New Pool Construction Project in Houston: 2nd Time is a Charm
- Thread starter JayBauman
- Start date
Looking awesome Jay!
It is so fascinating to watch the boulder creation come to life isn't it? If I wasn't self-employed, I'm sure i'd be fired right now as I've been about an hour late to work for a couple of weeks now, just so I can watch them work in the mornings before I leave.
Like you, because we were doing the waterfall/slide combo, our pool equipment is located behind it to save on plumbing costs. I just hope it's not too loud being that close to actually swimming. We have a lot of HP pumping water, we'll see!
It is so fascinating to watch the boulder creation come to life isn't it? If I wasn't self-employed, I'm sure i'd be fired right now as I've been about an hour late to work for a couple of weeks now, just so I can watch them work in the mornings before I leave.
Like you, because we were doing the waterfall/slide combo, our pool equipment is located behind it to save on plumbing costs. I just hope it's not too loud being that close to actually swimming. We have a lot of HP pumping water, we'll see!
They are cruising right along. Very cool! Can't wait to see the finished product. Will be one beautiful backyard for sure.
It's GUNITE DAY!!!
They showed up bright-n-early....well, kinda. They showed up before sunrise, so I should say they showed up dark-n-early.
Final preps on the waterfall
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And at 7:15, the shooting begins....
They showed up bright-n-early....well, kinda. They showed up before sunrise, so I should say they showed up dark-n-early.
Final preps on the waterfall
And at 7:15, the shooting begins....
Glock
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It amazes me how they can dig the hole for the pool so perfectly with straight sides and everything. They are doing a nice job with everything! Just put the blinders on when they finish the plumbing. Gosh, that part is just a mess. It will be worth it though.
Roughing in the gunite boulders
Starting to finish up
Six hours after they started, they were cleaned up and gone. Picture of my "tile-less waterline and coping"
Peeking behind the waterfall
End of Day5
Starting to finish up
Six hours after they started, they were cleaned up and gone. Picture of my "tile-less waterline and coping"
Peeking behind the waterfall
End of Day5
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Hi Aprillh
My plumbing was done while the steelworkers were doing their thing, so I don't think I need to worry about any plumbing mess. In fact, my plumbing has been under the pressure test long before the gunite crew showed up. The only plumbing items that I have to worry about are the gas line and the installation of my SWG.
Overall, I can't believe how little damage the various crews have done to my yard.
Looking good! Fast progress. I will be anxious to see how they do the coping and waterline tile.
I found this part really fascinating. Here's a quick video that shows how the artists turned my boring gunite shell into exciting boulders. Sometime soon (I hope) they will apply the brown coat, the waterproofing layer, and then, the final layer with color and texture.
Click Here to View Video
This impresses me, too. The majority of the work was done by the guy running the excavator. However, there were 3 other guys keeping everything within tolerances with shovels. About once an hour they took a grinder to the shovels to keep them sharp. Yesterday, I went into my garage and looked at my cache of old, dull shovels. No wonder I can't dig anything with them....I've never sharpened them once!
Click Here to View Video
This impresses me, too. The majority of the work was done by the guy running the excavator. However, there were 3 other guys keeping everything within tolerances with shovels. About once an hour they took a grinder to the shovels to keep them sharp. Yesterday, I went into my garage and looked at my cache of old, dull shovels. No wonder I can't dig anything with them....I've never sharpened them once!
Cool video. The craftsman probably thinks, "these people pay me to turn cement into rocks..." and we love it! I think the entire design and gunite work is brilliant. - Karen
We put a regular freeform pool in at our last house. When we started thinking about a pool at our new house, we couldn't really find any coping, decking, and tile that excited us. One day after work, I stopped in at the PB right down the street. He's got 10 different pools (yes....10 big real pools!) at his office, including a few with the "Boulder Impression" facades. Once we realized that the decking was contiguous with the coping and no tile was required, we were sold! I hope it turns out as good as we think it will. It's definitely not a pool type you see everyday.
I cannot wait to see how this turns out, how different is that going to be! Do you know how easy/difficult it will be to keep the waterline clean from the normal residue that builds up from use and evaporation?
As expected, it was a slow day at the Bauman pool site. For most of the day, it was nothing doin'....but then around 3:00 the boulder guys showed up to work on cement formation of the rocks and the electricians showed up to do some trenching.
They were all gone by 5:30. At least the boulders are really looking nice.
Tomorrow the electricians are allegedly coming back to finish their part and the Boulder Guys will start putting down the "scratch" coat and maybe even some of the colored & textured top coat. Since I'll be working downtown tomorrow, I won't be able to supervise. I wonder how much they'll actually get done? Fun times.
They were all gone by 5:30. At least the boulders are really looking nice.
Tomorrow the electricians are allegedly coming back to finish their part and the Boulder Guys will start putting down the "scratch" coat and maybe even some of the colored & textured top coat. Since I'll be working downtown tomorrow, I won't be able to supervise. I wonder how much they'll actually get done? Fun times.
I am aware of the risk of getting a permanent waterline mark since I won't have easy-to-clean tile. However, we went with a cement color that obscures this (based on viewing the 5-year old "model pool" in PB's yard). In addition, we will probably have to re-color the boulders after several (5? 10 maybe?) years, at which time any waterline will get covered up. I do have a coworker with the same type of pool, and he swears his pool is stain-free due to proper pH management....plus he frequently scrubs the tile line to keep it looking new.
Ask me in a few years how it looks.
I wasn't expecting much to happen this week, so I'm pleasantly surprised. This morning, there were about 25 guys working in the yard....including plumbers, concrete prep guys, electricians, and the die-hard boulder crew.
How many electricians does it take to......nevermind, fill in your own joke here:
And now the interesting part. First, the boulder guys mix up colored cement, add some contrasting pigment to it, and give the boulders their final shape.
Then comes the final part. After throwing down some mold release powder, the crew uses latex molds (made by pouring latex onto real boulders) to add the final texture to the rocks.
Here is what the final product looks like....kinda. Once the outler layer cures, they will come back and wash off some of the release powder which will cause the rocks to darken up a bit.
Here's a view from a different vantage. You can see finished wall contrasted with unfinished gunite areas.
That's it for now. I don't expect the boulder guys to come back until after the first layer of decking is poured, so it might be a slow week.
How many electricians does it take to......nevermind, fill in your own joke here:
And now the interesting part. First, the boulder guys mix up colored cement, add some contrasting pigment to it, and give the boulders their final shape.
Then comes the final part. After throwing down some mold release powder, the crew uses latex molds (made by pouring latex onto real boulders) to add the final texture to the rocks.
Here is what the final product looks like....kinda. Once the outler layer cures, they will come back and wash off some of the release powder which will cause the rocks to darken up a bit.
Here's a view from a different vantage. You can see finished wall contrasted with unfinished gunite areas.
That's it for now. I don't expect the boulder guys to come back until after the first layer of decking is poured, so it might be a slow week.