From a Basic Lawn to Private Resort - We Have A Pool! Controlling Pollen...

[elleb]

Here is the “official” list of things to do as complied from multiple recommendations on or directly before Day of Plaster.

Day of Plaster

• Clean up around the pool area the day before - brush any dirt/mud or debris that could be tracked into the pool during or after plaster
• Verify that the bags of plaster are the proper type and color you selected on morning of plaster.
• Take a sample of the mixture when they are applying it to the pool by pouring some in a small clear plastic cup (good for reference later)
• Do they have all the proper return nozzles and drain covers (type and color) to place after plaster installed
• Have you tested your fill water? Are you filling with softened water or regular tap water or well water?
• Have your hose ready (and clean) as it will be laying in the pool.
• Tie a sock or cloth around the nozzle so it does not sit on the plaster.
• Put the end of the hose at the lowest part of the pool to avoid channeling in the new plaster. Also, consider tying a plastic jug to the nozzle such that it will float up as the water rises.
• Ensure you take note (or a picture) of your water meter reading before you start to fill
• Be prepared to take note of your water meter as the pool reaches certain levels, i.e bottom of bottom step, top of bottom step, etc. (it helps in the future to know volume of your pool at certain levels - should you ever have to drain portion of it)
• Plan to set an alarm every 4 hours (or so) to ensure hose is still in pool, no debris blew into pool, etc.
• Do NOT stop the flow of water once the pool starts filling as doing so could cause a ring on the new plaster.
• Take a picture of any chemicals they bring on site that they plan to dump in when they start to add water to pool
• Continue to fill pool to center of water tile or center of skimmer. Take picture of water meter at end of fill
• Get clear instructions from PB as what to do the day the pool is full - how often to brush, will the pump be turned on, etc.
• Define with PB when he will be back out to set up water chemistry.

Thank you @HermanTX and @tommelton!!!

 

[kimkats]

You got some wonderful help from those great people! THANKS guys!

 

[elleb]

Trim tile is in

 

[kimkats]

LOVE the color and BLING!!! That is going to look wonderful with water in it when the sun hits them!!

 

[elleb]

They are doing final grade today and finish tomorrow. Per PB we should be swimming Tuesday of next week

 

[elleb]

Final Grading Underway:

 

[Wolfepack88]

Final Grading Underway:
View attachment 511028View attachment 511029

Looks awesome, congratulations. Just be vigilant on the list provided and stay focused. "Always eye" Mr Miyagi say!!

 

[tommelton]

If this were my pool build - I would want the coping, deck and surrounding area cleaned of red mud stains prior to plastering the pool. Whatever they use to clean it - you don't want that getting into the pool water.

 

[elleb]

Looks awesome, congratulations. Just be vigilant on the list provided and stay focused. "Always eye" Mr Miyagi say!!

Thanks Wolfepack88! PB has asked me not to worry but will have the pebble company walk me through everything they are doing in the morning, and I will have my cups ready for samples

 

[elleb]

If this were my pool build - I would want the coping, deck and surrounding area cleaned of red mud stains prior to plastering the pool. Whatever they use to clean it - you don't want that getting into the pool water.

We asked them about that. They are grading today. If they don't clean it we will go out there with the leaf blower and power washer and get it as clean as we can before we have the whole house pressure washed. We may have to cover it when we do the entire house and driveway washing.

 

[elleb]

Pre-fill tests are done. Here are our numbers. I did a test a few weeks ago from our backyard spigot and the water was crystal clear. Today it has a mud tinge but I think its from me cleaning the hoses the other day and I kept changing the hoses to rinse with my wet muddy gloves. I'm going down later to clean it off and see if that helps. The water runs clear so I believe the spigot needs cleaning now.

Front Yard Spigot Results:
PH - 7.5
FC - 2.5
CC - 1
CH - 50
TA - 30
CYA - 0
Salt - 400

Back Yard Spigot Results:
PH - 7.2
FC - 2.5
CC - 2.5
CH - 50
TA - 30
CYA - 0
Salt - 200

@HermanTX @kimkats @Newdude @ajw22 @PoolStored which spigot is best to fill from? We are on City Water. Thanks in advance for all of your help and advice!

Edited after @Newdude helped me figure out seeing the black dot was inevitable on fill water for CYA.

 

[Newdude]

Either is fine.

You're doing something wrong for CYA. There is none in any fill water.

BR is bromine and it's either/or with Chlorine. The block will say 5-10 (etc) and it's 5 Cl or 10 Br. Ignore the BR column

TC is useless so ignore that too. 5 FC + 1 CC and 3 FC + 3 CC tell two vastly different stories, yet both are 6 TC. The components are huge, the sum is bupkiss.

 

[Newdude]

I made a filter for my fill water. I stuffed a 5 gallon bucket with polyfill and drilled a bunch of holes in the lid. I had to purchase the lid for $1.79 for the bucket I already had, and 2 bags of polyfill were $5 each. Google said Hobby Lobby was cheapest that day. Lol. Michael's and Walmart are other sellers.




It didn't seem to do much and the polyfill appeared white in the bucket. But when I pulled out the polyfill afterwards, a couple of gallons of iced tea poured out if it. So it did something at least.

 

[elleb]

Either is fine.

You're doing something wrong for CYA. There is none in any fill water.

BR is bromine and it's either/or with Chlorine. The block will say 5-10 (etc) and it's 5 Cl or 10 Br. Ignore the BR column

TC is useless so ignore that too. 5 FC + 1 CC and 3 FC + 3 CC tell two vastly different stories, yet both are 6 TC. The components are huge, the sum is bupkiss.

Okay, I thought something was wrong . Everytime I tested it was clear from the top view meaning the dot was visible and clear as day, but side view of the tube it was gone! I watched the youtube vid like 5 times and I still looked down the tube and saw that black dot but from the side view of the tube it was gone at 80 thus my 80 .

 

[Newdude]

Everytime I tested it was clear from the top view, but side view of the tube was gone! I

Ok. Phew. Top view only. The tube was full and you saw the dot clear as day. That means it's under 30, but this one time we actually know it's 0, because fill water.

 

[HermanTX]

Thanks Wolfepack88! PB has asked me not to worry but will have the pebble company walk me through everything they are doing in the morning, and I will have my cups ready for samples

Start the crew off with either coffee or tacos (that is a Texas thing!!) or something that they will help them be focused on doing a good job. This is a critical step so you want it all to go well.

Also be patient, the morning of my plaster, the pump broke down before the job started, I asked if they needed any tools or whatever but they had everything and got it all working and the job went well. After the fact, I let the PM know that having equipment failures is not acceptable and he took that to heart back to the company. The job went well and the crew was very attentive and appreciative of the tacos!!

 

[elleb]

Which spigot should I use? I guess it doesn't matter.

 

[HermanTX]

Pre-fill tests are done. Here are our numbers. I did a test a few weeks ago from our backyard spigot and the water was crystal clear. Today it has a mud tinge but I think its from me cleaning the hoses the other day and I kept chaning the hoses to rinse with my wet muddy gloves. I'm going down later to clean it off and see if that helps. The water runs clear so I believe the spigot needs cleaning now.

Front Yard Spigot Results:
PH - 7.5
FC - 2.5
CC - 1
CH - 50
TA - 30
CYA - 0
Salt - 400

Back Yard Spigot Results:
PH - 7.2
FC - 2.5
CC - 2.5
CH - 50
TA - 30
CYA - 0
Salt - 200

@HermanTX @kimkats @Newdude @ajw22 @PoolStored which spigot is best to fill from? We are on City Water. Thanks in advance for all of your help and advice!

Edited after @Newdude helped me figure out seeing the black dot was inevitable on fill water for CYA.

This reminds me that we need to update the DAY of PLASTER list to include the following which is realyy a subset of the last point "Define with PB when he will be back out to set up water chemistry."
Do you have the startup guideline for your plaster or will you use the NPC startup guide?
I would focus on the pH, TA and CH values of your tap water because those will be monitored at the beginning once it is full.
Attached is the NPC startup to give you an idea of what happens in the days after filling the pool. Note that brushing is really important in addition to the chemistry aspect.

You can go to the mfg. website for your specific plaster and they should have startup instructions.

 

[HermanTX]

Which spigot should I use? I guess it doesn't matter.

Doesn't matter but you could use both if that will help fill it quicker. The CH and TA are identical from both.

 

[elleb]

This reminds me that we need to update the DAY of PLASTER list to include the following which is realyy a subset of the last point "Define with PB when he will be back out to set up water chemistry."
Do you have the startup guideline for your plaster or will you use the NPC startup guide?
I would focus on the pH, TA and CH values of your tap water because those will be monitored at the beginning once it is full.
Attached is the NPC startup to give you an idea of what happens in the days after filling the pool. Note that brushing is really important in addition to the chemistry aspect.

You can go to the mfg. website for your specific plaster and they should have startup instructions.

Thanks @HermanTX! They will be following the NPT guidelines which is in alignment with the NPC Guide for startup. I confirmed with them yesterday. They will be out day after fill is complete to do the startup. I printed out a copy of the pdf you sent over also. My hubby, son, and I will share pool brushing duties . Thanks again.