Houston, TX Pool Build Diary - From Design to Dive-In

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Plat, I love all the cuts and angles of your design, the planters, all of it! Ok I know I'm already done with my pool, but WAiT!!! LOL I just bought an investment property with no pool! Hahahahahah and I can't wait to put a pool on it! I'm going to start scratch a few ideas down and ... I'm serious I did save this picture and I'm taking a lot of clues from it and also yours if you don't mind :) I hope to start my build over the summer, I'm saving for it :) and this time, oh boy, it will OB! I wish I had the money to do it now, I'm addicted!

Going back to your pool...I'm in love with your pool, but don't tell mine LOL


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To me your timing is kind of the best of both worlds. If it's going to take 20 hours to shoot, I'd rather have them twice in the morning when they are more alert than after sunset (everyone gets tired regardless of how hard-working they are). DST morning grogginess aside.
 
I am GLAD they made that call! Better to do something like that fresh! Did the already add the steel for the planter wall?

LOL on the doggie ramp angle...........hey that needs to be right! Again it is something new to them I bet so they are learning. So nice they are willing to do it right.

Took the gunite off down to the steel? WOW! What a great PB you have!

I wanted to comment on the PM setting up with the laptop ON the job! THAT is how it should be! Have lap top and phone can work from any where!

Kim
 
It's 7:24am and the generator just fired up on the gunite truck. They've been in the backyard prepping for about a half an hour.


bmoreswim said:
To me your timing is kind of the best of both worlds. If it's going to take 20 hours to shoot, I'd rather have them twice in the morning when they are more alert than after sunset (everyone gets tired regardless of how hard-working they are). DST morning grogginess aside.
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Yeah I tend to agree with this.

Marlahoutex said:
Plat, your pool is going to be just fabulous! So Kolaches tomorrow, too, or perhaps tacos??
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Unsure on the menu selections today. The Chef de Toyota is still in bed asleep because she was fortunate enough to have taken yesterday and today off just by random luck. Once she's up and had a cup of coffee she'll go pick something up.

Indigo blue said:
Plat, I love all the cuts and angles of your design, the planters, all of it! Ok I know I'm already done with my pool, but WAiT!!! LOL I just bought an investment property with no pool! Hahahahahah and I can't wait to put a pool on it! I'm going to start scratch a few ideas down and ... I'm serious I did save this picture and I'm taking a lot of clues from it and also yours if you don't mind :) I hope to start my build over the summer, I'm saving for it :) and this time, oh boy, it will OB! I wish I had the money to do it now, I'm addicted!

Going back to your pool...I'm in love with your pool, but don't tell mine LOL
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Indigo, thank you, but don't sell your pool short. Your design and end product are awesome! You made a beautiful space that any of us "geometric" types would be very happy to hang out in!!! I would be honored if you take clues or even down-right steal from my design. Also I hope you start a new thread for it as soon as you get close and PM me so I know it's going on and can subscribe to it!!! I am happy to help you spend your money....


plat.
 
kimkats said:
I am GLAD they made that call! Better to do something like that fresh! Did the already add the steel for the planter wall?

LOL on the doggie ramp angle...........hey that needs to be right! Again it is something new to them I bet so they are learning. So nice they are willing to do it right.

Took the gunite off down to the steel? WOW! What a great PB you have!

I wanted to comment on the PM setting up with the laptop ON the job! THAT is how it should be! Have lap top and phone can work from any where!

Kim
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Yeah the PM was telling me this gunite foreman is her favorite. He's a perfectionist. Keep in mind, this is a sub-contractor. The builder is a family business and the PM is the owners daughter. For the dig, steel, plumbing and now gunite she has mostly just set up her office on the patio each day with brief absences to check on other projects. I think that is mainly to make sure that the design gets implemented as it's intended during the core build phase. It's helped avoid a lot of mistakes I think especially with my wife and I working from home in that we can come out and answer quick questions while looking at it in person whenever they text us to review something. I think once we go to tile and plumbing that we'll go into more of a "checking in" routine.

This whole process is a HUGE difference in experience from out patio build. That builder hardly ever came by except to pick up checks. He sent his son to be our PM who was here only as needed but mostly acted as the delivery guy to bring missing materials. Really didn't know much about the business it seemed. That experience was... challenging, and unfortunately jaded me a lot when it comes to construction projects. I had asked them the "List of 100 Questions" as well and it just turned out there were things the guy paid lip service to. In the end, we got what we wanted but it drug out for longer than it should have and they paid the price in having to re-work and fix a lot of things that would have been caught if they had a PM onsite each day for the big stuff and who knew what they were doing.

plat.
 
Setting up her office on your patio in spring is a huge sacrifice for her to make for the good of your pool build! Most of us would hate to work from your patio! :-D
 
pooldv said:
Setting up her office on your patio in spring is a huge sacrifice for her to make for the good of your pool build! Most of us would hate to work from your patio! :-D
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:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

The view isn't what it used to be right now. All the furniture is piled up and it's pretty dirty and plastic sheeting is up, but you can watch the koi and they will splash up once in a while to keep things interesting. I will say the weather in Houston yesterday and today is BEAUTIFUL!!! Was like 82* and no humidity last night at 7pm. Very similar today. There's worse places in the country to be stuck outside today!


plat.
 

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Plat they have grown so BIG! I remember when you put them in. How long ago was that???

Kim

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ummgood said:
Kim I think you need a plaque that all owners can put up near their pool that states "this pool approved and partially designed by kimkats!". I think it will raise the resale value of the house honestly...
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SO sweet! :slidehalo:

Kim
 
kimkats said:
Plat they have grown so BIG! I remember when you put them in. How long ago was that???

Kim
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About four years on the first two and I've added a few more since then. They have all bulked up nicely.


Helen203 said:
So, Plat, get ready for the plumbers, when everything will get destroyed!
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It's hard to imagine things any more torn up then they were after dig day but I believe you without question....

plat.
 
Well they finished gunite on the spa about 2pm today, cleaned up and headed out. So here is the finished product.


View from patio.



Interior long shot towards patio.



Main stairs and dog ramp. After seeing it in person, we are talking about widening that second lowest stair so it is as wide as the others.



Swim jet intakes and return.



"Bubble Area". This was one of my crazy ideas. We had lines run to this area that will connect to a dedicated blower. Each stub shown here in the floor and step will have a cap on it with several holes in it to let the air come through and bubble up. I thought this would just be a fun thing to be able to do in this seating area to cool off in.



The spa "owners" bench. Waterways 3-port manifolds in the Hers and His seats. The center seat with 2 lower back jets. 8 jets total on a dedicated pump. The center seat will also have an 18" sheer descent or some other similar water feature on a dedicated pump to run hot spa water over the top of whoever is sitting there when desired. On both front and back benches, the seat backs are reclined back as are the bench seats ever so slightly. The bases of the benches also slant in 4" so you can tuck your feet back a bit under the seat. Single foot jets are in front of the 4 corner seats on another dedicated pump to run those and then 3 back jets on the opposite "guest" bench. And then lastly we had foot pedestals built so you can kick your feet up and really relax if you want to. There is a table leg sleeve installed in the center so we can have a removable table for drinks if we want. One spa light.


Side view of spa.



plat.
 
Wow Plat! I really love all the steps and levels, it makes it so inserting! I have a question, on your first pic from the patio, the integrated steps part of the pool comes out and it is how many feet from the house? Do you have a setback? Down here it's mostly 5' from the house, I was wondering if that counts as "pool", I'm just trying to think ahead for my next project :) since I'm now addicted, hehe


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Nursenini said:
Wow!! That is one fancy spa!!! Love it!
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Thanks!!

Indigo blue said:
Wow Plat! I really love all the steps and levels, it makes it so inserting! I have a question, on your first pic from the patio, the integrated steps part of the pool comes out and it is how many feet from the house? Do you have a setback? Down here it's mostly 5' from the house, I was wondering if that counts as "pool", I'm just trying to think ahead for my next project :) since I'm now addicted, hehe
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The main pool is 5' setback off the house and patio. That is the building code here too. The floating step bump out is closer though. It is 3' off the house. The thing is that at only 12" deep plus the fact that we raised the grade of the pool so the decking would match up to the house foundation level which was already exposed there about 6" to 8", there is almost no real excavation depth there. The builder submitted it like this for permitting and we were approved. He did say that if it was called out as an issue, we could submit for "Special Engineering" and that would take care of it with out much hassle because of how shallow it was. I'm leaving that in his hands.

Thanks!
plat.
 
In Houston, if a pool is less than 5' from a foundation (including a garage) then you have to have a structural engineer approve it.

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Plat, I love all of your ideas! I can just picture your PB when you you'd start out..."I have an idea..."
 

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