IG Pool Completed ✔️ Build Thread 📸 FINAL THOUGHT

[Riddler0520]

Late to the party, did not see any waterproofing in your pics...with all that stone work, you are going to have efflorescence problems down the road. See that white coming out of the pool walls, the same wil happen to your stone walls. At least have the PB waterproof the entire inside of the spa before plaster (Hint: Acuron makes a product for this application)!

Thanks - PB did mention he rolled something on the wall prior to stone veneer but I can’t recall what - but he said his plan was to ‘seal’ both the Gunite shell prior to plaster (I’ll be sure to watch them do this especially the spa area as you mentioned) and all the stonework, sure it will darken everything like it looks when wet which is ok - I’ll get the product name and share back
Hoping that if I keep the water balanced correctly I can minimize as well. Additionally, we’ve backfilled behind those walls with gravel and soon to be decorative stone to yard grade level - thought here is that water runoff will seep through gravel to lower points and not just sit standing behind the wall. Our neighbor has a lot of stonework as well, pool was installed 5 years ago, and the only efflorescence they battle is at the spa spillover which seems common - fingers

 

[Riddler0520]

I

I’ll get the product name and share back

Looks like Aquron is what’s planned - thanks for info again

 

[sean316]

Looks like Aquron is what’s planned - thanks for info again
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[/QUOTE]
haha I'm pretty sure he was our project manager!

 

[Riddler0520]

haha I'm pretty sure he was our project manager!

Funny
DM me you’re details - would love to hear more or learn about the finish of your pool - still undecided there

 

[mbnc1]

I

Looks like Aquron is what’s planned - thanks for info again
View attachment 167966

Be careful the way you interpret what Jon says. He is the shadiest guy in construction I’ve met. The way I read this is just because the company uses this product doesn’t mean they are using it on your project.

 

[Rich D]

Be careful the way you interpret what Jon says. He is the shadiest guy in construction I’ve met. The way I read this is just because the company uses this product doesn’t mean they are using it on your project.

That response also a struck me as odd and potentially deceitful....

 

[Riddler0520]

That response also a struck me as odd and potentially deceitful....

I trust and verify - be sure I will be validating as I have been doing what is applied - I have been very hands on and only wish I was from day 1 but that aside, I am engaged in every decision and action

I appreciate all the comments, really do as some might just step aside and forget the “verify” part

I’ll continue to share back as the build finishes up

 

[Sollace]

How are things going? Love to see pictures of the final product!

 

[Riddler0520]

How are things going? Love to see pictures of the final product!

Hi Sollace,

last week was really about filling in the plumbing trenches and removing ALL of the excavated dirt mounds

I talked directly with PB owner and confirmed first hand they will be using Aquron as the sealer for both the Gunite shell and stonework

we removed about 3 dump trucks of dirt and debris - amazing how much that improved the back yard in itself and they brought in 2 dump trucks of clean gravel and 2 trucks of ABC
The gravel filled in the entire back of the pool (no deck) and they brought it out about 24”from pool so pretty wide - I have to imagine that in Itself will help channel water down vs pooling - will likely will just put decorative stone as a top layer then grass behind

the ABC material they filled in the plumbing trenches (where decking will be) - filled it with about 8”-12” of ABC so I imagine almost 2x the required amount but I wanted no dirt back in and risk issues

then we had rain and lots of it - so the past 4 days things have been drying out - they are coming tomorrow to finish burring the maze of French drains and begin to finish spreading base material and compacting

Hoping we start decking this week - not sure if that will happen but trying to get the prep done, then draw out decking - we only had 500 sq for in the quote and pretty certain that we will want more.
Once we get the base prepped I’ll shoot out some pics prior to decking to make sure I’m not missing anything

we had asked PB to do another plumbing PSI pressure test to make sure everything is holding pressure as it should post plumbing trenches filled in, people walking on pipes (they seemed like it was no issue stepping on them), installed a few extra GFCI outlets as well and a Sod company out to measure to give quote on new sod/fix irrigation


thanks for asking

 

[Rich D]

The gravel filled in the entire back of the pool (no deck) and they brought it out about 24”from pool so pretty wide - I have to imagine that in Itself will help channel water down vs

Does that stone sit on top of the stone for the wick drain so you basically all the stone is connected?

will likely will just put decorative stone as a top layer then grass behind

That would be the best..

 

[Riddler0520]

Does that stone sit on top of the stone for the wick drain so you basically all the stone is connected?

Hi Rich
Not sure what you mean, but the entire back side of the pool where no decking will be, we filled with completely with gravel to a few inches under where the stone vaneer will be - extended about 24” out/wide
They put a French drain down within the gravel and also a few catch basins and that goes straight to the creek along with some other drainage they ran out to the adjacent creek

my non expert opinion thinks the gravel depth and width will wick all that water down, not even sure if the French drain will catch much - and I know we have like 12-14” of gravel under the pool - so lots of gravel which I believe is good for base foundation and water pooling

is that what you were asking ?

 

[Riddler0520]

Delivered and Ready !!

probably about 2-3 weeks away from fill - base prep in progress and hoping decking next week

 

[Riddler0520]

@Rich D @jimmythegreek

Hi guys - turning to you both for expert help

we were supposed to put in decking this week but ground was still soggy from recent rains so the crew stopped prep and started to isolate water - if you recall from day 0 we knew we had water issues and our lot is the low point

we have removed all dirt, there likely is 30 tons of backfill gravel and drainage around perimeter of pool - we would always maintain 2-3 ft of water inside of pool as we assume that was our water table level

so here is what PB did yesterday - there was a vertical pipe about 6ft away from pool that he says goes down below pool shell and in the gravel bed (which was 1.5-2 ft thick when they overdug)

they did this yesterday at about 5p

this morning the blue tube has a steady stream of slow trickling water, the inside of the pool is now bone dry (it had I would guess 2-3’ of standing water) as the valve hole in the bottom always just equalizes
clearly it worked and drying up the area especially where decking will go and it pulling out all of the water underneath
we must have a high water table and likely active due to yard elevation/slope

- PB says he will disconnect pump after they finish decking but the pipe will be available should be ever need to pump water out underneath
Is this OK ?? meaning I would expect the water table to increase once we stop pumping water from underneath - will it not compromise the decking base

- is it an issue having a water table that surrounds 2-3 ft of pool base ?

I don’t know enough about this to ask the right Q’s. Should we be looking to pump 24x7 always, or is his approach the right method

first image - the hole we dug to see where we hit water - the water was filling up as gravel went all the way to the bottom and under

second image - what they installed to pump out water from underneath and surrounding

third image - decking area - not finished yet preparing

4th image - unrelated, but asked that they hook up a psi pressure test one final time prior to decking - they used water not air up to 30 psi and it seems to be holding - should I have them go higher or is 30 good for testing

thanks guys !!!

 

[jimmythegreek]

The line the pool pump is hooked to is buried in gravel under the pool correct? If he installed a properly pitched wick or sub surface drain the water should be no higher than its highest catch point naturally. Its common to have groundbwater in random areas around a pool. Earth has a natural variation to soil types amd the less clay areas will channel water like underground creeks. My personal pool has 3 sump pits with pumps on 24/7 with vertical floats. Lots and lots of base material with geotextile fabrics can solve anything. Oh and money helps too

 

[Riddler0520]

The line the pool pump is hooked to is buried in gravel under the pool correct?

Yes- PB buried pipe in gravel base under the pool and that’s what he tapped into and has the pump pulling water out of
It’s completely dried out the interior of the pool which makes sense and surrounding area

My biggest question is now preparing the deck base over the area and turning off the pump and water table rising - will that compromise anything under deck ?

he is coming over tomorrow and could ask some specific and pointed questions - just not sure all the right things to ask and confirm

thanks again

 

[jimmythegreek]

It's fine to dry out the pool for plaster etc. But not needed for the decking. Whatever base he has already down is going to be wet with the seasonal change of water table. Anything that's poor base should be removed amd proper prep and depth of base varies depending on what's there.

 

[Riddler0520]

It's fine to dry out the pool for plaster etc. But not needed for the decking. Whatever base he has already down is going to be wet with the seasonal change of water table. Anything that's poor base should be removed amd proper prep and depth of base varies depending on what's there.

Thanks

Silly question but what makes you need to install a sump pump vs just leaving the water table where it is ?

I’m not sure if I should be asking about a permanent sump pump solution or if the approach we’ve taken is satisfactory.

Thank you

 

[Rich D]

I am a little confused on why he would need to pump the water just to set the patio base if there is a wick drain. If you only had 2-3' of water in the pool that should have been well below the elevation you are at to prep the patio. Can you give some approx elevations. Use the top of the pool beam as a reference point of 0. So if your pool is 8' deep and they went another approx 2' below that then the bottom of there dig was at -10' . Can you fill in these elevations (again these are just approximations)

Bottom of pool deep end -
hight of wick drain -
Hight you are at now where he is beginning to prep patio -
Hight of water that was in pool before pumping -

Is that the wick drain in the pic beside the line he is pumping from or is that another drain. Can you give the approx hight of that drain? -

 

[Riddler0520]

Is that the wick drain in the pic beside the line he is pumping from or is that another drain. Can you give the approx hight of that drain? -

I’ll run these Q’s by PB and ask for depths when he comes over hopefully today

the drain pipe that this pump is hooked into goes vertically down and under the pool bottom buried in gravel ba - it is a solid pipe and think they drilled holes in it if I recall

we have always had around 2’ ft of pooling water in deep end unless we threw a pump in there

there is just a constant slow flow now coming out of the blue tube emoting into creek as I think it’s pulled all the higher water out, pool deep end is now dry and think it’s just pulling out of the natural water table now

guess the pipe goes 8’ ft deep — any of this help Rich ?

 

[jimmythegreek]

I'm assuming hes drying out the pool generally and the goal is plaster. For base prep the natural displacement of sub surface water by the drains is sufficient if they work properly

As for my pool I have a vinyl liner not a plaster pool. My water table is very high in a heavy rain my liner would float if I didn't have water evacuation. My pumps are set high up but can be dropped below pool bottom depth if needed. I have 2 full perimeter drains, one to pump pits that's deep, one natural pitch at the shallow floor depth. Basically you shouldnt build a pool where mine is, unless you got lotsa cash or build pools