1st Pool Build | Sugar Land - Skimmer Repairs Done - Hardscape Finished

[ajw22]

One thing that was advised to me: Get the cable/internet provider out there to tack the cable to the fence before the dig. The cable is fairly shallow (couple inches) in the ground and even if it isn't in the way of the pool, having a bobcat or other equipment drive over it could cause it to be severed.

Excellent point. I think those flags will be run over or buried by the second day and the cable location forgotten. Lots of things underground become casualties even when marked.

 

[HermanTX]

If you are willing to sacrifice some grass - take a can of bright colored spray paint and make a stripe that follows the flags. At least you be able to have some reference if the flags get buried. The other main lines to worry about are TV/internet cable, sprinkler pipes and the controller box (normally buried right below the turf), any water pipes that may be extended from your home to a different part of yard for faucet, any drainage pipes that may have been put in at time of house built or afterwards such as french drain.

Also, plan your drainage now before your decking goes in. It does not hurt to have more drain areas to ensure no standing water.

 

[Bvacchiano]

It’s slowly getting real. Even though my dog won’t be for a while.

Not really a crazy update but it was definitely a happy day since I know I shouldn’t have to worry about a gas and electrical reroute after they came out and marked them. Was so anxious on that part.

Are there any other items they have to mark before the dig that I should be taking I to consideration?

View attachment 177815

Yes cable and internet/phone need to be marked. Those are shallow. Also the electric company needs to mark not just the main line but also the secondary line if there is one

 

[stack24]

One thing that was advised to me: Get the cable/internet provider out there to tack the cable to the fence before the dig. The cable is fairly shallow (couple inches) in the ground and even if it isn't in the way of the pool, having a bobcat or other equipment drive over it could cause it to be severed.

Excellent point. I think those flags will be run over or buried by the second day and the cable location forgotten. Lots of things underground become casualties even when marked.

Yes cable and internet/phone need to be marked. Those are shallow. Also the electric company needs to mark not just the main line but also the secondary line if there is one

So the internet/cable company did come out the next day and marked their cables as well. Luckily everything is in the easement. Don't know if it's normal practice but the pool company scheduled all of them to come out and mark everything for me. They did also mention in their initial welcome and thank you email to call and get a temporary line put in. I will have to do this coming up that way it's ready since they will be actually entering from the right side of the house between my my neighbors fence and I because we are very tight on the sides of our house.

The electric company did mention that we do need to get someone to mark the one line that goes all the way to the box but it will be on the side of the house that they will probably entering in on.

I am going to reach out to the pool company with an email and ask about anything else that I need to do to ensure things will be a lot easier moving forward even though the dig is closer to the end of April from their initial estimates.

If you are willing to sacrifice some grass - take a can of bright colored spray paint and make a stripe that follows the flags. At least you be able to have some reference if the flags get buried. The other main lines to worry about are TV/internet cable, sprinkler pipes and the controller box (normally buried right below the turf), any water pipes that may be extended from your home to a different part of yard for faucet, any drainage pipes that may have been put in at time of house built or afterwards such as french drain.

Also, plan your drainage now before your decking goes in. It does not hurt to have more drain areas to ensure no standing water.

So besides the flags each company spray painted lines every few feet to mark the lines, do I need to go do more? I guess they are hard to see in the picture I posted. Sprinklers they are aware of and I showed them where they are so they are going to have to adjust those and get them ready to be rerouted which I included in the cost of the build with the pool company. The control boxes are up against the house away from any work area so that should be okay.

In terms of the drainage are you talking about regrading of the grass that will be around the pool? If so they said they regrade as well when they are done. My backyard isn't too big so I figure all the extra deck drainage and channel drains they will put before our house will cover that part as well.

I appreciate everyones feedback and information, it really has helped me and continues helping through these stages and gives me time to make a list to send and annoy the builder with haha.

 

[gingrbredman]

I think its great you are thinking ahead with the utilities and going out of your way to mark and remark them. My only utility I was really concerned about was the TV/Internet line as it was the one closest to where the pool was going, and even though it shouldn't be a concern, talked at length with everyone about where it was, and kept re-marking it as dirt was moving. During the COVID shutdown around here, I had three kids remote learning, a teacher remote teaching, and me working from home, that's a life line!

But sure enough, that is the one line they cut just about the last dig into the ground they needed to do. I think of my PB as a pretty careful guy, was super attentive about safety, lot lines, house, utility, but in the end, it took just one guy not paying attention to put a shovel into the ground and split that cable in half.

Luckily, they were able to splice the cable for a temporary fix and Comcast was able to come out the next day and run a new line. My PB ran a new trench and buried it, but it was still a pain and should have been avoided. Like I said, great to be over attentive to small things like this.

 

[stack24]

So i haven't updated in a bit, but I ended up having a secondary electrical line that needs to be rerouted which sucks but it is what it is. I thought i was in the clear hahah.

Yesterday they came and laid out the pool with string. I think the only thing I'm curious everyones thoughts. The back corner comes right up to the edge of the easement as you can see in the pictures. There will be a little gap before the deck starts on that side so we can landscape and then adjust the mulch and landscaping right in that corner. Essentially the mulch area the builder put in is about a foot or more past the easement so I have a bit of room to push it back if wanted.

Do you think the placement is good or will that be an issue for anything? Since I have a diagonal style easement I would have to lose some width of the pool if I wanted to move it away from that area. Would you guys do that or just leave it this way and pot the right plants around it? That size is a +6" in raised wall.

PS disregard the mess and dead plants thanks to the freeze.

 

[JMSMommy]

**Update...I guess I didn't realize there were more posts to read. ha. I think you are done with electrical and gas and stuff.

Excited for you guys! It's getting real..=)

Ask if you need an electrical load analysis. City of SL required one for our build so that caused a two week delay bc then the electrician had to come out and then the builder had to submit a response back to the city. I am pretty sure your builder knows this already, but doesn't hurt to ask.

 

[stack24]

**Update...I guess I didn't realize there were more posts to read. ha. I think you are done with electrical and gas and stuff.

Excited for you guys! It's getting real..=)

Ask if you need an electrical load analysis. City of SL required one for our build so that caused a two week delay bc then the electrician had to come out and then the builder had to submit a response back to the city. I am pretty sure your builder knows this already, but doesn't hurt to ask.

Thanks for letting me know about that. I will definitely touch base with them and ask them about it.

It is definitely becoming more real. The kids ask each day, when are they digging and are they done yet lol.

Need to get a few bids from electricians for the reroute so if anyone in the Houston area has a recommendation let me know. I called the guy that the pool builder recommended to get an initial quote.

 

[stack24]

Nothing exciting and juicy yet but it's starting to get even more real. Electrical re-route is happening right now.

 

[stack24]

Only a few more days before Dig day weather permitting. What are your thoughts and suggestions of the depth profile that we selected. I'm 6' tall, my wife is 5' and we have 2 children aged 6 & 3.5 at the moment. Originally had it ending at 5 Feet on the deep end but thought we might need a little bit of deeper end.

Would love feedback.

 

[Neto]

your pool will look very similar to mine!

 

[stack24]

your pool will look very similar to mine! View attachment 325277

That's a very beautiful pool! Love the way you integrated the landscaping up top on the raised walls.

 

[HermanTX]

Originally had it ending at 5 Feet on the deep end but thought we might need a little bit of deeper end.

Yep - go to 5.5ft and ensure your PB has water depth in the contract (not an overall depth). Remember you have about 4-5 inches from water line to top of coping.

 

[stack24]

Yep - go to 5.5ft and ensure your PB has water depth in the contract (not an overall depth). Remember you have about 4-5 inches from water line to top of coping.

I double checked and he confirmed it is water depth. Looking at the photo he sent the blue line is the water in their drawings. Appreciate the input.

 

[HermanTX]

I double checked and he confirmed it is water depth. Looking at the photo he sent the blue line is the water in their drawings. Appreciate the input.

yep the dotted line is the waterline and glad you verified what is written in the contract.

 

[JMSMommy]

my husband is 6 feet and me 5'2, we have 5.5 for the deep end.

 

[stack24]

yep the dotted line is the waterline and glad you verified what is written in the contract.

Thanks again! Can’t believe we are almost there. Let the mess begin.

my husband is 6 feet and me 5'2, we have 5.5 for the deep end.

Perfect! Thanks for the info. I showed my wife the color of your pool and we think we might go that route. She wants a nice blue since we don’t have much depth so the Blue Surf might be the best option.

 

[hosseisemi]

My observation is that a 2 ft drop in just shy of 24 ft would result in a very aggressive slop. We just had gunite shot in ours and it is 26 ft long. We elected to go 4 ft to 5-1/2 ft. For reference I am 6'4" and my wife is 5'2". Our kids are 7 & 4.

Pull out a tape measure equal to the length of your pool and pick up one end 2 ft to visualize the slop.

 

[stack24]

Update - Pre Construction Meeting

So I made a couple of final changes right before the dig which is tomorrow.

1. I pulled the trigger on a SWG system with a minor adjustment. I Told them to just charge me for upgrade for the SWG Intellicenter system and pipe everything up for the SWG and not install the salt cell for now but have it ready for me to drop in after the 1 year warranty is up thanks to some members mentioning that option. Thank you again for that. Now I can use the in line chlorinator for the first year then just move to the other setup and have that as a back up if ever needed.

2. I told them to ditch the suction side cleaner setup and got a credit for it to use towards a robot after a member here in Houston who used the same builder and has a very similar style pool said that is the one thing he would 100% have changed from original build. So after reading more on here I reached out to Marina Pool and Spa to see which one they would recommend for my size pool and get the ball rolling on that one.

One Question Regarding Auto Fill

So for the initial fill we are going to use the water softners bypass bib to use the hard water. The auto fill is currently going to be setup on the irrigation system which is also hard water. Should I keep this setup for the auto fill, or is it recommended to have the autofill connected to the hose bib and fill with soft water going forward?

From the threads I was reading it looks like a lot of people have the auto fill on the softner, but for owners like us that are in areas that get lots of rain it won't really make much of a difference so whichever way they go I should be okay.

Thanks again and can't wait till tomorrow DIG DAY! Hope everything goes as planned lol

 

[HermanTX]

So for the initial fill we are going to use the water softners bypass bib to use the hard water. The auto fill is currently going to be setup on the irrigation system which is also hard water. Should I keep this setup for the auto fill, or is it recommended to have the autofill connected to the hose bib and fill with soft water going forward?

Have you tested your hard water? Mine (in Katy) is 100 to 125 CH the 3 or 4 times I tested over the past couple of years. I have my fill via the softener and have added some hardness increaser occasionally. However, I have also hooked up my hose and added the hard water on occasion. So it really may not matter which way you do your hook up if your CH test is about the same value as mine. I run my CH at 250 to 325 with no issues. The only thing you need to be aware is that the only way to reduce CH is by draining and refilling so you do not want to get in a position of dealing with high CH on a continuous basis.