Pool build underway - NE Fla (plumbing)

[ChrisBJax]

Hi all,

I've thoroughly enjoyed reading the constructions posts as we've researched and planned our pool build these past few months and I'm excited I can finally contribute to the "Under Construction" forum! All of our pool stats are in my signature line.

The yard was "scraped" last Thursday. Unfortunately, the PB found water after digging an exploratory hole about 7 feet down. Our water table is high in Florida so this wasn't necessarily unexpected, but we were hoping for the best. Anyway, they spent about one and a half days digging wellpoints. Once they were in and the pump running, the form was built and digging began Tuesday. Our dirt is so sandy that our walls caved in during the dig so the PB is currently working on reinforcing the walls with supports (2x4s and peg boards - photo tomorrow) while beginning work on the rebar. We hope to be done "steeling" the pool tomorrow and to have the inspection Tuesday, since Monday is a holiday. After the steel inspection, we will have gunite.

The yard is a complete disaster. I really hope to be done with this build by mid-October so that we have about a month of pool fun before it gets too chilly. Is that unrealistic?

Now for the photos!

 

[kimkats]

Let the dirt begin!! Yeah you DO have some sand there! Good job PB for shoring it up! Now run out there with the plans and a tape measure. Is it wide, deep, long, etc enough? Add about 8" for the steel, shell, plaster. NOW is the time to fix or tweak as wanted/needed.

Do you have an equipment list? Let us look it over to make sure it is purrfect for your pool.

Kim

 

[ChrisBJax]

Rebar was completed Wednesday. We passed one of only two city inspections Thursday and we’re getting gunite on Monday (yay!). The plan right now is to have one of the lights in the deep end bench below the seat. Has anyone ever seen this? There are 4 lights total planned for the pool, so it will be plenty bright. I requested this because I want to see this pool from the house at all times lol. I’m just worried a light in the bench might look funky. Thoughts?

 

[ChrisBJax]

Here’s a wider picture of the pool with rebar.

 

[kimkats]

I would prefer the light under the bench. That way it can light the bottom of the pool better AND I worry someone one will "mess" with the light while they are sitting on the bench. You know how someone (kids mostly but adults as well) touches and messes with something without really thinking about it? That is what I am thinking about.

 

[ChrisBJax]

I totally agree! Are you saying you imagine it should be a few feet below the seat? I think it’s supposed to be just under the bench when it’s all shot with gunite. I’m just trying to picture it. I suppose it could look kinda cool when you’re sitting on the bench!

 

[kimkats]

My thought is it should be at least in the first "square" under the flat part of the bench. I would not go down far enough for feet to hit it if sitting on the bench. It would be neat if it is right above the floor by the bench!

 

[Badfish2]

Who’s your builder? We are just starting to get quotes.

 

[ChrisBJax]

Who’s your builder? We are just starting to get quotes.

I’ll PM you the info.

 

[ChrisBJax]

Oh no, it’s going to rain all week! What are the chances they will shoot while it’s raining?

 

[kimkats]

Chris they might "flash" it to keep the dirt in place. Then they could come back and do the whole thing.

 

[ChrisBJax]

Thanks Kim! No rain so far. Hope everyone stays safe from the storms that are brewing.

Need your help guys. Gunite is here and there’s a question about the width of our steps. PB plans to make them 15” wide. Is that standard? I just don’t want it looking too wide.

Edit: We’ve settled on 15” wide for the two steps into the 3.5’ shallow end. They will descend 10” then 12” and 12” from the sun shelf. A lot of excitement going on here, which is making it difficult (impossible) to work from home today!

 

[kimkats]

Glad to see they were able to do the whole shoot!

Steps-when you say wide what you do mean? Wide this way or that way? or do you mean rise as in how far up you have to pick your foot up to get to the step?

 

[spd500]

A lot of excitement going on here, which is making it difficult (impossible) to work from home today

I pretty much skipped out on work Friday and Saturday when they did our dig and gunite

 

[ChrisBJax]

Glad to see they were able to do the whole shoot!

Kim, funny you say that because they weren’t able to finish today.

They said something was wrong with the shotcrete. They sent one truck back and tried replacing it with a second truck, but the mix was still off. So they’ll have to finish the job tomorrow. The PB promised that this won’t affect the integrity of the gunite and said this happens all the time in commercial jobs. Definitely not ideal but our hands are tied with this one. Hopefully they’re right.

 

[kimkats]

At least they stopped and did not use the off stuff. It IS okay to do it in two shots so you are good.

 

[ChrisBJax]

Thought I’d post some more photos. The shotcrete was finished up the following day with no issue. After that, they removed the forms and back filled. Last week the pool was tiled. This week the plumbing got roughed in and the plumbers should be back tomorrow to finish up. We’re making slow but steady progress!

A heat pump is looking more and more appealing as the weather cools. Our PB suggested the Aquacal SQ166. I haven’t seen anything negative about it. Is there any advantage to going with a Pentair Ultratemp when all our other equipment is Pentair?

 

[kimkats]

Looking good! LOL on the pic of the wife................when I glanced at it I thought "Is it that cold there? Why does she have flip flops on if it is that cold?" LOL

Will you have any kind of maker tile on the steps and edge of the benches?

Kim

 

[Neto]

Same thing happened to me but the crew was able to finish in one day (3 hour wait for the next truck and pump problems).... Dont worry there is no such thing as a cold joint for shoot crete according to this article and the bond beam of your pool was finish so I dont think you will ever have a structural problem unless there was a real problem with the mix like quality issues.

 

[PoolBrews]

Based on my research, my next heat pump will be an Aquacal. They have the highest efficiency ratings and are far quieter than other brands (about 10db less). I would look at at the SQ225 - it's 143K BTU's. The SQ166 is only 126K BTU's. Unless you really need the cooling feature, the 225 will heat your pool faster and more efficiently.

If you are adding a birdcage over the pool, you won't need to cool the pool - the screen knocks the sun down enough that my pool never gets over 88 in the summer here in FL. In GA, without a cage, it would get up in the mid 90's... then I would have liked the 166