotto, slide area~
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It's SO BIG AND DEEP!! It's a tad overwhelming ~

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To the Left is the tanning shelf, where we will be adding two bubblers as well.
 

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