Expert Critique - New Pool Build Underway in Greenville SC

[LuschMommy]

Hi Everyone! I'm so excited that our new pool is finally under construction!!! Ground breaking was this past Thursday. I love looking at everyone's design process, so I thought I would add mine to the mix. I'll add pictures to this thread, but I've also got the same in a link in my signature. This is our landscape design. I'm not sure we'll stick to this exactly, but LOVE how it turned out.

 

[LuschMommy]

Here are some before photos - Taken from each end of the backyard.

 

[LuschMommy]

Below is our giant backyard hole (8' deep end) and the forms that they will use to pout the concrete walls. Sorry for the glare on "the hole".

 

[RU4Cycling2]

Looks like a great start to a beautiful backyard!

 

[LuschMommy]

Thank you @RU4Cycling2!

I don’t understand all of the details in my pictures. If anyone sees anything iffy in my photos, or has any suggestions on how to ensure the smoothest build possible, I would appreciate the help. I’ve been looking through other build threads and the docs that have been recommended in them, but I’m sure I’m still missing something.

 

[LuschMommy]

I did have a question on skimmer placement. They said that because of the swimouts and the shape of the pool, both of the skimmers had to be placed on the same side of the pool. Do you think that could pose a problem?

 

[LuschMommy]

Oh no! Hopefully the skimmers are ok on the same side because they poured the cement.

Can anyone give me any insight into the progress of my pool build? I'd love some expert advice on what's going on, because I don't know enough to ask intelligent questions. Is there anything that I should be doing to make sure this is going well?

 

[JJ_Tex]

Looking good. Do you have better pool plans to share? Ones with lights, returns, equipment types, etc? The plans you shared focused more on the plants.

 

[ajw22]

I did have a question on skimmer placement. They said that because of the swimouts and the shape of the pool, both of the skimmers had to be placed on the same side of the pool. Do you think that could pose a problem?

Both skimmers on the same side of the pool are fine. Hopefully that side is into the prevailing winds.

 

[LuschMommy]

Thank you for looking at my progress @JJ_Tex and @ajw22 ! I really appreciate any help you can give me.

@JJ_Tex I've attached the crazy technical doc that the PB drew up with all of the skimmers, jets, and returns. I hope it's legible.

@ajw22 Unfortunately, I don't think the skimmers are going to be downwind. I do have 2 kids though who will be tasked with skimming. So, hopefully, not a total loss.

 

[LuschMommy]

@JJ_Tex here is my equipment list. In addition to what is listed below, we upgraded a few of the options:
2 skimmers/5 returns,
2 swim outs (2 jets per),
2 LED intellibrite 5G lights,
1 LED bubbler,
IntelliCenter with indoor remote,
DE III - S8D110 filter,
IntelliTouch Salt Generator
VS pump

 

[LuschMommy]

Merged threads - TFP Mod.
Hi Everyone. I've got a pool build thread in another post, but I wanted to create a new one for this because I want to make sure it's nothing that I should be worried about. I'm currently building a vinyl liner pool with concrete walls, but after the tropical storm came through, cracks have appeared in a few areas of the walls. I know that concrete does crack, and the PB has a lifetime warranty on their walls, but the cracks are a little worrisome. Could you please take a look and let me know what you think? I appreciate it!

 

[ajw22]

Is there rebar in the concrete walls? I can't tell from your pics showing the forms.

Do the cracks go through the wall or are they just on the surface?

If you have rebar in the walls then I would not worry unless the cracks go through the wall.

What does your PB say?

 

[LuschMommy]

Hi @ajw22

I'm waiting to hear back from the PB, but I was too anxious to wait.

There isn't rebar behind the wall. It's not a true cement/finite pool. It just has cement walls.

The cracks appear to be just on the surface, but I didn't dig through to the other side to verify. They were backfilling with dirt this morning.

 

[kimkats]

Me? I would be tempted to find a say to dig on the other side to make sure the crack does not go all the way through!

 

[ajw22]

What date was the concrete poured?

Was the concrete delivered in a concrete truck or mixed on site? Do you know what the PSI spec of the concrete should be?

I would take a pick and try and hit the concrete wall and see if the concrete crumbles. If you can't damage the wall then the concrete is strong. If the concrete chips off and crumbles then you have problems with the mix.

 

[LuschMommy]

The PB replied back and he said that shallow cracking is pretty typical during the drying process. They have a lifetime warranty on their pools, and have been around as long as I have, so hopefully, they have this down to a science.

@kimkats - I’ll be digging behind some of the cracks tomorrow, just for piece of mind.

@ajw22 the concrete came in a truck (on 11/9) and was pumped directly into the pool wall molds. The PB guys were sitting and walking on when they were pulling the molds off, so hopefully that means it’s strong as well.

 

[bmoreswim]

Completely from a make you feel better perspective, it is a liner pool, so cracks don’t even really matter that much so long as it’s not so compromised that the walls would push out of place. I can’t imagine that is any issue whatsoever. I also don’t think it is compromised to any degree. It certainly seems like just normal surface cracking on concrete.

Regarding your skimmers, you’ll just manage the water flow by the eyeball fittings on the returns to best stimulate the water to flow towards the skimmers. This will take some time to perfect. One trick is to put a bunch of ping pong balls in pool and watch them flow around. Adjust one return at a time and you will eventually achieve your best possible skimming effect with your setup. Again, give it no concern as it’s done and you can’t do anything about the skimmer locations. It will be fine. Most people don’t have to skim their pools with any regularity. My wife likes to get the random things on the water surface, but that’s mostly just to give her a break from reading her book and it allows her to walk around a bit. She never goes to the pool to do this otherwise, and it always has a clear surface. Those random things on the water she is getting would be gone an hour later had she not skimmed. You will though want a robot to clean the pool bottom and provide some brushing effects. Try to get the PB to credit you whatever you can manage for the vacuum system he has included. Then you’ll buy a robot yourself. Allocate $700-$1,000 for that.

Which model of salt generator is specified? Your pool will be pushing 25-30K gallons so you should have the IC-60 which is rated for 60K gallons. You want to go 2X your pool volume in your southern location.

Setting looks fantastic, can’t wait to follow along.

I have a few comments on landscaping choices but that can wait unless you’d like to chat now. It’s regarding the selections for the back of the property.

 

[LuschMommy]

Thank you for the reassurance, @bmoreswim. I like the ping pong ball trick. I can get the kids to help with that too. I'm not sure what model the salt generator is. I'll have to ask the PB about that one. We're not entirely sure what we want to do with the back fence. We have a road back there, and were thinking the evergreens would block some noise, but I don't think it will make that much of a difference. I'd love to hear your landscaping suggestions.

@ajw22 and @kimkats - I went out back and kicked the cracks in the walls and dug behind a few places, and it looks pretty stable.

 

[bmoreswim]

You’ll probably get not much sound decrease from either a full or broken row of evergreens. Your yard is only so wide and they also aren’t that effective. I had a full row and my neighbors talking would come right through. Road noise is different than talking but probably not in this instance. However, the GG below would make a nice looking hedge. Though a hedge tall and close can make the space seem smaller than being able to see out to the other foliage.

Regarding selection of the plantings, for the arborvitaes, I’d choose Emerald Green over Green Giant there. EG is narrower and not as tall. The narrowness would be better in the long run. GG could chew up all of your space width wise over time. GG’s are shaped like Christmas trees. EG’s are very vertical on the sides until close to the top.

On the zelkova. I love zelkova. I have two Green Vase’s. There is also Village Green. Between those, I’d probably choose VG. But it’s not a big difference. The issue is they get to be massive trees. Ours are in two different areas regarding water. One is next to a drainage swale, one is in a higher rocky area. The wet one has an 18” diameter trunk and is 36’ wide. The other is 13” in diameter and is 26’ wide. They are 20 years old. Time flies and you don’t want to have a tree that is too big just when you want it to be perfect. They can get 50’ wide. The other thing about them is that after about 10 years they start shedding inner branches. No issue for the tree or appearance wise. But there is a constant supply of tree branch litter under them from those branches. The leaves fall somewhat late in the season. And there are a lot of leaves though they are on the smaller size. A good deciduous tree near a pool is no tree.