Construction Time! Miami, FL New Pool with Pictures and Prices Included.

Jump to latest Follow Reply
Maybe my southern term is incorrect, but back washing is when you take a hose and force water down the outside of the pool to cause the dirt to settle all the way down. This way when it rains the pavers don't start sinking.

Don't shoot me for my terminology. I just cut the checks. ?
 
Yeti - that's called compacting. And yes, through all the stages of backfill, including the sand surface for pavers, we compacted using a plate compactor and water.

The nice thing about pavers is that if something is messed up - like a busted or misaligned one - it's an easy fix. Just pull out and replace. Good luck doing that with tile. I recently re-modeled my bathroom (as in I did it myself), and busted a floor tile when picking up the job site. That tile is still there waiting to be replaced.

--- On a side note, next week I will be installing the child fence for my next inspection. Found a used one in Craigslist for around $300, and will install myself too. It sucks I have to cover the whole thing with that ugly fence, and it's all for the kids safety right?
 
How old are the kiddos? Those child safety fences are really only good for infants. Toddlers can just put a chair next to the fence and hop right over it. My kids are 4 & 8 so I decided it would be pointless. I have an alarm on the back door so they can't even get into the backyard without me turning off the back door alarm. My city actually requires the back door alarm, so that was all I needed to pass inspection.
 
www.watchdoglatch.com
We put one of these on our backdoor about 55" up. In order to open the door you have to reach through the crack and press outward on the latch, so it's a few feet out of reach of my 3 year old. I also put on an auto close so it will shut behind you, just in case an adult walks out and forgets to shut it behind them.

So now the only way for kids to get in the backyard is to scale our privacy fence, as I have MagnaLatches mounted on the two gates.
 
Kids are 3 years and 1 Year. Until I see they can swim I will probably leave the *fugly fence up. When I remove fence I will always place an alarm and a door latch.

- - - Updated - - -

Twolabs said:
www.watchdoglatch.com
We put one of these on our backdoor about 55" up. In order to open the door you have to reach through the crack and press outward on the latch, so it's a few feet out of reach of my 3 year old. I also put on an auto close so it will shut behind you, just in case an adult walks out and forgets to shut it behind them.

So now the only way for kids to get in the backyard is to scale our privacy fence, as I have MagnaLatches mounted on the two gates.
Click to expand...

Nice work! I guess the only thing you are missing to make it 100% child-proof is to barbwire your privacy fence. Although thinking about I'm sure kids will find a way around that too...Maybe if you throw a couple of sharks into the pool you can then call it a day.
 
ssml11 said:
Kids are 3 years and 1 Year. Until I see they can swim I will probably leave the *fugly fence up. When I remove fence I will always place an alarm and a door latch.

- - - Updated - - -



Nice work! I guess the only thing you are missing to make it 100% child-proof is to barbwire your privacy fence. Although thinking about I'm sure kids will find a way around that too...Maybe if you throw a couple of sharks into the pool you can then call it a day.
Click to expand...

Or I'll just dump a bunch of vegetables in there....that'll keep her far away...
 
ssml11 said:
Kids are 3 years and 1 Year. Until I see they can swim I will probably leave the *fugly fence up.
Click to expand...

The 3 year old may surprise you sooner than you think. My 2 year old just had his first experience with a pool when we bought our house in July. After a couple weeks, and his big sisters learning to swim, he was super comfortable in the water. He always wears his little life jacket. He'll look around, then plop his face down in the water and start kicking. Crazy how fast he can go. He also loves the diving board.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I like the idea of leaving the fence up for a while BUT I would get the door alarm and lock NOW as well!

I have seen many a child that can/will climb things you would never think they could.

Better safe than sorry. PLEASE!

Kim
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
Yes, you're my type of person, I love taking on a little diy. Good job on stepping up!

I'm in a similar boat, except my intention all along was to budget on this phase. I found a guy who's going to handle all the labor for 15/hr flat. I'm doing the same type of pavers. The local harbor freight had a compactor, normally 650 on sale for 550, did a quick google search and printed a 20% coupon and got the thing for 460 out the door. Gonna sell it after, maybe recoup most of it.

The prices out here really left me no choice but to be creative. Your attitude is inspiring for someone like myself who's going through the same issues.

Question: did you bond before laying the pavers? Is that required in Miami?
 
Corleone said:
Yes, you're my type of person, I love taking on a little diy. Good job on stepping up!

I'm in a similar boat, except my intention all along was to budget on this phase. I found a guy who's going to handle all the labor for 15/hr flat. I'm doing the same type of pavers. The local harbor freight had a compactor, normally 650 on sale for 550, did a quick google search and printed a 20% coupon and got the thing for 460 out the door. Gonna sell it after, maybe recoup most of it.

The prices out here really left me no choice but to be creative. Your attitude is inspiring for someone like myself who's going through the same issues.

Question: did you bond before laying the pavers? Is that required in Miami?
Click to expand...

If you refer to bond as in electrical bonding grid then yes we did that before the pavers. If you refer to bond as in cement then no. Pavers sit on a compacted bed of about 2" of concrete/coarse sand. Under the sand there is 7" of landrock, compacted as well. I rented a compactor for $45 a day. If you are installing your pavers in top of an existing concrete deck then I am not sure if you need cement of not.

Heads up: so far the only thing I am not completely pleased with is the required drop rate of the slope of the deck. The code says to give 1 in of drop every 4 feet. I did that to the dot and the end result produced a visibly skewed down hill on the 14' side of the patio, which is the longest drop. If I were to start over again (which I may on that side if I go too crazy about it), I would have probably done 1" for every 5.5".

Yesterday I worked a bit on the deck after I returned from work. Look below at the progress so far. The pavers on left are out on purpose because I need to place a deck drain there. I am also trying to figure out the best way to make the cover of the skimmer be as flush as possible with the surface.

 
ssml11 said:
If you refer to bond as in electrical bonding grid then yes we did that before the pavers. If you refer to bond as in cement then no. Pavers sit on a compacted bed of about 2" of concrete/coarse sand. Under the sand there is 7" of landrock, compacted as well. I rented a compactor for $45 a day. If you are installing your pavers in top of an existing concrete deck then I am not sure if you need cement of not.

Heads up: so far the only thing I am not completely pleased with is the required drop rate of the slope of the deck. The code says to give 1 in of drop every 4 feet. I did that to the dot and the end result produced a visibly skewed down hill on the 14' side of the patio, which is the longest drop. If I were to start over again (which I may on that side if I go too crazy about it), I would have probably done 1" for every 5.5".

Yesterday I worked a bit on the deck after I returned from work. Look below at the progress so far. The pavers on left are out on purpose because I need to place a deck drain there. I am also trying to figure out the best way to make the cover of the skimmer be as flush as possible with the surface.

Click to expand...

I meant electrical bonding. I've been in the process of finding the requirements and finally just went down to city hall and talked to an inspector. It had me a little nervous because I wasn't sure what they required but seems like no biggie now.

Looks great btw. Have you noticed much damage to the travertine during install? Particularly compaction.
 
corleone - If you look at one of the past pictures I posted you will see the bonding grid. Basically you make a wooden frame box to enclose each of the four sides of rebar sticking out of pool to eventually pour concrete into it (after inspection passes). The copper wire goes around the pool and connects to each rebar with a clamp approved for ground burial. That copper wire also needs to be attached to any structure that may conduct electricity within 6 ft of pool (metal windows, handles...). If you will be doing pavers on top of sand, you don't need to attach them to the bonding grid. If you will be poring concrete, then you need to attach the pool bonding grid to the rebar of the concrete deck.

And no, almost no damage to pavers when installing. The bottom pieces of the each pallet were usually cracked. Other than that all good.
 
Thanks! I did the waterline tiles myself. After doing the whole travertine deck i said what the heck! Ended up spending $280 total (tiles $240 and bonding/grout was around $40). It was pretty simple to do, finished the whole thing in one day. I am now leaving on a trip and will resume pool business in late december. Remember i am building by owner so i am pacing myself because I need to be one hiring and monitoring all contractors. I should be done with the whole thing by mid january.

With all the deck and tile savings, i am on track to finishing build south of 18k...sweet.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply