First Time Pool Owner (Houston Pool Build)

[rhawke]

I see a lot of glass tile popping off. It's always the mesh backed variety with poor thinset beds.

Is this just for the waterline?

Yes it's waterline in pool and spa as 1x2 plus spillway as 1x1.

This tile comes attached to clear film in front instead of the mesh in the back. The manufacturer specifies 6 allowed brands of thinsets.

Glass Tile Water Feature Installation | Aquabella Tile

 

[bdavis466]

You should be fine then. Be sure to waterproof after the tile bed is mortared and before the thinset

 

[rhawke]

You should be fine then. Be sure to waterproof after the tile bed is mortared and before the thinset

Thanks, this will make my wife very happy. She keeps telling me I worry about all these details too much and should just relax and trust that everything will work out...

Any comments on the pics above? I'll have to talk to the builder about the height of the drain because I don't know how he will poor an 8" floor as specified in the contract if the drain sits 5.5" above the ground

 

[bdavis466]

The drain needs to get raised and so does the Rebar. If the floor is really going to be 8" then that's an easy fix.

 

[Marlahoutex]

That’s great looking tile! I’ve had no problems with my Mastertile glass tile and it’s been in water for 2 years and 4 days.

 

[kimkats]

and how many hours??????? LOVE IT!!!

 

[rhawke]

So I talked with our builder today and he said the gunnite crew will raise the drain and adjust the steel as needed and that 8" floors are scheduled.

I asked him how much I should water the gunnite afyer it is shot on Friday and he told me nothing was needed since the temps are from 50ies to 80ies right now . He said it doesn't make a big difference but that if I want I can water the bond beam for 10 minutes morning and evening and let the water run down the walls. We don't live there so it would be an inconvenience. Should I still go and water?

 

[kimkats]

pssssstttt you can set up a sprinkler on a timer!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Kim

 

[rhawke]

Gunite is still scheduled for tomorrow second shift (i guess that means around noon-ish), but the forecast is anticipating a 50 % chance of thunderstorms / rain tomorrow morning increasing to 80 % by the evening with heavy thunderstorms overnight into Saturday. PB already tried yesterday to get the gunite moved up to today, but they were too busy. So hopefully they will be able to get the gunite in before this turns into a mud hole ...

PB said if the rain is light, they will still shoot the gunite, but if the rain is strong he will cover the walls with plastic and on Monday pump water out and have the rebar cleaned from mud and then do the gunite next week. Luckily there is no chance of rain for all of next week ...

 

[kimkats]

NO RAIN ALLOWED!!! GUrrrrrr!

Kim

 

[rhawke]

The weather has heard you Kim (the rain shouldn't start until 6pm) but maybe I should have asked you to gurrrrr at the gunite sub too. We were scheduled for the 2nd shoot and they gave us an ETA for 1pm. It's now almost 3pm and they still haven't showed up ... the PB is waiting at our house and hoping they will show up before the rain starts because it will be severe thunderstorms over night.

 

[rhawke]

Still no sign of the gunite crew. They say their first job took longer than expected and now they won't be able to complete our shell today but since the rain is coming they will Flash the walls to prevent any cave ins.they are supposed to do that at around 6pm

What an emotional roller coaster. We were anxious all week to get it done before the rain, so excited today that the weather was holding up throughout the day and now they can't get it done anyway. I will take some pics tomorrow after the storm to see how messy it got.

 

[kimkats]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! They better NOT charge you extra for the flash!!!!

shhhhhhhh but I am kind of glad they did not go ahead and do the shoot as it might not have been as good..........Friday, tired, over worked=sloppy work so it might be a blessing in disguise but still NOT happy!!!!!

Kim

 

[rhawke]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! They better NOT charge you extra for the flash!!!!

shhhhhhhh but I am kind of glad they did not go ahead and do the shoot as it might not have been as good..........Friday, tired, over worked=sloppy work so it might be a blessing in disguise but still NOT happy!!!!!

Kim

No we won't get charged.

They are thinking of coming out tomorrow morning after the rain has stopped, pump everything out and finish it then because they have a schedule for next week already. So I'm not sure I'll necessarily get a "well rested" crew. But the PB promised me he will be there for the whole shoot and make sure they handle things diligently.

 

[kimkats]

BUT they will not be butt tired looking for their Friday drink! I would have LOTS of water and such out there for them with some high sugar and good protein eats!

Kim

 

[rhawke]

So we got the gunite done today!! They worked extremely hard, started at 3 and finished at 9 in the dark. It was their second shoot, they started at 7am in college Station which is 1.5 hours from Houston....

Overall I think they did a great job, shuffled out a lot of rebound (not all but a good chunk) and followed our artistic instructions on pool bench and steps.

Now on to watering tomorrow morning.

 

[PoolguyinCT]

No we won't get charged.

They are thinking of coming out tomorrow morning after the rain has stopped, pump everything out and finish it then because they have a schedule for next week already. So I'm not sure I'll necessarily get a "well rested" crew. But the PB promised me he will be there for the whole shoot and make sure they handle things diligently.

There is no such thing as a well rested crew, so you are good to go.

 

[rhawke]

There is no such thing as a well rested crew, so you are good to go.

Yeah I felt really bad for them. They said they typically leave the house at 6am and don't get home till 10pm. And that 6 days a week. I got exhausted from standing and watching for 6 hours...

 

[kimkats]

DONE! Now it really looks like a pool! Glad they listened to your wants for the spa and such. The things you are not as happy with go look at again in the day light. If it is really off let the PB know and he should send someone out to fix it. It can be done if you really want it done.

It is time for your own set of links. I put these together for new pool owners. It is a lot of info so this will give you time to read it and let it start sinking in.

Print these out:
Pool School - Basic Pool Care Schedule

Pool School - Recommended Levels

Bookmark these:
Pool School - Recommended Pool Chemicals

Pool School - ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry

TFP also has a Pool Math App! Here is the link: Pool Math It is so neat and easy to use!

Make sure to ask any and all questions you might have no matter how small! We have all been where you are at one point.

Now is also the time I ask about what test kit your PB is providing. Let us know so we can fill in any holes.

Kim

 

[BattleOfYakima]

Thanks Bryan! Do you think that 1/2 inch overflow is sufficient to keep up with a heavy Houston rain storm on our 450sf surface pool? Or should we add the overflow grate with 2in pipe just in case?

Thanks Brian - I was wondering about auto-fill options myself recently.

- - - Updated - - -

rhawke - thanks for the pics and congratulations on the progress! Kim has you all linked up so you're refreshed on everything. As always, any questions, we're here! Keep the pics coming and thanks again for being a Bronze Supporter!