New build - Katy, TX (near Houston)

[jimim]

and knowing how to use a water level would be cool. . .

 

[jaymantx]

Well, plaster is finally done. Correct company came out and applied the correct color... Apparently, this is very difficult to get it right... LOL Despite the goof ups... I am impressed by PB's partner who was able to pull some strings to get Modern Methods to come out within 2 days...
He wasn't kidding when he said he is a good friend with the owner of Modern Method...

Good to see those brown bags... Love seeing "Pre-blend sheen" on the bag.. That is the exact reason why I wanted Pebble Tec brand...

Spy shots of the guy spraying abalone shell flakes (Shimmering Sea) around. I asked for two bags to be sprayed on the floor only. These better shine and impress me... LOL

Aqua Blue in the shade. This is PRE-acid wash. Once the rocks are exposed more, I assume color will get slightly darker.

This is a shot of the plaster in the sun, pre-acid wash.

This spa picture is a very good representation of the true Aqua Blue color... on my monitor anyways...

These glass tiles look different with plaster.. I think the colors of the tiles and the plaster complement each other very well.

 

[ctrav]

Pop in those lights and you will be ready for water! Plus you will get in about 3 months of swimming.

 

[kimkats]

That is the purrfect plaster with MY bling tiles!!!

Bet you were all over the truck making sure it was the correct kind and color! Well done!

Kim

 

[jaymantx]

Seriously, it's a long overdue... 3 months of swimming season isn't bad at all!

Pop in those lights and you will be ready for water! Plus you will get in about 3 months of swimming.

- - - Updated - - -

I didn't want to be creepy, but yes... I was all over the truck initially... Mixing guy knew why I was all over his truck, and verified with me that he was mixing Pebble Tec's Pebble Sheen Aqua Blue.. I'm sure he deals with people like me all the time... It was pretty cool to see that there were 2 inspectors on site, doing nothing but watching his workers do their job... That's assuring...

That is the purrfect plaster with MY bling tiles!!!

Bet you were all over the truck making sure it was the correct kind and color! Well done!

Kim

 

[jaymantx]

This PB of mine always leaves something for me to pick on... UGH. I've been asking for Pebble matching flat profile drain covers like this since the beginning of the project...

I even asked right before they goofed up the plaster, and after they scheduled a new plaster company... and this is what I get..

They had literally 2 months to figure this out and get me what I wanted... I can't just let this go... I asked for some sort of compensation... We'll see what they come back with.

 

[kimkats]

Nope! They need to find a way to get the right top to fit on the can that is in the pool. Even if you have to wait for them to use your color of plaster in another pool in the short future to fill it in.

 

[jaymantx]

I don't think I can install the flat profile 20" drain that I wanted anymore since it needs to be embedded with the plaster. I do have this option, which is the retrofit drain cover. It's not flat to the ground, but better than what I have now... Like you said PB would have to ask a plaster company for a favor... http://www.poolfittings.com/retrofit-pebble-top-drain-cover/

Nope! They need to find a way to get the right top to fit on the can that is in the pool. Even if you have to wait for them to use your color of plaster in another pool in the short future to fill it in.

 

[Dirk]

Wow, those covers are tall! Bummer. If they can't retrofit the ones you originally wanted, there are certainly lower profile styles available that should bolt on.

My color dried a lot darker. I freaked when it was first going in. Mine was supposed to be a custom shade darker than Tahoe Blue. And they were shooting light robin's egg blue. Between curing and acid wash it darkened to the perfect shade. Nerve-racking in the meantime, though.

Cool idea to put the flakes only on the bottom. Nice custom touch. I asked for no flakes, and got just a few here and there. Artifacts from previous mixes I presume. I like it now, like a subtle starry night. (Gotta rationalize when ya have to!)

I think your pebble and tile compliment each other perfectly. Both multi-colored, but each individual color reflected in the other material. Awesome.

Regarding creeping around the truck and the workers... I say creep away. So what. You'll have to live with what they did for the rest of your days with this pool. They've already forgotten about you and your pool, and would have whether you "creeped" or not...

OK, I don't want to alarm you, and this is probably nothing. But better I should say something. I'm seeing in one of your shots what looks to be water seeping out of one of the ports. Can you plug that port up? It should have been. Reason I mention it: my pool had what I assumed was a nasty crack in it starting at the vacuum port all the way down to the deep end. Which looked worse and worse over time and eventually attracted calcium scaling. I later learned that it wasn't a crack, but instead a stain, caused by water seeping out of the port before the initial fill, following down to the deep end the path of least resistance. That notion is somewhat backed up by the well know warning not to stop the fill mid way, which will cause a nasty permanent ring around your pool. So if any of that is true, if you can do so without touching the plaster (and certainly without getting in), you might want to find a plug (probably a 1.5" PVC plug) and put a little teflon tape on it and screw it into that port. Or better yet, ask your PB to do it. If he says not to worry, then any stain would be on him. Hopefully it's nothing. And maybe it'll acid wash right off. But ya never know and prevention is such a simple thing.

Has anyone shared the meter trick with you? Just before they start your fill tomorrow (you have to be quick to catch them), go out and take a picture of the numbers on your water meter. Turn off your landscape irrigation. Limit showers and toilet flushes as much as possible. Take a break from doing laundry and running the dishwasher. Once the water level hits midway up the skimmer opening, shut off the water and go out and take another snap shot of the water meter. Calculate the difference between the two numbers, and voila, you'll have a very accurate number for the volume of water in your pool. Perfect for use in Pool Math, for calculating proper dosages of chemicals.

Also, there is a right way and many wrong ways to fill a pool. Has anyone gone over that with you?

Congrat's on the plaster. You're almost there!!

 

[jaymantx]

Good eye on the water spot! I didn't see that. It was coming out of the autofill equalizer pipe opening. Plaster crew started to drain a huge water container near the deck drain during the clean up, but water also went into the autofill apparatus. These pictures were taken immediately after crews left (travertine deck is still wet from the clean up), so the entire plaster was still wet and curing. I am pretty sure water seeping out of the autofill drain stopped as soon as PB told the crew to drain the water somewhere else. There's no more water seeping out of that drain.

I do see a very light shade of "stain". Hopefully, acid wash gets rid of it. Even though the water seepage was brief, should I be concerned about this stain and possible crack?


Thanks for the water meter trick. I didn't even think of that...

Wow, those covers are tall! Bummer. If they can't retrofit the ones you originally wanted, there are certainly lower profile styles available that should bolt on.

My color dried a lot darker. I freaked when it was first going in. Mine was supposed to be a custom shade darker than Tahoe Blue. And they were shooting light robin's egg blue. Between curing and acid wash it darkened to the perfect shade. Nerve-racking in the meantime, though.

Cool idea to put the flakes only on the bottom. Nice custom touch. I asked for no flakes, and got just a few here and there. Artifacts from previous mixes I presume. I like it now, like a subtle starry night. (Gotta rationalize when ya have to!)

I think your pebble and tile compliment each other perfectly. Both multi-colored, but each individual color reflected in the other material. Awesome.

Regarding creeping around the truck and the workers... I say creep away. So what. You'll have to live with what they did for the rest of your days with this pool. They've already forgotten about you and your pool, and would have whether you "creeped" or not...

OK, I don't want to alarm you, and this is probably nothing. But better I should say something. I'm seeing in one of your shots what looks to be water seeping out of one of the ports. Can you plug that port up? It should have been. Reason I mention it: my pool had what I assumed was a nasty crack in it starting at the vacuum port all the way down to the deep end. Which looked worse and worse over time and eventually attracted calcium scaling. I later learned that it wasn't a crack, but instead a stain, caused by water seeping out of the port before the initial fill, following down to the deep end the path of least resistance. That notion is somewhat backed up by the well know warning not to stop the fill mid way, which will cause a nasty permanent ring around your pool. So if any of that is true, if you can do so without touching the plaster (and certainly without getting in), you might want to find a plug (probably a 1.5" PVC plug) and put a little teflon tape on it and screw it into that port. Or better yet, ask your PB to do it. If he says not to worry, then any stain would be on him. Hopefully it's nothing. And maybe it'll acid wash right off. But ya never know and prevention is such a simple thing.

Has anyone shared the meter trick with you? Just before they start your fill tomorrow (you have to be quick to catch them), go out and take a picture of the numbers on your water meter. Turn off your landscape irrigation. Limit showers and toilet flushes as much as possible. Take a break from doing laundry and running the dishwasher. Once the water level hits midway up the skimmer opening, shut off the water and go out and take another snap shot of the water meter. Calculate the difference between the two numbers, and voila, you'll have a very accurate number for the volume of water in your pool. Perfect for use in Pool Math, for calculating proper dosages of chemicals.

Also, there is a right way and many wrong ways to fill a pool. Has anyone gone over that with you?

Congrat's on the plaster. You're almost there!!

 

[Dirk]

Good eye on the water spot! I didn't see that. It was coming out of the autofill equalizer pipe opening. Plaster crew started to drain a huge water container near the deck drain during the clean up, but water also went into the autofill apparatus. These pictures were taken immediately after crews left (travertine deck is still wet from the clean up), so the entire plaster was still wet and curing. I am pretty sure water seeping out of the autofill drain stopped as soon as PB told the crew to drain the water somewhere else. There's no more water seeping out of that drain.

I do see a very light shade of "stain". Hopefully, acid wash gets rid of it. Even though the water seepage was brief, should I be concerned about this stain and possible crack?


Thanks for the water meter trick. I didn't even think of that...

Mine was never a crack, it just looked like one when the pool was full. But that's how sever these stains can be, not some faint ghost, but a real obnoxious scar. And mine was on the original plaster, not pebble, which doesn't get acid washed and is much more sensitive to staining than pebble.

Similar to your drain issue, I was very aware of this staining potential and went over and over with the plaster contractor and his workers how I wanted all the ports plugged up tight. More than once!! Still didn't happen! So one was dripping significantly on my new pebble. Called the plasterer immediately and he assured me the acid wash would take care of it, which it did. Though I had stopped the seeping myself. I'm guessing my original leak ran for quite some time, probably all during the fill.

So if yours was brief, and the seeping has stopped, my guess would be you're OK (but that's just a guess). The acid will burn it right off. But this is expensive stuff, so if I were you, I would bring this to the PBs attention, in an email, and get him to reply in an email that this is not going to be an issue. Then worse case, it's on him. Best case, he knows better than me and is confident it won't be a problem, and it won't be.

- - - Updated - - -

Thanks for the water meter trick. I didn't even think of that...

Then my work here is done!

 

[Dirk]

Oh, wait, more to do!

Be sure the fill hose(s) don't splash the sides. Putting socks over the ends is prudent. Use as many hoses as you can. The faster your pool fills the better. The ends should get under water as soon as possible, so your filling from under water, without any water running down the sides. No hoses laying on the coping and splashing into the water. If they fill the spa first, be sure it does not overflow and run down the sides of the pool.

DO NOT STOP THE FILL FOR ANY REASON. That will leave a stain.

If they dump the job of turning off the hoses when full onto you, then either count tiles or use a piece of good tape to mark exactly where half way up the skimmer is (or wherever the PB tells you "full" is). It's not a big deal to overfill or under-fill a pool a bit, you can sort it out later. Unless... you're performing the meter trick! You want to shut off the fill when the pool is exactly as it will be under normal, "full" conditions. That will give you the most useful volume number for use in Pool Math (testing and dosing). It's not always easy to see where "halfway up the skimmer" is, when there is water in it, due to reflections and refraction. Best to determine half way when the skimmer is dry.

Let the acid washer guys know about your plan to check the meter. Otherwise they'll just as likely start the fill without you knowing. They should extract all the water they use during the washing out of the pool, so it is virtually empty. If not, take a picture of the puddle (we can use that for some math to compensate). As a backup, take a snap shot of the meter well before they're done, in case they forget and start the fill without you being ready. If they do give you the heads up, then take another picture of the meter, as they would have been using water for the wash. One guy was attempting the meter trick, they started the fill, all going to plan, then the pool guys proceeded to wash down his deck for 15 minutes!! Stuff happens. If something like that does, just keep track of the time the hose is on, we can do some math later.

Don't go crazy over the meter trick. A lot can go wrong (showers, flushes, laundry, deck cleaning, whatever). You subtract a little from the total, and you'll still be plenty close enough for Pool Math. A few hundred gallons one way or another is not going to affect your dosing. The meter itself can be off by as much a 1.5%. You're just using the meter because, even with slight errors, it'll still likely be much closer than you can get calculating dimensions. Or do both to confirm.

I envy the excitement you must be feeling just now!

 

[Thasista]

Wow that is a gorgeous pool. I really love those colors!

 

[jaymantx]

Thanks for the heads up! I have the socks ready. What's even better is that I'll be home all day watching them like a hawk.. LOL

Oh, wait, more to do!

Be sure the fill hose(s) don't splash the sides. Putting socks over the ends is prudent. Use as many hoses as you can. The faster your pool fills the better. The ends should get under water as soon as possible, so your filling from under water, without any water running down the sides. No hoses laying on the coping and splashing into the water. If they fill the spa first, be sure it does not overflow and run down the sides of the pool.

DO NOT STOP THE FILL FOR ANY REASON. That will leave a stain.

If they dump the job of turning off the hoses when full onto you, then either count tiles or use a piece of good tape to mark exactly where half way up the skimmer is (or wherever the PB tells you "full" is). It's not a big deal to overfill or under-fill a pool a bit, you can sort it out later. Unless... you're performing the meter trick! You want to shut off the fill when the pool is exactly as it will be under normal, "full" conditions. That will give you the most useful volume number for use in Pool Math (testing and dosing). It's not always easy to see where "halfway up the skimmer" is, when there is water in it, due to reflections and refraction. Best to determine half way when the skimmer is dry.

Let the acid washer guys know about your plan to check the meter. Otherwise they'll just as likely start the fill without you knowing. They should extract all the water they use during the washing out of the pool, so it is virtually empty. If not, take a picture of the puddle (we can use that for some math to compensate). As a backup, take a snap shot of the meter well before they're done, in case they forget and start the fill without you being ready. If they do give you the heads up, then take another picture of the meter, as they would have been using water for the wash. One guy was attempting the meter trick, they started the fill, all going to plan, then the pool guys proceeded to wash down his deck for 15 minutes!! Stuff happens. If something like that does, just keep track of the time the hose is on, we can do some math later.

Don't go crazy over the meter trick. A lot can go wrong (showers, flushes, laundry, deck cleaning, whatever). You subtract a little from the total, and you'll still be plenty close enough for Pool Math. A few hundred gallons one way or another is not going to affect your dosing. The meter itself can be off by as much a 1.5%. You're just using the meter because, even with slight errors, it'll still likely be much closer than you can get calculating dimensions. Or do both to confirm.

I envy the excitement you must be feeling just now!

- - - Updated - - -

Thank you!

Wow that is a gorgeous pool. I really love those colors!

 

[Dirk]

And if ya gotta have neighboring houses in your view, it's very nice that yours are architecturally interesting, pleasing even, as opposed to the stucco monoliths that most houses present in the back. Very cool. It actually all goes very well together with your pool and deck!

 

[Poolbella]

Jaymantx, I obviously haven’t done it yet but I hear from my neighbors with pools that you can ask your MUD to not charge you for sewer and drainage on the water you use to fill the pool, using photos of the meter. Just a thought.

I love your tile/pebble color combo. Hoping we will end up with very similar.

 

[jaymantx]

That's a great info! I'll call my water company tomorrow. Thanks! I just found a blog that explains what you are saying -> Save Money on Water if You have a Pool (Utilities) - Clever Dude Personal Finance Money

Jaymantx, I obviously haven’t done it yet but I hear from my neighbors with pools that you can ask your MUD to not charge you for sewer and drainage on the water you use to fill the pool, using photos of the meter. Just a thought.

I love your tile/pebble color combo. Hoping we will end up with very similar.

- - - Updated - - -

Yeah, Texas homes are interesting... Only problem is that builders out here don't care about the quality, they just want to build as fast as they can...

And if ya gotta have neighboring houses in your view, it's very nice that yours are architecturally interesting, pleasing even, as opposed to the stucco monoliths that most houses present in the back. Very cool. It actually all goes very well together with your pool and deck!

 

[jaymantx]

It has been a while since the last update. Water was filled two weeks ago. When a pool cleaner started up the pump, huge cloud of muddy water spewed out from returns. Another big gut punch to an embattled project...

This is a picture of my pool 4-5 days after the "muddy" incident... I was so upset when it happened I didn't bother taking pictures of the brown water.

Even today, I get these fine silt residues on the spillway when the spa water level is lowered..

Here is my water status after two weeks of VS pump running at 100% RPM 24/7, vacuuming everyday, and 2 filter cartridge clean up.

Here is my pool chem log for the past 3 days.

8/4/18
FC: 11PPM
CYA: 70
PH: 7.3
TA: 150
CC: 0.5
CH: 200
Added 4lbs of Calcium chloride
Water was still murky, but I dove in to lower the FC... Can't be worse than some brown/green lake waters I swam in the past... LOL

8/5/18
FC: 7ppm
PH: 7.5
CH: 225
TA: 130

8/6/18
PH(7AM): 7.7 Added 40oz of muranic acid.
PH(12PM): 7.4
FC (7AM): 5ppm
FC (5PM): 3-4ppm Added 40oz of Clorox "Slpashless"... Oops... Added 50oz of generic 7.82% bleach.
CH: 225: Added 6lbs of Calcium chloride.
CYA: 60



8/7/18
FC (7AM): 8.5ppm
FC (8PM): 4ppm Added 50oz of 7.8% bleach.
FC (12PM): 6.5ppm
PH: 7.5
CH: 275

8/8/18
FC (8AM): 5ppm Added 50oz of 7.8% bleach.

My pool gets sun all day starting from 6:30AM to 6PM... Now I know why TFP recommends SWCG... LOL I can't wait to get my SWCG started in a month...

 

[kimkats]

WHAT???????? Unreal they did not do a better job of capping the lines to keep the yuck you gurrrrrrrrrr

Sure does look nice now! Good job!

Kim

 

[ctrav]

Great job as your water looks awesome!