Small Yard, Big Pool Dreams - New Build - Lakewood, California

[Dirk]

He's going to bring some options over and talk to his plumber about the options as well and look into the channel drain...

Cool! Sounds like you're on the right track and working with someone flexible and willing, which is a big deal! I'll be curious to hear more about a Deep Heat System. Hadn't heard of that. Do tell. If it's what I think it is, I'm all ready for ya!

OK, next check box: did you happen to hear any mention about skimmer location in terms of prevailing wind? Your yard is configured in such a way that the prevailing wind might not actually matter. Do things like leaves or fur balls or paper trash seem to end up on one side of your yard more than any other? That's the side of the pool you want your skimmer on, if possible. Certainly not opposite that side.

What are you doing for a cleaning system?

 

[Rancho Cost-a-Lotta]

Great design and renderings! I like that you included long baja benches. Our pool has about 25 linear feet of baja benches in addition to the baja reef that can be used for sitting with drinks-in-hand. Good luck with the build!

Mike.

 

[kimkats]

Side note-----------LOVE that user name ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ hehe

Kim

 

[hollywoodfrodo]

So here's what our yard looks like now - time lapse video coming this weekend:


Side Note: the demo guys did some damage to our stucco on our house - you can see it fairly clearly on the middle photo above at the bottom of the wall. That was the worst damage - and a few smaller spots in other places. Would I be correct in assuming that unless stated before hand, that's not considered "unavoidable damage" and I should talk to the builder about repairing it or paying to repair it?[/B]

 

[hollywoodfrodo]

I had read a lot about skimmer location on here. For us it really isn't going to matter that much. We don't have any trees right around. There are a few in our neighbors yard behind us but we don't get that many leaves from them and there really is no "prevailing" wind direction.

As for a cleaner, after doing a lot of research on here and reading reviews (and based on budget) I decided to go with the Hayward Navigator Pro Suction Cleaner. We are going to have a dedicated suction valve in the pool to accommodate such a cleaner. Probably down the line we'll invest in a robot cleaner, but the budget was too tight to do that right now.

Thanks, Kim. I've been using hollywoodfrodo for many, many years now. You can find me all over the web with it. ;-)

 

[kimkats]

"Where did all of my grass go?" asks the doggy! LOL "oh who cares I will just play here and track it all into the house!"

Damage to the wall Yeah talk to your PB. Let us know what he says. I can guess what he is going to say but I would push this one for sure!

While your user name is cute the cute user name comment was for the person above my last post....Ranchro Cost-a-Lotta

So when it rains..............where does your water go? I don't see any where for it to go with the solid walls and house wall..........does it slope enough to go out by the garage? Does it ever pool up in the yard?

Kim

 

[Dirk]

I had read a lot about skimmer location on here. For us it really isn't going to matter that much. We don't have any trees right around. There are a few in our neighbors yard behind us but we don't get that many leaves from them and there really is no "prevailing" wind direction.

As long as you're aware of, and have been given the opportunity to think about this type of thing, before it's too late, then "my work here is done!"

As for a cleaner, after doing a lot of research on here and reading reviews (and based on budget) I decided to go with the Hayward Navigator Pro Suction Cleaner. We are going to have a dedicated suction valve in the pool to accommodate such a cleaner. Probably down the line we'll invest in a robot cleaner, but the budget was too tight to do that right now.

I think others here would say "No need for suction port, just go with robot." but I think having the port leaves you options (for a change of mind about a robot, or for manual vacuuming, or for some other purpose down the road that hasn't even been invented yet). While you're diggin' ditches and laying pipe, might as well. Even if you later get a robot, you might still find a use for a suction port.

All I was going to say about a Deep Heat System, as I don't really know what that is, is if that is just returns on the bottom, blowing warmed pool water up from the bottom, as a way of eliminating cold spots, I can't imagine why that same affect couldn't be accomplished with the returns mounted in the wall, just above the bottom. To keep your floor clear of "stubbers." My pool used to have cold spots, when it was heated by the sun, but since my solar heating system went on line, which requires a little extra flow, my "regular" returns circulate plenty and no more cold spots. And my pool is 6' deep. With your "one level" pool, with a basically round shape, and with returns with eyeballs which can be aimed up or down or left or right, I can't imagine you're going to have any circulation or cold spot issues, no matter where your returns are mounted, bottom, low on wall, just under the surface, wherever. I am absolutely no sort of expert on pool hydraulics, so take that for what it's worth. PVC plumbing could last for a 1000 years, but I'd want to hear a very compelling reason before I buried any of it under a concrete pool, and I wouldn't want anything on the floor of my pool, no matter what its depth was. Mine is free of drains now, with just five discrete grey-colored ports in a grey finish, near the surface, and that looks nice and clean. Maybe that's just me... Is a "Deep Heat System" just a fancy name for something you don't really need? I wouldn't know. But I'd find out before I paid for one...

 

[riley00dog]

So here's what our yard looks like now - time lapse video coming this weekend:




Side Note: the demo guys did some damage to our stucco on our house - you can see it fairly clearly on the middle photo above at the bottom of the wall. That was the worst damage - and a few smaller spots in other places. Would I be correct in assuming that unless stated before hand, that's not considered "unavoidable damage" and I should talk to the builder about repairing it or paying to repair it?

If it’s covered it will be in the contract. Our contract clearly stated (I think more than once) that although they would take care, any damage was not their responsibility to fix. We are left with a front yard that is trashed, with our rainwater tank with plumbing hacked off and sitting in the middle of the yard. Concrete path has chunks out of it and surface damaged, a crushed down pipe and a big chunk out of a fence post. Oh and our house render has been knocked off in places. We are actually happy it wasn’t worse but will take us a long time to fix it all. Our access was 1.2 though up a very steep side ramp. Every trade that comes in asks in amazement how they dug the pool.

 

[EPCompX2]

Have your overhead utility wires been addressed? I read your whole thread and saw no mention of this.

 

[hollywoodfrodo]

Have your overhead utility wires been addressed? I read your whole thread and saw no mention of this.

Good question. Yes! The wires you're probably seeing (the lower hanging ones) are just Cable connection wires. There is a power wire higher up and I had a SoCal Edison guy come out and verify if it was high enough or needed to be moved prior to building. He confirmed that it was high enough and would be fine. (Unless we were planning on having a diving board, in which case it would have to be higher.)

 

[EPCompX2]

Good question. Yes! The wires you're probably seeing (the lower hanging ones) are just Cable connection wires. There is a power wire higher up and I had a SoCal Edison guy come out and verify if it was high enough or needed to be moved prior to building. He confirmed that it was high enough and would be fine. (Unless we were planning on having a diving board, in which case it would have to be higher.)

Awesome. Do not need any “surprises”!

 

[hollywoodfrodo]

All I was going to say about a Deep Heat System, as I don't really know what that is, is if that is just returns on the bottom, blowing warmed pool water up from the bottom, as a way of eliminating cold spots, I can't imagine why that same affect couldn't be accomplished with the returns mounted in the wall, just above the bottom. To keep your floor clear of "stubbers."

Dirk - good points to ponder. I have been talking to my guy about the drains and either getting flush ones or possibly not having them - still debating that. I agree with you that from my perspective you could have returns on the bottom of the sides which may not be 100% as effective, but effective enough with no toe stumpers which really is a big deal in a small pool that's all walkable. I'm continuing the conversation with him and will let you know what the ultimate outcome is.

- - - Updated - - -

DID ANYONE ELSE TOTALLY START FREAKING OUT WHEN THEY STARTED DIGGING?!?!?

This morning we met with our Sales/Design guy we've been working with since the beginning and met our Project Manager for the first time. they drew out the pool perimeter and then started digging. I'm freaking out a little because now it's really really real and no turning back. I'm excited but also very anxious!

 

[Brentr]

I am sure they know what they are doing. Yes it was a little scary. [emoji482]

 

[Dirk]

DID ANYONE ELSE TOTALLY START FREAKING OUT WHEN THEY STARTED DIGGING?!?!?

My pool came with the house, so I missed the dig. But every time it's been empty, especially when they were jack-hammering on it, it was pretty intense. This giant hole where there's not supposed to be a hole, right? It's a leap of faith, literally, like right off the edge! Hang in there, we're rooting for you!

 

[hollywoodfrodo]

"Damage to the wall Yeah talk to your PB. Let us know what he says. I can guess what he is going to say but I would push this one for sure!

While your user name is cute the cute user name comment was for the person above my last post....Ranchro Cost-a-Lotta

So when it rains..............where does your water go? I don't see any where for it to go with the solid walls and house wall..........does it slope enough to go out by the garage? Does it ever pool up in the yard?

Kim

Doh! Yeah, that is a funnier username than mine. Usually only Tolkien fans comment on mine. ;-) About to email our sales guy about the stucco damage... Will let you know.

Drainage has been great at our house, but prior to starting the pool build, we added gutters. All the rain from our garage wall that you see gets routed to the front of the garage and flows down the driveway as does the rain from the back of our house (where the glass door is). The rain from the small patio area (where the a/c unit is) gets routed around to the side/front of the house.

The small piece of neighbor's garage where the planter is located will drain into the planter and I have confirmed with our builder that there needs to be a plan along with the landscaper for drainage for that planter.

So we should be all set for the 7-10 days of rain we get each year here. Gotta love SoCal Weather. :sunny::sun::sunny::sun:

 

[Dirk]

Good question. Yes! The wires you're probably seeing (the lower hanging ones) are just Cable connection wires. There is a power wire higher up and I had a SoCal Edison guy come out and verify if it was high enough or needed to be moved prior to building. He confirmed that it was high enough and would be fine. (Unless we were planning on having a diving board, in which case it would have to be higher.)

Just curious, what is the plan for that shroud? (The cable stabilizing that power pole.)

 

[hollywoodfrodo]

Just curious, what is the plan for that shroud? (The cable stabilizing that power pole.)

Now, THAT is a story. That "Down Guy Wire" as they call it used to be further out in our yard by about 3.5 feet which as you can see would have really cut into our pool side. Here are a couple of pics that show where the Guy Wire was before:



So a really long 6 month story cut short is of course we knew it was there before we bought the house. We asked the Title Insurance Comp to check to see if SoCal Edison had an easement allowing it to be there. They supplied an easement reference and a diagram showing they had an easement for powerlines above the back of the property only. After buying the house, contacted SoCal Edison about moving wire. They said, "Sure for $3,000." I said "Nope. Because you don't have an easement." They said, "We have spoken with our legal team and confirmed we have an easement down the side of your backyard as well as the back. So if you want the wire moved, you must pay." I then went to the title insurance company and said, "We asked you specifically about an easement from SoCal Edison for guy wire on side of yard - you didn't provide info - their legal team has such an easement - you should pay." And eventually, settled with the Title Insurance company for the to pay 2/3 of the cost to move it.

So 6 months and a million emails and phone calls and letters later, the Guy Wire got moved to it's current location. It took 3 guys about 3ish hours to do it and it cost $3,000!!! (But thankfully we only had to pay 1/3 of the cost.)

So back there is going to be a raised planter wall which will cover the bottom 2.5 feet of the cables. Then we will be removing the yellow cover as well - leaving it there for now during construction for safety. Then there will be plants there which will help cover it even more and hopefully make it basically fade into barely noticeable!

And that is "The Guy Wire Story."

 

[Dirk]

And that is "The Guy Wire Story."

Down Guy Wire, right. Shroud is a on a sailboat!

Yikes! So they're OK with you burying part of it? I guess "in the ground" is in the ground.

The rule of threes, huh? Three guys, three hours, three bills. Classic. Were two of them standing around while the other one did all the work? CalTrans style?

Amazing you got any money out of the Extortion Company, uh, I mean Title Company. Glad to hear one of them had to actually pay out something. I always have considered Title Insurance a bit of a racket, since they get all that money for a few minutes of computer look up (OK, I'm exaggerating, but not by much I bet.) Not sure why they felt they only should pony up 2/3, maybe they used the ol' "Possession is 9/10ths" factor in their calc's. Could've been worse, at least you got it moved.

Yah, it'll disappear. The wires I have holding up my shade sail are a non-issue for me, mostly hidden in trees.

 

[Dirk]

That was a beautiful yard. No wonder you're freakin' a bit, watching it turned into a dirt patch with a giant hole in it!!

 

[kimkats]

Let the DIRT begin for you since you don't make mud LOL

What a story about the wire! Me, being me...........would you have bought the house if you knew you would have had to pay to have it moved? SO nice you did not have to pay for the whole thing! SCORE!

Kim