ummm, Sue, that blue of the water above in Switzerland is the color of Blue Granite Pebblesheen once the water is balanced. Just sayin'! Leap of Faith soon, maybe? All you need is the Alps and a few pines!
Yet another Texas pool build!
- Thread starter ummgood
- Start date
Thanks Golderdog! It's good to hear from you - I've been wondering where you were. And I haven't forgotten your advice on the Blue Granite and shimmering seas (shells).
Maybe Umm's Switzerland picture is what finally pushes me off the fence into Decision Land! Thanks again! Suz.
I know, right? Those mountains and that view are pretty darn nice. Maybe we can order up a few for Austin.
I wonder is Suz could ask her landscaper to install the Alps and Pines with a straight face.
Oh I could do it with a straight face alright! It wouldn't be much fun. I liked the guy well enough, but he never even cracked a smile at my little jokes. Of course, we've met only once, so maybe he will loosen up after a few more meetings.
Or... maybe he didn't think my jokes were funny. Different brands of humor for different people! Take care. Suz.
I think that would actually be pretty fun to get on video. If anyone could pull it off, I bet Suz could.
Wow I never thought my picture would cause such a discussion. I go to Switzerland every year for work for a conference and we stay in the hotel where I posted my view from. The lake below is Lake Geneva. The hotel is about 1400 feet above the water on the side of the Alps in Montreux where they film the Montreux Jazz Festival. The song "Smoke on the Water" by Deep Purple was written about this part of Switzerland when the fog lowers down onto the lake and you cannot see anything. In fact the person who started the Montreux Jazz Festival lived a couple train stops above the hotel where the picture was taken and the stars like Jimmy Hendrix, the Stones, Prince, etc... all would stay in his house when they would come for the festival. I got to tour his house and see all the nick knacks that the stars gave him last year. It put Hard Rock Cafe's to shame.
I had a complete horrible trip home. I am happy to be home but my jet lag has been horrendous this time. I don't know if it is because I am getting older or my return flight was so bad that it just completely put me in over the top stress. I didn't even look at the pool for 2 days after I got home. To get home I have to take 2 trains and 3 flights. After my first flight I got to the LHR airport where i was told that my flight from LHR->DFW had been cancelled. I ended up getting rerouted to LAX and at LAX they lost my baggage so I almost missed the last flight of the day to Austin because you have to wait for your bag to take it through customs. I finally gave up on waiting for it when I had 10 minutes until my flight started boarding. Thankfully I have global entry and TSA precheck because I was able to get to the gate when they called the final boarding. Otherwise I would have been stuck in LAX for another day. I started travelling at 12a.m. CST and didn't get home until 1:00a.m. CST the following day. I had to stop at Walgreens to get supplies because they were in my lost bag. I usually don't check my luggage but I wasn't thinking and bought snow globes for my kids and of course I couldn't carry them on because they had liquid. So I had to check my bag. Then the next morning at 3a.m. my bag got delivered and they called and woke me up to tell me they were at the front door. So today was the first time I didn't wake up at some crazy hour in the middle of the night so 4 days to recover.
Anyway back to my pool. Right after I posted the photo they completed the plumbing. When I got home I realized there are some parts missing like the fill for my autofill. I plan on talking with the builder today about it. The rebar was delivered this morning according to my wife so we'll see how much they get done. It has been raining like crazy and the pool is full again. I am thankful though because my sprinkler system is not functioning right now and the rain is keeping my grass alive on the rest of the lot. I'll put plumbing photos in the next post.
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I had a complete horrible trip home. I am happy to be home but my jet lag has been horrendous this time. I don't know if it is because I am getting older or my return flight was so bad that it just completely put me in over the top stress. I didn't even look at the pool for 2 days after I got home. To get home I have to take 2 trains and 3 flights. After my first flight I got to the LHR airport where i was told that my flight from LHR->DFW had been cancelled. I ended up getting rerouted to LAX and at LAX they lost my baggage so I almost missed the last flight of the day to Austin because you have to wait for your bag to take it through customs. I finally gave up on waiting for it when I had 10 minutes until my flight started boarding. Thankfully I have global entry and TSA precheck because I was able to get to the gate when they called the final boarding. Otherwise I would have been stuck in LAX for another day. I started travelling at 12a.m. CST and didn't get home until 1:00a.m. CST the following day. I had to stop at Walgreens to get supplies because they were in my lost bag. I usually don't check my luggage but I wasn't thinking and bought snow globes for my kids and of course I couldn't carry them on because they had liquid. So I had to check my bag. Then the next morning at 3a.m. my bag got delivered and they called and woke me up to tell me they were at the front door. So today was the first time I didn't wake up at some crazy hour in the middle of the night so 4 days to recover.
Anyway back to my pool. Right after I posted the photo they completed the plumbing. When I got home I realized there are some parts missing like the fill for my autofill. I plan on talking with the builder today about it. The rebar was delivered this morning according to my wife so we'll see how much they get done. It has been raining like crazy and the pool is full again. I am thankful though because my sprinkler system is not functioning right now and the rain is keeping my grass alive on the rest of the lot. I'll put plumbing photos in the next post.
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Sorry to hear you had such a rough trip back. One more good night of sleep, and you will be good as new. 
You have my sympathy. I do not fly well - jet lag used to take me a long time to recover from. I haven't had a lengthy flight in years, so I'm sure it would be much worse now. Wow, you were exhausted if you didn't look at the pool for 2 days. I bet your wife was getting worried knowing how enthusiastic you are about ya'll's pool!
I love the story about the person starting the jazz festival. Oh, to have been able to be a part of that - what a great thrill that would have been!
I hope the rains don't continue for you guys, but I'm afraid they might. Keep resting, and you'll be back to your old self again. Take care! Suz.
I love the story about the person starting the jazz festival. Oh, to have been able to be a part of that - what a great thrill that would have been!
I hope the rains don't continue for you guys, but I'm afraid they might. Keep resting, and you'll be back to your old self again. Take care! Suz.
I hope they can get a lot done before that storm dumps more rain there.
At least they are doing something!
Kim
At least they are doing something!
Kim
So update on progress...
Monday the rebar crew came out and delivered the rebar. Then they got called off because it was thundering at the office (but not at my house) haha. I call Texas storms "Charlie Brown" storms because it seems like it can be raining at my neighbor's house but not at mine. Anyway Tuesday they were back out again and worked for a couple hours. It then started pouring so they left for the day. It only rained for about 45 minutes and it was 1/2 inch and then the rest of the day no rain.
Here is a pic of right before it started raining...
On another note even though it didn't flood in the yard it managed to flood in the house yey! Our 14 year old Maytag washing machine decided to give up the ghost. So I guess instead of buying outdoor furniture we'll just be throwing out towels for everyone to lay on by the pool as we are running out of funds. Yey! NOT On a positive note I managed to get a coupon for Lowes and they had a Maytag front loader on clearance and I bought a warranty and ended up getting a 1k washer for about 800 bucks out the door with warranty, tax, delivery, etc... It's the small things I guess. I have a theory that things break in 3's. Before the pool our dishwasher started leaking so we bought all new appliances for the kitchen (we were planning on this anyway). Now the washing machine... What's next? Anyone want to wager? Or should I count the roof leaks I had in Jan? and I am all done now?
On another pool builder communication issue the sales guy went through all that effort to find out about hooking my fill line to the irrigation system. The city said as long as he had a 1" air gap we are ok. Plus we were able to add on an electronic auto fill because of the new found knowledge. Well turns out the builder is refusing to put it on because he said they have "issues" and he won't warranty it. HMMMM. I am trying to get the sales guy to investigate because it seems like the builder sometimes sticks his feet in the mudd and refuses to do things he has issues with. If it has warranty issues I'll listen but I am just trying to determine if it is actual warranty issues or he just doesn't like it. I told him I wanted an auto-fill so if I go on vacation I know my pool filter won't suck air. He even proposed that he would come by and keep my pool topped up while I am gone. Yes he is that nice and that is why I like him but I don't know if he'll always be available when I am gone. Plus I don't want someone watching my house to accidentally forget to shut off that line.
Monday the rebar crew came out and delivered the rebar. Then they got called off because it was thundering at the office (but not at my house) haha. I call Texas storms "Charlie Brown" storms because it seems like it can be raining at my neighbor's house but not at mine. Anyway Tuesday they were back out again and worked for a couple hours. It then started pouring so they left for the day. It only rained for about 45 minutes and it was 1/2 inch and then the rest of the day no rain.
Here is a pic of right before it started raining...
On another note even though it didn't flood in the yard it managed to flood in the house yey! Our 14 year old Maytag washing machine decided to give up the ghost. So I guess instead of buying outdoor furniture we'll just be throwing out towels for everyone to lay on by the pool as we are running out of funds. Yey! NOT On a positive note I managed to get a coupon for Lowes and they had a Maytag front loader on clearance and I bought a warranty and ended up getting a 1k washer for about 800 bucks out the door with warranty, tax, delivery, etc... It's the small things I guess. I have a theory that things break in 3's. Before the pool our dishwasher started leaking so we bought all new appliances for the kitchen (we were planning on this anyway). Now the washing machine... What's next? Anyone want to wager? Or should I count the roof leaks I had in Jan? and I am all done now?
On another pool builder communication issue the sales guy went through all that effort to find out about hooking my fill line to the irrigation system. The city said as long as he had a 1" air gap we are ok. Plus we were able to add on an electronic auto fill because of the new found knowledge. Well turns out the builder is refusing to put it on because he said they have "issues" and he won't warranty it. HMMMM. I am trying to get the sales guy to investigate because it seems like the builder sometimes sticks his feet in the mudd and refuses to do things he has issues with. If it has warranty issues I'll listen but I am just trying to determine if it is actual warranty issues or he just doesn't like it. I told him I wanted an auto-fill so if I go on vacation I know my pool filter won't suck air. He even proposed that he would come by and keep my pool topped up while I am gone. Yes he is that nice and that is why I like him but I don't know if he'll always be available when I am gone. Plus I don't want someone watching my house to accidentally forget to shut off that line.
Hey I count it as three! You are DONE! LOLl
At least there is some progress! Good luck on the auto fill! He just does not want to do the extra work I bet!
Do you have an overfill outlet planned? I am not sure if that is the right words. Something that will let the water OUT when it rains and the pool overfills.
Kim
At least there is some progress! Good luck on the auto fill! He just does not want to do the extra work I bet!
Do you have an overfill outlet planned? I am not sure if that is the right words. Something that will let the water OUT when it rains and the pool overfills.
Kim
Yes my original contract had the fill line and overflow drain. All this other stuff came up because he didn't want to tie into my irrigation water supply. The only other option besides that was run a pipe 12' up the slab and tie into the hose bib up on my deck. That in my mind was not an option because it would have created a trip hazard by the stairs and I am accident prone. Plus not including the freeze issues. That is what caused all the investigation with the city as to what was allowed and what wasn't which lead to the electronic autofill. The mechanical autofill has to be placed at water level and the City of Austin requires a very expensive RPZ backflow device that needs a separate permit, separate plumber (master), and yearly checkups. That cost was $1000 more than the electronic option even though the autofill device itself is probably a couple hundred dollars. We found a way around it with the electric autofill but now the builder doesn't like it. GRRR.
We are putting in the Paralevel from Paramount (http://www.1paramount.com/products/paralevel/)
You are right, they had to put in a back flow device and plumb it separately.
You are right, they had to put in a back flow device and plumb it separately.
You know what??? YOU are the person paying so you get what you want! I would also see about talking to a plumber or two on the side and see what they have to say!
Kim
Kim
You are right. I do know that the mechanical auto fill is a pain and I have spoken to a couple pool owners that went through the same thing so I know for the old fashioned autofill the pool builder isn't making it up and it is insanely expensive because of the city rules. My neighbor has the same thing and the city has to come out and inspect it every year and frankly I don't want another thing for the city to come out an inspect yearly.
I am doing my research to see if the electronic autofill is as bad as my contractor states it is.
I am doing my research to see if the electronic autofill is as bad as my contractor states it is.
Pool builder is irritating the **** out of me. Update to the autofill. Pool salesman called all over and verified the electronic fill is fine. Ok good!
Then Monday I had one of the worst days of my life. I thought I was going to have to pull my daughter out of her new private school. I had an incident with her new teacher and I went into parental protection mode which is really weird for me. That turned out OK after all and I am happy but at the same time I am freaking out my wife is texting me off the hook about the tanning ledge. The steel just got finished and the tanning ledge is only 30" deep. I asked the rebar guys how much the cement will stick out from the steel and they said 3" which is wrong because I should be able to lay down on the ledge.
So I called the sales guy because the construction manager wasn't answering. I told him "remember the two things my wife wanted on the pool?" He said "Yes a tanning ledge that she could put a chair on and for the pool to not be square". I told him that there was no way that a chair could fit on the ledge. He made some calls and the rebar crew came back out the same day and fixed the ledge. Sorry I'll try to post pictures sometime tomorrow.
In addition the construction manager is now telling me he cannot hook up to my irrigation line AGAIN! I am livid. He is using all kinds of excuses but on my house it is not possible to hook up to a hose bib and he is determined. Then he said that they could credit me for the price difference and I am not accepting that. I signed a contract for a fill line and I am not going to fill my 70k pool with a hose. I am sorry but they have to figure something out. The hose bib connections will cause tripping hazards and a freeze problem because of where the bib is at. I am tired of fighting this battle. We did all of this a few months ago and someone finally called the city and said it is ok. But now that he is working with the plumber the plumber doesn't think it will pass so he is telling me it isn't possible. This is even after someone called the city and they told them everything they need to do. Just do it if the city says you can do it!
Then Monday I had one of the worst days of my life. I thought I was going to have to pull my daughter out of her new private school. I had an incident with her new teacher and I went into parental protection mode which is really weird for me. That turned out OK after all and I am happy but at the same time I am freaking out my wife is texting me off the hook about the tanning ledge. The steel just got finished and the tanning ledge is only 30" deep. I asked the rebar guys how much the cement will stick out from the steel and they said 3" which is wrong because I should be able to lay down on the ledge.
So I called the sales guy because the construction manager wasn't answering. I told him "remember the two things my wife wanted on the pool?" He said "Yes a tanning ledge that she could put a chair on and for the pool to not be square". I told him that there was no way that a chair could fit on the ledge. He made some calls and the rebar crew came back out the same day and fixed the ledge. Sorry I'll try to post pictures sometime tomorrow.
In addition the construction manager is now telling me he cannot hook up to my irrigation line AGAIN! I am livid. He is using all kinds of excuses but on my house it is not possible to hook up to a hose bib and he is determined. Then he said that they could credit me for the price difference and I am not accepting that. I signed a contract for a fill line and I am not going to fill my 70k pool with a hose. I am sorry but they have to figure something out. The hose bib connections will cause tripping hazards and a freeze problem because of where the bib is at. I am tired of fighting this battle. We did all of this a few months ago and someone finally called the city and said it is ok. But now that he is working with the plumber the plumber doesn't think it will pass so he is telling me it isn't possible. This is even after someone called the city and they told them everything they need to do. Just do it if the city says you can do it!
My neighbor has this EZAutoFill thing in his pool (http://www.amazon.com/Swimming-Valve-Protective-Cover-EZAutoFill/dp/B00DUNS0M4) .. says it works well for him when he leaves for multi-week trips.
What a day for sure!
When you talk about the auto fill and your PB not wanting to do it........................my thought is this................do you REALLY want someone to do something they really do NOT want to do???? Will they do a "bad" job just so they can say "I told you so"???
NO it is NOT right but..........it is the real world..............I just wanted to give you food for thought.
What I would do is this............................call an independent plumber that you have heard from others that does good work....ask him to come out when the pool people are not there and see what HE says........Maybe give him a few bucks to cover his time.
Once you have talked to him decide what you want to do. See if he will do the work when the pool is done and what the cost will be. Have the PB give you back THAT amount to cover the outside guy.
HUGS!
Kim (I am glad you worked out things with the teacher. I love me some papa bear!)
When you talk about the auto fill and your PB not wanting to do it........................my thought is this................do you REALLY want someone to do something they really do NOT want to do???? Will they do a "bad" job just so they can say "I told you so"???
NO it is NOT right but..........it is the real world..............I just wanted to give you food for thought.
What I would do is this............................call an independent plumber that you have heard from others that does good work....ask him to come out when the pool people are not there and see what HE says........Maybe give him a few bucks to cover his time.
Once you have talked to him decide what you want to do. See if he will do the work when the pool is done and what the cost will be. Have the PB give you back THAT amount to cover the outside guy.
HUGS!
Kim (I am glad you worked out things with the teacher. I love me some papa bear!)
skylar18
LifeTime Supporter
ummgood,
My recommendation, is take the credit, make sure they run a PVC line close to your water line, with the other end emptying it out into a skimmer. Have them cap off the other end, because the city will freak if it is not capped when they inspect and ask you a million auto fill questions, and decide on your own after the build how you want to get your pool filled. That is what I did. Of course I opted for the manual on off with the RPZ valve that the city has to inspect.
I also went to lowes before I went on vacation 2 weeks ago and bought this nifty timer that you connect to your water supply and I had it add 15 minutes of water each day to my pool while I was on vacation. Much safer I thought than an autofill in use while I was gone for so long. The device cost 29 dollars and worked perfectly.
My recommendation, is take the credit, make sure they run a PVC line close to your water line, with the other end emptying it out into a skimmer. Have them cap off the other end, because the city will freak if it is not capped when they inspect and ask you a million auto fill questions, and decide on your own after the build how you want to get your pool filled. That is what I did. Of course I opted for the manual on off with the RPZ valve that the city has to inspect.
I also went to lowes before I went on vacation 2 weeks ago and bought this nifty timer that you connect to your water supply and I had it add 15 minutes of water each day to my pool while I was on vacation. Much safer I thought than an autofill in use while I was gone for so long. The device cost 29 dollars and worked perfectly.