VERY true!
That wave would help and since your PB showed it to you and he thinks he can make it work. HE should order it and have it put on by a master tile craftsman.
Kim
Hey gang I'm back with an update. I had a local guy come to the house. He does nothing but put tile on pools, build fountains and such. He took a long look at the pool. I did NOT tell him who my pool builder is. He said since the pool is mostly level except for this one corner, that the problem may indeed be with the shell of the pool. He said he works with several pool builders and the fiberglass shells are NOT perfect at all. He said, in these cases, you can't possibly level the ground to compensate, because THEN you really would be putting stress on the pool. He said he cannot be sure because he didn't see the pool being put in the hole, but he has a strong feeling it is the San Juan pool shell that is not correct. He said the fiberglass rim should have been cut off in the high area, and bla bla bla... he said it is a nightmare to attempt to correct. Regardless of all that, the PB should have noticed it, and corrected it.
I work from home, so I was here every day during the install. I watched pretty much everything happen and I was out there, every time I saw something I didn't like (often). I personally watched them level the gravel, pack it, add more, repack, etc. When I looked in the hole, there was definitely NOT a high spot there.
Ok so now back to the tile. I've gotten several more tile samples. Now the challenge is, picking a SIZE tile that works, a color we like, and a pattern that works to hide the variances at the coping line. Keep in mind, this isn't even to fix the extra high spot in the corner, this is simply to make it look good all the way around. After several attempts with different sized tiles, we really can't find one that doesn't highlight a water line. Meaning, the tile won't be able to go all the way up to the coping, without the waterline looking bad (because the top of the pool is not perfect all the way around). So to fix that, we would have to install the tile based on the waterline, not the coping. That would leave spaces here and there with 1/2" between the top of the tile and the coping. So.... we are back to the WAVE pattern I showed you above.
We found the 1/2 x 1/2 tiny tiles are just too small. They break easily too. We like the 1x1 glass tiles. So, my plan is to make a template, and individually glue tiles to new mesh sheets, to make my own tile sheets. The pattern will be similar to the idea we got from national pool tile:
Here is picture of some 1x1 "brick pattern" tiles I installed and grouted myself, just to see how they would look. Notice I turned one 90 degrees. Didn't really care for it but I think it would work.
And here is the progress of the fountain riser wall:
I've told my PB to hold off until I decide how the tile will go. I am having a template made out of laser cut aluminum, so we can quickly lay down the mesh sheet, put the aluminum template on it, a drop of glue in each hole, then put a tile in each hole. Perfect sheet every time.
We are choosing the tile on the left, and ordering from USAPOOLDIRECT.com They have good prices on tile, fast shipping, and they have been great to deal with.
My wife thinks I am completely INSANE to order tile sheets, rip all the tiles off the mesh, and re-glue to them more mesh, in a different pattern. I did the calculation today. It is almost 10,000 individual tiles. The way I see it, we will have something unique, and it will be impossible to see any flaws in the level-ness of the pool. Before, I didn't WANT tile. But now with this pattern and beautiful tile, I'm kind of excited about it. I'm ok working a month making individual tile sheets. It's winter. We can't swim anyway. It's gonna be awesome when it's done.
In the end, I hope to have a great solution for anyone who gets into a situation where they want to do waterline tile on their un-even, pool.
I will be back with an update in a few weeks.
