New Construction (fiberglass) - Chicago, city proper

[crimson avenger]

No bowing in the seat that I can tell.
And haha about our dog. He just so wanted to be back out there with me!

 

[jimmythegreek]

I would make builder aware and have him correct it. its pretty simply to fix at this point. no machine should be within 3 ft of a fully filled and backfilled pool, less in this stage. also machine should be a tracked unit not a wheeled machine. Best to set stakes and adjust a string line down the sides and fine tune it now. you wont notice a little variation but 1/4" is the most you wanna be out UNLESS the shell was moulded a little off then sometimes theres not much you can do but fudge it the best you can

 

[crimson avenger]

I would make builder aware and have him correct it. its pretty simply to fix at this point. no machine should be within 3 ft of a fully filled and backfilled pool, less in this stage. also machine should be a tracked unit not a wheeled machine. Best to set stakes and adjust a string line down the sides and fine tune it now. you wont notice a little variation but 1/4" is the most you wanna be out UNLESS the shell was moulded a little off then sometimes theres not much you can do but fudge it the best you can

Thank you Jimmy for weighing in with your expertise! And thanks to Rich for tagging you. Luckily he used a tracked machine to get around the pool. You can see that our site has some significant space limitations and so there was really no way to bring in all of the stone for the patio without using a machine in very close proximity to the pool.

I’ll bring it up with the builder. I’m working to stifle my urge to be quiet. I don’t want to feel like a nuisance, but this is a huge, expensive project that we want to enjoy for the next 20 years.

Mark

 

[Rich D]

I would make builder aware and have him correct it.

Good advice..

What would your thoughts be on a cover for that sump? They did not do him any favors by tilting it like that. I was thinking a skimmer cover?

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Mine is a square skimmer cover over a very large round pipe. Its about a foot away from my actual skimmer which has a round cover. You barely notice them, they just look like two skimmer covers in cement.

 

[Rich D]

Dr

Mine is a square skimmer cover over a very large round pipe. Its about a foot away from my actual skimmer which has a round cover. You barely notice them, they just look like two skimmer covers in cement.

Do you have any pics of the finish look and perhaps how they built it?
Do you have a pump in it?
I just can not imagine how the PB is going to use a stone to cover the sump.

Mark, is the pool deck going to look like the original picture with those large pavers or bluestone? Are they going to set over a slab or set dry?

 

[crimson avenger]

Dr


Do you have any pics of the finish look and perhaps how they built it?
Do you have a pump in it?
I just can not imagine how the PB is going to use a stone to cover the sump.

Mark, is the pool deck going to look like the original picture with those large pavers or bluestone? Are they going to set over a slab or set dry?

The pool deck will be set over a slab similar to the original picture although the pattern will be different. We are going to use 3’x2’ bluestone.

 

[Rich D]

The pool deck will be set over a slab similar to the original picture although the pattern will be different. We are going to use 3’x2’ bluestone.

I just can not foresee how they wold use a stone to to cover that sump with and have it aesthetically pleasing. Have they given you any details on what it might look like? I would think the skimmer lid would be a better fit.. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Rich D]

We are going to use 3’x2’ bluestone

That bluestone can be a bit warm on the feet... ?

 

[crimson avenger]

I just can not foresee how they wold use a stone to to cover that sump with and have it aesthetically pleasing. Have they given you any details on what it might look like? I would think the skimmer lid would be a better fit.. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I got that info from the foreman on site, not from the PB. I haven’t talked to him yet about it. Definitely will bring it up though. Thanks Rich! You’ve been really helpful!

 

[crimson avenger]

That bluestone can be a bit warm on the feet... ?

We considered that... but honestly our backyard is not terribly sunny... and during the midpoint of the day it actually is shaded by a maple tree on the south border of the property...

We actually considered the “dark” bluestone but decided to go with the lighter version.

 

[jimmythegreek]

I rarely use skimmer lids anymore i use access covers alot. The skimmer lid works fine for a small drop in pump. If you need a sump pump on standby its better to pipe it underground and the electric so you see nothing.
In this case they can plan the stone and make a lid out of it. I core drill a small hole to lift it out with and edge it with paver edging so you know it's there but looks clean. Theres also a company that makes a skimmer lid you veneer they are pricey. I agree he could have taken a minute to level the stand pipe that would never fly on my sites my guys know how OCD I am

 

[YippeeSkippy]

 

[YippeeSkippy]

The pics above show my skimmer lid and the round lid to the 8" PVC pipe that goes down below the deepest level of my pool. Gravel is at the bottom. IF water ever needed to be drained (never had any so far) I could drop a sump pump down there.

Maddie

 

[crimson avenger]

5/11/2020 update:
A good amount of progress today. Further removal of yet more dirt (and some gravel as we downsized our house patio by 2 feet).
Utility trench is mostly dug (more needs to be dug alongside the house). You can see that off to the right in the pic.
On-site crew said there’s a good amount of digging and plumbing that will be done around the sides of the pool so we were reassured that the bulge would be addressed.
Project manager still has not replied to my email regarding the bulge and other questions:
#1 lights not installed - is this preventing us from being able to fill the pool, which would help with preventing further bulge. The niches are in...
#2 where is the French drain going?
#3 what steps will be taken to mitigate against efflorescence on our natural stone?
#4 TIMELINE - haven’t been given one. We are starting week four of this project. I realize our site limitations increase time. But a guess would be good. Or in lieu of a timeline, a Work plan / list of what comes next.
Overall I’m mostly just upset at bad communication. Maybe I have unrealistic expectations.

UPDATE. Pool Builder called right after I finished this post. Maybe he’s reading my post?

They will definitely be addressing the bulge, he told me there won’t be one when things are done. Might happen just with water filling, or they may need to dig. I was satisfied with that.

They need to dig two trenches so that will be completed in the next couple of days.
Offered a vapor barrier for the patio but said it would be expensive and as they use low lime mortar it shouldn’t cause an issue.
Timeline - probably about a month until we’re using the spa... the concrete needs to cure for a couple of weeks so we may be splashing around with concrete patios before they lay the BlueStone.

I expressed my displeasure at the poor communication. Hoping things improve from here.

Feeling better now.

 

[crimson avenger]

5/13/2020 update:

Crew came out and started digging out the north (left) side of the pool and filling the pool (finally).

Bulge on the left is essentially resolved by my (inaccurate) string test. There is still a slight (maybe 1/4-1/2” by my layman measurements) bulge on the south (right) side. I’ll bring it up to the crew the next time I see them.

Utility trench for electric needs to be dug on the north (left) side, then further dug for gas/water on the south (left) side, almost to the front of the house. He says this will be done 5/15/2020 or 5/18/2020. Then need to get the equipment hooked up. Then, concrete sub-base for pool and house patio prepared by end of next week vs. couple of weeks.

PB‘s goal is to get the pool up and running while the concrete cures so we can use the pool. After 2-3 weeks of curing, will finish it off by adding the natural stone.

Losing sight of our goal of a beautiful plunge pool through this process - it has been more stressful/frustrating than we anticipated. I love the color with the pool filled - a dark grey/blue/green. I think it will look great against our big blue select thermal bluestone pavers.

 

[crimson avenger]

5/18/2020 update:
Finally got the crew back onsite (some weather delay as well as run-of-the-mill contractor delay ).

Chicago’s had the wettest May on record. Torrential rains and flooding throughout the city. The nice thing is that our backyard has not suffered. The sump is only about 18 inches filled with water in spite of all this.

I was surprised at how much they got done today. They dug the utility trench from the front of the house all the way back to the equipment pad, and dug the electric trench along the back of the house to join the other utilities.

 

[crimson avenger]

5/19/2020 update:
Posting a little late, and sorry I don’t have too much exciting news to post. I posted on this topic: Flexible PVC?
Plumbers came out and installed the skimmer and more plumbing, as well as formalized the gas and electric and water toward the pool pad.
Next week hoping to have things mostly connected and then concrete pool pad and sub base poured for the pool patio!

 

[crimson avenger]

5/28/2020 update:
Well, the crew has been called away to other sites for a while. Our PB is working on 10 pools in the area, and the COVID19 situation has resulted in quarantine of several of their workers. At any rate, 10 guys showed up on 5/28/2020 and did a ton of work.

• Plumbing - finished plumbing pool returns and drains to pad on north (left) side of yard, buried 2 feet below grade.
• Framing for patios/autocover box - Crew started framing the house patio - decided on 20 ft wide x 18 ft deep patio, leaving 7.5 feet between pool patio and house patio. Autocover box got framed
• Sinking HVAC pad - Our HVAC pad has been sinking over the last couple of years. One of the crew dug out below the pad and jacked up the pad successfully. Will fill in the void with concrete. I was actually quite happy with this - saved us quite a bit of money rather than having someone come out to do this professionally.
• French drain discussion - PB states we will not put French drain in. His rationale was that our yard is completely flat, and the significant amount of gravel around the pool acts as a drain. Not sure if this makes sense. Chicago saw one of our heaviest rains ever a couple of weeks ago (highest rainfall amount in May EVER) and the sump really never showed a significant fill of water. So clearly the drainage is good in our yard. Not sure if situation will change the the concrete gets poured.
• Autocover color - started independent thread here (Choosing an Autocover color) regarding choice of autocover color. Trying to decide between charcoal and black.

Plan is to have crew finish framing and pour concrete subdeck week of 6/1/2020 and try to have equipment installed week of 6/8/2020. Need to wait 3 weeks after concrete poured to install the natural stone, but builder wants to have our pool running before the stone installed so we can start enjoying it.

\

 

[crimson avenger]

6/1/2020 update:
Crew did a lot of work today. See below for pics. I still can’t figure out why my pics come sideways and upside down. Apologies.

• Poured house patio - Did a nice job pouring the house patio - their trick using a jack to raise our HVAC pad seems to have done the trick. It’s level again!
• Poured concrete box for automatic pool cover
• Electrical conduit run from our main house panel out to the conduit now under the deck and back toward the equipment pad.
• Framing pool patio started.

They’re coming out today to finish framing and pouring the pool patio and equipment pad.