New owner builder in Cave Creek, AZ

My tile work is completely finished and the travertine coping for the top of the raised bond beam should be complete today. I was scheduled for pool interior yesterday, but with the extreme heat here over the last few days the pool crews have been working shorter days and they are a few days behind. I'm waiting for confirmation, but as of yesterday afternoon I was scheduled for plaster tomorrow, then acid wash and fill starting Fri AM...

Here are some updated picturesIMG_2291.jpgIMG_2292.jpgIMG_2293.jpgIMG_2294.jpgIMG_2295.jpg

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Also, I tested my fill water using my TF-100 test kit last night and got the following results:

Cl/Br test was clear, so essentially 0
pH: 7.5
FC: 0.5
CC: 0.5
CH: 375
TA: 220
CYA: 0

MY pool has a salt cell, but as I understand it, the salt cell will remain off for the first 30 days after my pool is full.
Any suggestions on what I should be doing to prep for getting the pool balanced once it's filled?

I will have about 1 week to get the pool balanced, and then I will be traveling doing 2 week long trips back to back with 1 day in between.
 
Love what I see! I am glad for the workers but sad for the people waiting to get their pools done.

We call CL FC (free chlorine) just so we are on the same page.

Now here is your "homework". Play with Pool Math (in my siggy and at the top of the page). There is a little bit of a learning curve so now is a good time to get the feel for it. Here is the link to our recommended levels to use in Pool Math: Pool School - Recommended Levels

What do YOU think you need to do?

I am going to give you a shopping list and it will have clues in it for you:

-2 plastic 2 cup measuring cups One is for muratic acid only and the other is for all other chemicals. Make sure the oz is marked on them.

-white plastic plate to hold up when you test your PH (I find this very helpful to really see the colors)

-on condiment bottle to help you collect and squirt the pool water into the tubes.

-Place you have around you with your best price on chlorine or bleach. Make sure it is fresh chlorine and store out of the direct sun

-muratic acid-make sure it is the 31% kind

-CYA aka stabilizer (use pool math to see how much you will need for how many gals you THINK the pool will be. We will shoot for low at first.

Your MOST important things to work on with your great water (it really is pretty good water!) is FC, CYA, PH.

How are you doing? Does this help you?

Kim:kim:
 
Thanks!! I will do some shopping to get them items on the list above..

Also, I am probably going to retest my water tonight. The hose bib that I used to collect my "fill water" is a different hose bib from the ones that I will be used to fill the pool, and it might actually be soft water as compared to the water that will actually be used to fill my pool which is water that has not gone through my water softener.
 
The plaster crew is here doing the final prep on the inside of the pool..

I have one dedicated suction line inside my pool for a vacuum. Does this take the same fitting as the normal returns or is it a different one? The crew is telling me that they all take the same fitting and that I just unscrew the return fitting and put a different one on when I want to use the vacuum.

Is this correct? If it's not correct, I assume that it would be easy for me to just swap out to the proper fitting after the fact?
 
The plaster crew is here doing the final prep on the inside of the pool..

I have one dedicated suction line inside my pool for a vacuum. Does this take the same fitting as the normal returns or is it a different one? The crew is telling me that they all take the same fitting and that I just unscrew the return fitting and put a different one on when I want to use the vacuum.

Is this correct? If it's not correct, I assume that it would be easy for me to just swap out to the proper fitting after the fact?

That's what they did on mine. It is the same size and works with the vac lock.

They did mess the fitting up somehow though & that is where my leak was....
 
That's what they did on mine. It is the same size and works with the vac lock.

They did mess the fitting up somehow though & that is where my leak was....


Thanks - This is helpful since this is all new to me. I'm sure that once it's done it will be obvious.

My screenlogic is all setup (at least with initial settings) and should be ready to go once I get water in the pool.



I confirmed with the plaster foreman that they are going to use lots of glass beads and lots of shells, so hopefully they put in the amount that I am paying for and it turns out nice and sparkly.

I had to go into work today, but here are some pictures of the setup of the plaster crew before they started spraying.

IMG_2317.JPGIMG_2319.JPGIMG_2320.jpg

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Sorry for the sideways pictures.. I'll try to fix them
 
The main thing on plaster day is to make sure they have the correct color and any extras you paid for. You will have plaster when you get home!

Kim:kim: (don't worry about the sideways pics. We still have not figured out why some of them turn sideways!)
 

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Did they just lay your travertine deck pieces directly on the ground? Does that work in AZ? It would never work here. After a few rains and a growing season, they would be all over the place.


Yes - That's a fairly common practice here in AZ. They use sand or 1/4 minus gravel to compact and level the ground, then they place the pavers on top. the outside pavers are mortared in place, and sand is used lock the inside pavers in place....

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Those fittings are glued in on my pool.

THX - FYI I tried to message you but your inbox is full
 
Yes - That's a fairly common practice here in AZ. They use sand or 1/4 minus gravel to compact and level the ground, then they place the pavers on top. the outside pavers are mortared in place, and sand is used lock the inside pavers in place....

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THX - FYI I tried to message you but your inbox is full

I will clear it out! I couldn't see the pics you sent of your coping.
 
So how much beads and shells did you end up going with. Would love to hear some details around it.
And congrats on plaster, you will be swimming this weekend

To be honest with you, I don't know exactly what went into my pool. I know that I paid for "double beads" and "double shells" and I was told that this meant 240 lbs total beads and 36 lbs total shells, but I don't know if that's what was actually applied. I had to leave to work before they starting mixing the plaster, but I talked to the foreman who told be it would be 60 lbs of beads per batch and a "big bag" with lots of shells had cast at the end..

At this point I just need to trust that the company included what they charged me for - I guess I'll have an idea tomorrow when I see it in person after acid wash.
 

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