New build
- Thread starter Ellen M
- Start date
When you added the glass, did you take anything out of the original formula or just added on top. My pool builder thinks you need to stay in the formula but I have not heard back from the installer to let me know if that is correct. Your answer would help. We are planning 9 black pebble, 1 white, 2 cobalt blue glass as the formula is for 12 bags. If he says we can add a bag we may add a bag of just the blue pebble back in that is in the tricolor mix (blue, green, red) that we are removing. If I do not hear back from installer but Sat night, I will reach out to him again. Thank you so much. Keep us posted on any color changes.
No I didnt take anything out, I wanted to remove the gold but that never happened. They hand broadcasted the glass (4 bags) on top of the plaster. From my understanding its better this way so more of the glass is actually visible and not mixed in with the pebble.
Attachments
Last edited:
Thank you. Is it placed after the mini pebble is sprayed and if so does it change the texture on your feet?
Thanks, Ellen M
It was done simultaneously, as they were smoothing things out one of the guys would throw the glass beads. Yes it feel great, smooth for the most part it blends in with the pebble. I have a few rough parts but Im still in the brushing phase. The only thing different I would have done was to be more pushy about the gold being taken out of the mix. My PB never gave me the option to create a custom mix or even took the time to show me other pools with the color plaster I had chosen.
You seem to have a great PB that's there every step of the way. My PB was absent for the majority of the build so I had to fight with the subs to make sure things were done my way. I wish I had your PB he obviously cares about the work product and client happiness. I'm still waiting for my deck jets to be installed, as usual someone else's build appears to be more important than mine. Also waiting on my leaking skimmer to be addressed too. There's other things that just chalk up to poor worksmanship that Im just gonna have to live with and not complain about. (i.e. crooked tile in the spa)
Last edited:
Your feedback has helped greatly. We did decide not to add anything additional to the formula as both the PB and installer said they know me well enough that the inability to control handcasting outcome will likely bother us. We think they are right.
Its funny you mention concept of options & customizing. My awareness of options/customizing came from an education from TFP. I used the PB outline of his pool builds and then read on TFP about each section (hrs & hrs at night & weekends). I learned about water tile and coping contrast/complimentary, unique glass jewel step markers, interior finishes pros & cons, water colors, formulas including add ons and substitutes. Many TFP members elaborated in detail. When I saw a post of 1 stonescapes set of formulas, I then spent time on google, trial and error, till I found all the ones that I had considered. (NPT said they aren't even given to customers!). That's when I knew I could switch dye color on Tropics if I wanted somewhere between midnight & tropics color. Once I saw the midnight, I knew if I removed the green/teal hue, I would be good. I also kind of liked the teal it just wasn't my first desire, so I learned how to remove green. Before I hired my PB, I was introduced to someone who had just completed her lagoon style pool with a lavish rock fountain and the Badu jets. She raved about him. A week later I met the PB and signed right after. She mentioned he is happy to adjust & tweak to make one happy & he confirmed this without me asking. So I knew everyone was an option. Overall, he has been great & beyond. Like everyone, no one is perfect. He is swamped and I did not stay on him, although I had my notes and sent frequently itemizing all things needed to be done yet. He humbly & graciously admits a few places he did not follow through (since overworked) soon enough despite my weekly email reminders. I listed them below for anyone at the earlier stages of pool building. We know shortly after we are swimming our defense mechanism of repression will set in and it will be a part of the past. I did itemize my short list for him, and posting below for any readers on TFP at the early stage of pool building.
Short comings of PB as well as myself, as I am quite capable of being repetitively assertive and at times I went with patience, tolerance, and trust and of course hindsight said I should have stayed more insistent or ordered things my self.
1. We ordered pavers, coping, equipment, water tiles, and Lightstreams shell beach step/bench marker very early as I insisted due to TFP & internet reading. He did not feel the urgency I suggested on the handrails, lights, fittings, Badu Jet fittings thinking that those items would also be impacted by the supply chain and high demand on pool building. Unfortunately, although I periodically did ask, I was distracted, trusting, and did not want to push more. I do regret that. The deck mounted handrails are 50 days back ordered and the exercise rail has not been shipped yet. If it is not here by Thurs he will have to drain pool slightly and add post plaster. He apologized and admitted although it works it is not his first choice. It took is 2 minutes to place the order and we could have do it anytime. Although they say delegating when you hire someone is good; in this case it would have taken less energy to manage ourselves. Pentair also told him lights were on backorder. My husband found them in 5 minutes on the web, while we were talking to the PB and we had them in 4 days! In hindsight, we are more tech savvy & aware of how to locate things in speedy ways. He only informed us about the handrail a few days ago and our faster version is in Florida as it was out of stock with SR smith. PB was shocked but he is learning from us.
2. The plans were designed for 5 cm coping. When our selection only came 3 cm, he said no problem but he did not say it would impact the amount of water tile showing 1-1.5" vs 3" as he built the pool with 5 cm in mind. A simple fix would have been to simply lower the spillway to allow for the auto rail and be sure spa and pool dig deep enough to have the original depth of 4.5 feet and not lose anything. I was trying to give him some space from my detailed style.
3. The pool was dug with enough width but between no paying close inspection to how tight the rebar was or how much shotcrete poured we lost several inches of our 8' wide pool. I won't have an opportunity to ever build another pool but I would tell people who choose a narrow lap pool design to stretch to 9'. We simply would have lost a foot of grass and tightened one tiny section, that I would have gladly sacrificed if I knew I should leave more leeway than we did.
4. Show us multiple pools early in process so to get ideas of colors of tile, interior, and coping vs internet. Saves pool customer lots of time. Recommending he has a of customers willing to do this for him and he can add new offers as new interesting pools are built. I will allow anyone to come see my pool who has an interest in my design, choices of coping, tiles, lap markers, beach shell step marker, water color, equipment etc.
He knows all of these and agreed to improve on these going forward. He is always gracious with apologies, but proactive is my motto rather than too much patience leading to reactive/stressful problem solving mode as we had to be with lights and handrails.
Hope your brushing is making the pool look better by the day! I will have to see how much of that we will have to do. Pool guy will be here daily the first week and then 2 x week after that until we are all settled in the right chemistry etc. Look forward to the day of meeting him. PB had hand selected him for us, so we will give him a try first since he has a stable relationship with PB.
Thank you again, Ellen M
It's a swimming pool!
Friday was acid wash and Friday 2-10:30 pm pool filled (3 hoses). Saturday 8/21 start up happened; chemistry expert said first adjustment was easy and filtering smooth sailing and very safe to swim. He said gas heater could be turned on and did so. Our AquaCal heat pump needs 80 amp which comes tomorrow. We also found out it has a chiller if ever San Diego gets crazy hot in future. Wet suit on and in pool when he heated to 82. Swam long enough it soon moved to 86 while in the water! 13,500 galloons with the 400k BTU did not take very long! He set up the thermostat, but did not yet know it had a glitch. We woke up to a spa and pool at 101! Yes, I did go for a swim without the wetsuit. He came again today, spent some more time adjusting and tweaking. Tonights swim was 95 in both the spa and pool. He will be back tomorrow; we will tell him our meat thermometer (which he so liked is very accurate) still shows a 5 degree differential with the app. Put a few pictures below to show the NPT Midnight Mini Pebble with no quartz mix or gold pebbles. Just 9 black, 1 white, and the 2 substituted cobalt blue glass. There has been no sun yet so only cloudy and night pictures. The solar lights work great on low light mode. Thermal installers activating our thermal system on Saturday.
Learned so much from reading this site. More photos uploaded when full sun sometime this week. Thank you all. Ellen M
Friday was acid wash and Friday 2-10:30 pm pool filled (3 hoses). Saturday 8/21 start up happened; chemistry expert said first adjustment was easy and filtering smooth sailing and very safe to swim. He said gas heater could be turned on and did so. Our AquaCal heat pump needs 80 amp which comes tomorrow. We also found out it has a chiller if ever San Diego gets crazy hot in future. Wet suit on and in pool when he heated to 82. Swam long enough it soon moved to 86 while in the water! 13,500 galloons with the 400k BTU did not take very long! He set up the thermostat, but did not yet know it had a glitch. We woke up to a spa and pool at 101! Yes, I did go for a swim without the wetsuit. He came again today, spent some more time adjusting and tweaking. Tonights swim was 95 in both the spa and pool. He will be back tomorrow; we will tell him our meat thermometer (which he so liked is very accurate) still shows a 5 degree differential with the app. Put a few pictures below to show the NPT Midnight Mini Pebble with no quartz mix or gold pebbles. Just 9 black, 1 white, and the 2 substituted cobalt blue glass. There has been no sun yet so only cloudy and night pictures. The solar lights work great on low light mode. Thermal installers activating our thermal system on Saturday.Learned so much from reading this site. More photos uploaded when full sun sometime this week. Thank you all. Ellen M
joeprunc
Well-known member
- Apr 26, 2021
- 83
- Pool Size
- 20000
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Congratulations!! That's good to know how well your heater works (we got the 400k as well). Lately I've been thinking I'm spending $$$$ for our build, just to sit and watch it for 4 months before spring 2022 
. If the heater works that well I'll be able to heat it to enjoy it for a few weeks before winter
. If the heater works that well I'll be able to heat it to enjoy it for a few weeks before winter It was pretty cloudy all weekend up here near the Foothills, I can't wait to see your pool on a sunny day. How do you like the mini pebble?It's a swimming pool!
View attachment 366608View attachment 366609View attachment 366614
View attachment 366611View attachment 366612View attachment 366613
Learned so much from reading this site. More photos uploaded when full sun sometime this week. Thank you all. Ellen M
Very interesting you were able to turn your heater on right away. I have two more weeks (28 day wait) before I can turn my heater on.
Thanks. In reference to heat: we did everything to provide heat- a) 400k heater, b) we increased our solar panels to allow for the AquaCal SQ 225 HeatPump which as long as the air temp is above 50 degrees it will heat the pool, & c) thermal panels when warm out. Once the AquaCal is set up tomorrow (got delayed) then we shift to running electric vs gas. The spa will need a slight boost from 88 to 98 when in the spa, but that cost should be relatively minor (especially when we add all the cost of a pool and hard & soft landscaping. I hope you will be able to enjoy. I have swam 2 x a day for 1 hr each and an hr in the spa. I think semi-retirement is getting even better. Today I went before work, in between work and likely again post work. Missed most of opportunity to take sun pictures but grabbed a few today. Post soon, Ellen MCongratulations!! That's good to know how well your heater works (we got the 400k as well). Lately I've been thinking I'm spending $$$$ for our build, just to sit and watch it for 4 months before spring 2022
Our Pentair chemistry/pool start up expert said that even though it is what many say, each pool requires individual assessment and it is not true for us due to a-shotcrete was poured 7/13 and well cured, b-mini-pebble does not require wait, c-our chemistry was good, and d-very little time needed to filter as pool was well washed and pipes were fairly clear. He was here for hrs before I swam. He came about 9 and I swam about 2 pm. You may want to double check with other experts. I would love know you got to swim soon.
Some sun pictures in next post. I am working today so I could only take a few. Ellen M
Yes I've been swimming, just have to wait to use the heater in the spa. Did a little landscaping project this weekend since it was nice and cool.
Attachments
Very nice! Many pool owner neighbors have cautioned about anything that attracts bees or blows into the pool. I decided I will buy less plants to start, leaving them in the pots and see how the environment handles the plants. We cut back our trees and took a few out before the dig. Today the gardener noted that there is one tree that should be removed as it is the only tree close and dropping into the pool. So the arborist will have a 3rd trip out! Ellen M
I hope you both go to this thread:
www.troublefreepool.com
and add YOUR wonderful pools. Make sure to put in kind, color, extras, etc info about the plaster. Take a pic showing the steps, shallow end and deep end to show how the depth changes the color.
Pool Finish and Color Viewing Room...PICTURES & details only please
This is our attempt at having one place that we can view the finished product of various Plaster/Pebble/Quartz/Vinyl/FG/etc. pool finishes. Simply attach a good pic looking down at the steps and another one looking at the deep end to share how it looks at different depths. Make sure to share the...
www.troublefreepool.com
and add YOUR wonderful pools. Make sure to put in kind, color, extras, etc info about the plaster. Take a pic showing the steps, shallow end and deep end to show how the depth changes the color.
Will do this weekend. I am waiting to get some full sun pictures as well and then I will post. I also sent pictures to Lightstreams of the step markers for her postings as well. I am very interested in supporting future pool builders.I hope you both go to this thread:
Pool Finish and Color Viewing Room...PICTURES & details only please
This is our attempt at having one place that we can view the finished product of various Plaster/Pebble/Quartz/Vinyl/FG/etc. pool finishes. Simply attach a good pic looking down at the steps and another one looking at the deep end to share how it looks at different depths. Make sure to share the...
and add YOUR wonderful pools. Make sure to put in kind, color, extras, etc info about the plaster. Take a pic showing the steps, shallow end and deep end to show how the depth changes the color.
Despite seeing 2 midnight blue mini pebbles in full sun, ours even in 11 am-12 pm sun does not appear blue. We are gathering it is the narrow 8' wide pool. Pictures make it appear lighter but it really is more lagoon. Yet when we saw tropics in full sun, it was very light blue. So unpredictable despite our best shot.
Been swimming multiple times of the day. Coldest pool moment was 86! Today our aqua cal heat pump was set up with the needed 80 amp and now we are fully electric and using the solar. Our gas bill will be interesting for 80 hrs. I love the three 2" wide 3 deep heat returns; the warmth is a delight for age cold bodies! The 14 jets are also not overkill! The Badu jets on low speed turned on in the scheduled program while I swam. I gave it a shot but my arms are not in that kind of shape! Maybe my adult kids will appreciate when they visit later this month.
Have a great day! Ellen M
Wow. Thank you for posting this. We were debating between the Arctic White and the Cool Blue. I hope we get as rich a blue as you have managed to get. Thanks again.Pics of our PebbleSheen Cool Blue w Liminous Blue added. Aquabella Glass Mosaic added on steps and for swim lanes. Sun shelf is 12”, 3’6” to 7”. Pool coping is 16x24 travertine and waterline tile is a standard porcelain. Most photos taken @ noon.
This is a very light to aqua blue pool depending on light. The sun shelf is very light to nearly white at the 12” depth.
The pool color turned out as I hopedView attachment 421516View attachment 421517View attachment 421518View attachment 421519