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

So thanks to everyone who looked up info in my thread on Thalasso Spa gear. http://www.troublefreepool.com/threads/111035-Thalasso-Spa-Equipment?p=980736#post980736


Kimkats found one through some google wizardry that to this day still escapes me....

This is the unit I am interested in.




The distributor in Florida I spoke to needed to get back to the office to confirm, but he thought this one ran about $1100. Steep, but also not the $4000 for the deck mount cobra head units. We're looking at a 20" wide model in polished 316L stainless steel.

What I am trying to really see though is if the flow rate (volume) of water is higher than a standard sheer descent for the same amount of projection. That is what is going to drive this really. If the flows are roughly the same, then we'll probably skip this option.

plat.
 
Had a little surprise. My neighbor next to us called me Sunday morning to apologize. His spool evidently completely emptied do to a plumbing failure and all the water mostly flowed into the plumbing pit surrounding my pool. No harm, no foul I said. Would have happened if it rained and will likely happen again when/if it does rain until that is sealed up.

It's now been 2 weeks since gunite was finished and our builder said we could stop watering at 10 days which was last Friday, so we're at least done with that. Now I am just trying to keep our yard alive by strategic hose sprinkler water since the main water feed to the system is cut.

About 7 large boxes of tile showed up yesterday but I haven't taken a look yet to see what they were. I guess we're in the long dull wait right now for things to happen....


plat.
 
At least he called and told you what happened!

So what about "my" pretty?? Have you found out any more info on it? Is it what you are looking for? (You know I really like the big curvy one best? hehe)

Kim

Those waterfalls are pretty cool!



Sad to say we opted against it. Very good find and thank you again for that!! We decided the $1200 additional cost to upgrade was not worth it. Our builder took us out to another pool with sheer descents about our size and height off the water and played with the flow to show what they could do. In the end, I just couldn't justify the cost given the other upgrades we already did and the others we are still considering....


Thanks!
plat.
 
Just finished reading your whole build. This is going to be an awesome pool! So many neat ideas. I can't wait to see that lovely tile. Tell me more about your bubble area. How does it work and do you have inspiration photos?
 
Just finished reading your whole build. This is going to be an awesome pool! So many neat ideas. I can't wait to see that lovely tile. Tell me more about your bubble area. How does it work and do you have inspiration photos?

No inspiration photos. The idea came from a thalasso therapy pool on a cruise ship my wife and I went on. They had a built-in steel pipe lounger area that had bubbles coming from underneath. It was neat and so I talked to out builder and that is what he came up with. It's two sections that will feed from one air blower to add pure bubbles (not venturi jets) in the floor. It's the "cooling" area where the main benches are that I thought would just add a unique feature.

Oh I sure will! I always wanted a koi pond, but with a pool we don't have room anymore.

Looking at your build rendering, I see plenty of room to integrate a koi pond into the landscaping... :) But I am biased and can see the possibilities almost anywhere in any yard. I'm also a member (and Board Member) of the Lone Start Koi Club here in Houston, and if you were interested I would be more than happy to chat privately if you decided to look at how it would be possible.


plat.
 

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Any new updates? What's currently going on?

Tile/mason guys showed up today after a very quiet week due to the rain I assume. They are prepping the decking area and getting ready for tile it looks like. They nailed some guide boards up onto the spa. Lots of measurements and angle checking with a theodolite. I went out and asked them to let us know when they started waterline tile so we could approve the thinset color. He's recommending white and I think I agree, but we want to see it first. Our builder said he could put up some samples of different color thinset if we wanted, but I already think white is the best choice and the mason is agreeing, so that will probably be it.

plat.
 
No inspiration photos. The idea came from a thalasso therapy pool on a cruise ship my wife and I went on. They had a built-in steel pipe lounger area that had bubbles coming from underneath. It was neat and so I talked to out builder and that is what he came up with. It's two sections that will feed from one air blower to add pure bubbles (not venturi jets) in the floor. It's the "cooling" area where the main benches are that I thought would just add a unique feature.



Looking at your build rendering, I see plenty of room to integrate a koi pond into the landscaping... :) But I am biased and can see the possibilities almost anywhere in any yard. I'm also a member (and Board Member) of the Lone Start Koi Club here in Houston, and if you were interested I would be more than happy to chat privately if you decided to look at how it would be possible.


plat.

Yes, please send me a PM. We need to leave enough room around the pool for the dogs to run, but maybe a narrow one would work. And you are such an awesome designer I'm sure you can fit one in. :)
 
For those of us with no idea what a theodolite is, I will be dictionary boy! :-D

the·od·o·lite
THēˈädəˌlīt/
noun
a surveying instrument with a rotating telescope for measuring horizontal and vertical angles.

Especially on a Friday with no pics! :cheers:
 
Plat, Just curious about the loquat's proximity to your pool. We had a loquat at our previous home and it is what we lovingly call a trashy tree (not too far removed from a magnolia). Ours was in our courtyard and dropped something year round. In addition to the year round mess, when the fruit came on, between the bees, flys, rats and tree rats, it was not pleasant to be back there. The fruit does make delicious liqueur, but we let friends harvest and share with us!
 
Plat, Just curious about the loquat's proximity to your pool. We had a loquat at our previous home and it is what we lovingly call a trashy tree (not too far removed from a magnolia). Ours was in our courtyard and dropped something year round. In addition to the year round mess, when the fruit came on, between the bees, flys, rats and tree rats, it was not pleasant to be back there. The fruit does make delicious liqueur, but we let friends harvest and share with us!

You are not the first person to mention this to us. A friend has some very mature loquats that he's complained about before because of the amount of fruit and mess they cause. The loquat is existing though, so it's not an issue of just picking something else to plant there as we probably would be doing just that if we had the option. On the upside, we have yet to have any significant amount of fruit actually fall off the tree. The squirrels are relentless in their harvesting which looks like it will end up being a good thing for the pool, but also as you mentioned above, loquat liqueur was one of the things I was looking forward to making from it so that is kind of a bummer. Double edged swords and all....

plat.
 
For those of us with no idea what a theodolite is, I will be dictionary boy! :-D

the·od·o·lite
THēˈädəˌlīt/
noun
a surveying instrument with a rotating telescope for measuring horizontal and vertical angles.

Especially on a Friday with no pics! :cheers:


Ha!

I could have taken a picture of him using it, but it would have just been awkward.


plat.
 
You are not the first person to mention this to us. A friend has some very mature loquats that he's complained about before because of the amount of fruit and mess they cause. The loquat is existing though, so it's not an issue of just picking something else to plant there as we probably would be doing just that if we had the option. On the upside, we have yet to have any significant amount of fruit actually fall off the tree. The squirrels are relentless in their harvesting which looks like it will end up being a good thing for the pool, but also as you mentioned above, loquat liqueur was one of the things I was looking forward to making from it so that is kind of a bummer. Double edged swords and all....

plat.

I must have misread your other thread Patio, Koi Pond Outdoor Kitchen Build in Houston and thought you planted the loquat from post 17. Like you, we have had to deal with existing plantings although we made the hard choice to remove three mature queen palms when we got two hard winters in a row in 13 and 14.
 

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