New Pool Build - Lewisville TX * HELP gunite cracks

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Re: New Pool Construction - Lewisville TX (Dallas area)

Looking great! Wondering if they came out on Saturday and dug the hole as planned. Hoping the rain doesn't stall anything this week! We are still debating moving our playset; 2 feet toward the fence would be ideal. As it is, we are going to have to move the garden this week to make room for the pool equipment. Right now we have a giant muddy hole (we had to fill it up twice for the pre-swell) and hoping for steel and plumbing this week!
 
Re: New Pool Construction - Lewisville TX (Dallas area)

Otis, what PB did,you pick?

We're in the midst of interviewing for a pool in Plano three more bids /designs to go.

Are you in Castle Hills?
 
Re: New Pool Construction - Lewisville TX (Dallas area)

Woody,

We picked Joy Pools. I got bids/designs from Riverbend Sandler, Joy, and Waters Edge. Had discussions with Southern Wind but didn't move forward because they prepared me for a price that I wasn't willing to pay.

Yes, I'm in Castle Hills. Joy has built around 60 pools in our neighborhood many of them with friends of ours. I'm extremely comfortable with their knowledge of our soil and ability to engineer appropriately at a reasonable price.

We didn't get excavation on Saturday. Hoping for tomorrow if the rain holds off.
 
Re: New Pool Construction - Lewisville TX (Dallas area)

It was a very exciting day on Thursday when the excavation crew came and we got the dig underway.

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That night our dog Mickey was trying to figure out what we did to his backard :shock:

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Here some shots post dig. We have expansive clay soils where we live so the pool builder has us partially fill the hole with water to get the clay to expand to its limit. This week, the PB's engineer will take some soil samples and make the final recommendation for the shell and the piers.

A view from the playscape.
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From the spa to the deep end.
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From the deep end back to the spa.
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So there probably won't be much action this week but with any luck we'll be moving forward with plumbing and re-bar son.
 
Re: New Pool Construction - Lewisville TX (Dallas area)

The PB sent a crew out on Wednesday to pump the water out. By my inexact measure about six inches of water soaked into the clay soil as part of the pre-swell process. The PB's soil engineer took soil samples Wednesday afternoon and I just got the word that he's given the green light for steel and plumbing.

The last two days the PB had a few guys out to cut the concrete piers down to the right height. I don't have any pics because I was unable to work from home :cry: By my wife's description it simply looked like a big cloud of white dust hovering over the pool.

Apparently the steel company is backed a bit so they won't be here until Monday (was hoping for today and tomorrow). We'll get plumbed shortly after that.
 
Re: New Pool Construction - Lewisville TX (Dallas area)

Looks like it's going to be beautiful! I can TOTALLY relate to not getting pics one day because of not being able to work from home. Arrgh. FYI, we just wrapped up our build and powered up the ozone generator today and I happened to read your post. Like you I want to see if it helps. I know there are a lot of advocates with very compelling arguments for the simple approach and I am absolutely no expert with little experince. So let us know how you like it and I will do the same and we can add some more experiences to the discussion.

Keep the pics coming, love 'em!
 
Re: New Pool Construction - Lewisville TX (Dallas area)

FirstLast,

What is it about these jobs getting in the way of documenting and micromanaging the build process? I'm afraid I may miss much of the steel work on Monday for the same annoying reason.

I've been following your build. It looks awesome! Your comment on the light was interesting. We visited a neighbor whose pool is similar to ours and was built by the same PB. One of her complaints is that she specifically asked that the light be placed somewhere other than under the diving board. She didn't want the bright light shining straight into the outdoor living area and rear windows of the house. Well neither she or the construction supervisor where there that day so the light went into the standard location. I love the blue light that was recommended in your build thread. I'm going to pass that on to our neighbor. I'm going to look into it myself. I decided not to pop for the LED business so that's a nice economical enhancement.

It will be interesting to see what each of us concludes about the ozonator. I was only able to find a few folks who had one but none of them regretted it. I'll definitely share my observations.

More pics this week, I promise.
 
Re: New Pool Construction - Lewisville TX (Dallas area)

The steel crew is working fast today. Here are a couple of pics coutesy of DW's iPhone.

I chatted with the crew briefly when I was leaving the house this morning. They are grateful for the overcast skies today.

PB just informed me that plumbing should go down on Wednesday and Thursday. :whoot:
 

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Re: New Pool Construction - Lewisville TX (Dallas area)

They didn't break it down that way for me. Based on some ranges that the PB gave me when we first started talking ($8-$10 thousand) and the increase in price when we changed the design and had to add a few piers I estimate the price to be $400 to $500. We've got 20 of them.
 
Re: New Pool Construction - Lewisville TX (Dallas area)

It has been awhile since I've provided any updates. For those of you who have been waiting so patiently for more pics I apologize. :lol:

We have finished the steel and initial plumbing. We passed our "belly steel" inspection on August 1st.

Here's a good shot from the second floor. You can start to see how the gunite shell will sit on the piers.


From the deep end towards the spa.


From the spa towards the deep end.


The deep end with the two drains.


Transition from the play area to the deep end.


The step out near the diving board.


The spa.


So I guess they put water in the plumbing and are making sure it holds.


Plumbing at the place where the equipment will go. The supervisor for the plumbing made sure he had this in the right place. He noticed the proximity to the window and determined he would have to flip the placement of the heater to make sure we followed code for how close the heater could be to a window.


A lot of trench digging in our difficult clay soil.


Unfortunately, over a week later this is where we still are. We were supposed to get gunite on Friday but got bumped. The crew that was scheduled at our house had a break down on Thursday and weren't able to finish the pool they had started. So they had to go back on Friday. They couldn't shoot yesterday because the CDL drivers were up to their 50 hour limit for the week.

It is a great time to be in the pool business in North Texas apparently. There is a shortage of crews relative to the demand. So we hope for gunite tomorrow. The PB called me himself Friday morning to give me the bad news. He promised he'd pull a tile crew off whatever they were doing to get that started as soon as we have gunite. So hopefully there will be more pics to post soon.
 
Re: New Pool Build - Lewisville TX (Dallas) *New Pics 8/11

Thanks for the pics. We heard the same thing about the gunite situation right now. Also, apparently there is one big player in the DFW area that is buying out all the gunite companies and so they are raising rates. Pool builders aren't happy...
 
Re: New Pool Build - Lewisville TX (Dallas) *New Pics 8/11

I heard the same thing from my PB. He said there is basically one gunite company left in North Texas. There may be a number of different companies but they are all owned by the same guy.
 
Re: New Pool Build - Lewisville TX (Dallas) *New Pics 8/11

The gunite was shot on Monday morning and I have been dutifully watering every day. When I was putting the sprinkler in the pool last night I noticed some cracks in the area where the play area transitions to the diving area. Pictures are below. I'm going to talk to my PB tomorrow. Should I be concerned about this?






The tile and stone crew came on Wednesday and worked every day through Saturday. Here are some progress shots

From the play area toward the dry step.


Dog walking across the coping away from the spa. Aren't you glad I described the action?


Some of the stonework along the spa.


As you can see, there's still some work to be done around the spa.


From the deep end back towards the spa.


The diving board area where they are prepping the stone for the coping.


I've never seen extension cords strung together like this but it makes sense with all the water they are spraying. It also explains why my garage GFI breaker was tripped and I couldn't open my garage door last night.


I guess if they leave their tools behind I can be confident they are coming back tomorrow!
 
I'm not an expert, but from what I've read, surface cracks are pretty much unavoidable in most circumstances. Just keep watering the gunite twice daily for a week or so.

However, I know it sucks to see cracks in a brand new shell. :(
 
Crack Update - PB came by yesterday and looked over the cracks. Says they are just surface cracks and nothing to worry about. We had a pretty extensive email exchange during the PB selection process about what their warranty that "the pool will hold water" really means. So if he's comfortable laying down the plaster after inspecting the cracks I am to.

The equipment was installed on Friday. I'll post a picture as soon as I get a chance. Decking should be in this week.
 
Re: New Pool Build - Lewisville TX (Dallas) *New Pics 8/11

Otis Campbell said:
I've never seen extension cords strung together like this but it makes sense with all the water they are spraying. It also explains why my garage GFI breaker was tripped and I couldn't open my garage door last night.
Click to expand...

I'm guessing they were working on your pool soon after mine. Seeing a couple of things that look familiar. Filled mine on August 12.

I set them up with that box and GFCI from spares I had in my junk drawer (they had just twisted wires together - looked sketchy). Did cut down on the number of times I'd have to reset the one in the house.

Most of the breaker/GFCI problems came during the coping stage.

We are happy with Joy Pools. Do agree that things seem to drag on sometimes. But they were always responsive to concerns.
 

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