Moving.. Going to do a DIY Build.

[thewolf56]

So is this order valid for using concrete coping which is contiguous with the concrete deck?

I thought the pool needed to be filled right after the plaster to help it cure without cracking?

1. Get a pool design and engineering
2. Get bids and select contractors
3. Complete layout, dig, and steel
4. Plumbing rough in
5. electrical rough in
6. gunnite
7. Water edge tile
8. finish electrical
9. finish plumbing
10. Plaster/pebbletec finish
11. Decking and coping
12. Pool fill and initial startup

I know I'm a little late to the party as I just finished up my owner/builder build, but there are a couple things to consider on your timing.

If you are going with a cantilever coping (example- poured in place concrete or kooldeck), I would recommend this route

1. Get a pool design and engineering
2. Get Permit
3. Get bids and select contractors
4. Complete layout, dig
5. Plumbing rough in
6. Steel
7. electrical rough in
8. gunnite
9. finish electrical
10. finish plumbing
11. Decking and coping
12. Water edge tile
13. Plaster/pebbletec finish
14. Pool fill and initial startup

If you are going with natural stone, paver, safety coping, etc., I'd recommend this.

1. Get a pool design and engineering
2. Get Permit
3. Get bids and select contractors
4. Complete layout, dig
5. Plumbing rough in
6. steel
7. electrical rough in
8. gunnite
9. finish electrical
10. finish plumbing
11. Water edge tile
12. Coping, then decking
13. Plaster/pebbletec finish
14. Pool fill and initial startup

Good luck!

 

[kimkats]

the sun does shine in or at least radiates through!

NOPE! While it will be nice in the winter...........not so good in the summer that is for sure!

LOVE the last pics and a LOL to see the work being done and seeing part of a bling light LOL

 

[ShallowWater]

Shotcrete estimates are all over the place. based on my pool plans, I come up with the following on the extreme upper end using more than the perimeter or base dimensions of my proposed pool:

View attachment 445423

Floor:
40ft x 18ft x 0.5ft = 360 cu ft

Walls:
(40ft x 2sides + 18ft x 2sides) x 4ft Depth x 0.5ft = 232 cu ft.

Total is 592 cu ft / 27 cu ft per cu yd = 22 cu yds.

Add in 20% for waste, spa etc and I come up with 26 cu yds.

I've got one estimate for $3,200 min and $85 (seems low or I missed the 2 in $285 and heard $85)/cu yd over 36 cu yds, maybe around $6,000.

I've got another for 40 to 45 cu yds at $260/cu yd or between $10,400 and $11,700 plus set up and formwork if needed. When I called him on it he said you only pay for what you use. Who's measuring? I'll need weighmaster certs for that but based on my numbers I should be able to do it with a couple 12 cu yd trucks.

I have a third at $285/cu yd, so your looking at or just under $10,000.

Do these guys not read or go off plans when giving a bid?

I'm pretty good with math and arithmetic but these numbers seem way wrong (at least the first and third estimate). If the second is right the $3,200 minimum works out to $3,060 for 36 cu yds at $85/cu yd plus $140 set up.

Help me out and check my math. I'm using a rough estimate for a pool larger than I'm building then increasing it by 20%. Am I missing something?

Before this gets lost on the previous page, anyone have any suggestions or comments?

 

[thewolf56]

Before this gets lost on the previous page, anyone have any suggestions or comments?

The pool plans from my designer included the estimated amount of shotcrete needed per plan. Mine used a little more, but that is because a huge boulder was pulled out where my grotto bench was going, so it had to be filled in with shotcrete and my pool ended up being a bit bigger than originally planned.

You can download a trial of pool studio for free by signing up on the website. There are a few drawbacks to the trial version, specifically no saving, but if you are handy with VMs, you can install it in a Windows VM and save the VM state. You can then draw out your design to your specifications and the software will calculate the amount of material needed.

I would also think the $85 was a miscommunication. Shotcrete out here is quite a bit more than the $285 right now.

 

[Newdude]

anyone have any suggestions or comments?

I wanted to double check your math that you're going with 6 inch walls/floor. I thought it was 8-9 for the walls and 6+ for the floor.

 

[TX2OBX]

Only problem is the sun does shine in or at least radiates through! Looking into automated shades to block out UV and heat in the afternoon on the west side which these windows face.

Cool thing is the sliders to the covered patio are just as big and the stepped water fall will be visible from inside the home!


Photos taken during the remodel. I don't have any recent pictures.

What brand of doors is the 4 panel slider? Wanting to install three of these on my house. Quote I got for Andersons was enough to cause heart palpitations lol (almost 10k each not installed) I dont need fancy I just wanna see out side better. White vinyl is fine with me.

Also Even though all the windows in my house are "low-e" I had them all tinted by a third party after we moved in, made a huge difference in how much sun radiated in the house. Also has very much slowed down the UV. I could tell where the old owners had all their rugs thanks to the difference of shading on the hardwood floors.

OB is the way to go, next time around thats what im doing.

 

[ShallowWater]

What brand of doors is the 4 panel slider? Wanting to install three of these on my house. Quote I got for Andersons was enough to cause heart palpitations lol (almost 10k each not installed) I dont need fancy I just wanna see out side better. White vinyl is fine with me.

Also Even though all the windows in my house are "low-e" I had them all tinted by a third party after we moved in, made a huge difference in how much sun radiated in the house. Also has very much slowed down the UV. I could tell where the old owners had all their rugs thanks to the difference of shading on the hardwood floors.

OB is the way to go, next time around thats what im doing.

Those two sliders from WinDoor. The big one was $5000 and the little one was $3500 installed. Probably add at least 10% to that because that was almost a year ago now.

 

[ShallowWater]

I wanted to double check your math that you're going with 6 inch walls/floor. I thought it was 8-9 for the walls and 6+ for the floor.

The pool is only 4 feet deep plus an 18" Raised Bond Beam. Using Pool Engineering's Plans for non-expansive soil I see 6" thickness. Even if it is 7" for expansive soil and for the Raised Bond Beam, that's only a 16% increase, well within my 20% overage estimate. Even if bump that to 25% I'm still at 27 cubic yards, nearly half of what I'm being quoted. I think I'm going to do a detailed quantity estimate and require the shotcrete guys confirm and stick to the estimate. Any extra material beyond what is necessary for constructing the pool should be on them and not on me.

 

[ShallowWater]

Dug and bond beam formed.

 

[kimkats]

Now is time for you first "job" with the pool. Take the plans out there and measure it. Add about 6" for the steel, shell, and plaster. That is 12" on the sides and 6" from the bottom to the middle of the skimmer face. NOW is the time to fix or tweak as needed/wanted.

 

[ShallowWater]

Now is time for you first "job" with the pool. Take the plans out there and measure it. Add about 6" for the steel, shell, and plaster. That is 12" on the sides and 6" from the bottom to the middle of the skimmer face. NOW is the time to fix or tweak as needed/wanted.

I was intimately involved with the layout. Dimensions are per my specs with some adjustments already made on the fly. We are going to remove the stair off the Baja Shelf to only have a stair by the waterfall though.

 

[ShallowWater]

Question for the experts on here..

Does the spa have to overflow into the pool or can it have a separate equalization pipe that goes horizontally out of the spa, vertically down inside the dam and the horizontal back into the pool above the water line?

 

[ShallowWater]

Or I could do a corner spill like this. What I have in mind is to run the pump at a slow speed and have the water just over a trickle coming down the face of the wall, not spurting out like this:

 

[kimkats]

So long as you have a way for water to leave the pool and come back into the pool you are good. Bottom drain will be the water leaving the pool. Returns or jets will be water coming into the pool. You do not HAVE to have any kind of overflow if you don't want to.

 

[ShallowWater]

Interesting. Maybe I'll just do a piped overflow into the pool because there has to be a way to equalize the water level in the spa when everyone gets in and desplaces a volume of water equal to there weight. That'll be more to my liking. The stepped waterfall in the opposite corner, visible from the large sliders in the previous pictures is the only water feature I want and I prefer to run that on low speed too as it is much more calming and probably doesn't contribute as much to pH rise too on low speed.

If you look at my profile picture, that is our prior pool and spa. You can see the tile stepped spa spillway on the right side of it. That is what I'm reproducing on the stepped waterfall in the corner opposite the spa.

Pool Plan.jpg

• ShallowWater
• Aug 11, 2022

 

[ShallowWater]

Something like this:

 

[kimkats]

My gut says the water is going to try to go over the wall if it is high enough and enough people get in at once....................not sure how the pipe will help that other than letting a bit of water out once it gets that high. My gut says it will have to be a pretty big pipe to flow the water out.

 

[ShallowWater]

I'm thinking of an 8"wide by 4" tall squash pipe. Maybe that's the primary for when the pool is in filtration mode but have a portion of the top of the dam lower then the rest to spill into the pool for when the squash pipe goes full.

 

[ajw22]

I'm thinking of an 8"wide by 4" tall squash pipe. Maybe that's the primary for when the pool is in filtration mode but have a portion of the top of the dam lower then the rest to spill into the pool for when the squash pipe goes full.

I would be concerned about leaves and debris getting into the pipe and clogging it. You are creating a skimmer but without the basket to collect debris before the pipe.

You just need to refresh the spa water once or twice a day. Otherwise the spa spillover does not need to run at all. If you don't want the spa spillover as a continuous water feature then use SPILLOVER mode to refresh the water once or twice a day.

I have seen a few spas built with that type of equalization pipe. That is done when a fiberglass spa is used but that type of spa has a filter by the intake for water flowing to the pool.

I think you should follow the KISS principle and keep it simple.

 

[ShallowWater]

I would be concerned about leaves and debris getting into the pipe and clogging it. You are creating a skimmer but without the basket to collect debris before the pipe.

You just need to refresh the spa water once or twice a day. Otherwise the spa spillover does not need to run at all. If you don't want the spa spillover as a continuous water feature then use SPILLOVER mode to refresh the water once or twice a day.

I have seen a few spas built with that type of equalization pipe. That is done when a fiberglass spa is used but that type of spa has a filter by the intake for water flowing to the pool.

I think you should follow the KISS principle and keep it simple.

So help a brother out..

Would this be a spill that only overflows during filtration mode but no other time? How to control that? Is it possible to program a separate run time for the spa to get refreshed, say at 2am or so?