New Build in Rockwall TX

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Tread3113

Bronze Supporter
Jul 17, 2019
28
Heath, TX
Pool Size
15000
Surface
Plaster
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
SWG Type
Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Since I didn’t want to be the only person in TX not building a pool, here we go! Contract was signed in early June and after almost 9 weeks of waiting for permits our excavation is scheduled for Monday. Below is the equipment list, let me know if anything looks off. Thanks to everyone that participates on this forum, for a new pool owner such as myself it has been an amazing source of information and inspiration!
33X17 Freeform gunite with 6 ton rock grotto
3 1/2’-6’ deep
12” box beam
soil injection
2” schedule 40 lines
2 main drains, 5 returns, and 2 skimmers
Autofill and overflow
All Pentair equipment-
3hp Intelliflow for pool
Whisperflow 2hp for grotto and bubbler
Clean and clear plus 420 filter
IC40 SWG
Intelliconnect (No spa so I figured this would suffice, let me know if you think differently)
Intellibrite 5G for pool and microbrite in grotto
Dolphin S200 cleaner
Bubbler on the tanning ledge
Standard white plaster with 1”X2” waterline tile and 1”X1” stair accent tile
810 sq ft light walnut travertine decking with matching coping and skimmer covers

We may add a heater in the future so they are making the equipment pad 3’x10’ so we’ll have room if needed.
If I missed anything please let me know!
 

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I am extremely curious in your setup. We have be contemplating something almost identical. Did they give you
any ideas on what the physical size the 6-ton grotto would be? Also curious as to what your bid looks like, but
understand if you want to keep that to yourself.
 
Talking to the project manager he said it’s about 3-4 feet tall and around twice as wide. Guess it all depends on what rocks they happen to load that day. Price wise we’re mid 60’s, I think prices have gone up about 20% in the last 2-3 years.
 
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Tread3113 said:
Talking to the project manager he said it’s about 3-4 feet tall and around twice as wide. Guess it all depends on what rocks they happen to load that day. Price wise we’re mid 60’s, I think prices have gone up about 20% in the last 2-3 years.
Click to expand...

my wife and kids want the grotto a lot. They want it to be in one on the bump outs on the free form shape so that it can be a little deeper there but we still have somewhat of a “play pool” in the overall width.
 
Dig day today! Everything went pretty smooth, no big rocks or other surprises. Soil injection and steel start tomorrow am, now I just have to keep the dogs out of the hole.
 

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Ok all, I need some help with the landscaping portion. The back side of our pool will have a 12”-18”moss rock retaining wall and beyond that will be a large flower bed, approx 35’ wide and 15’ deep. I need suggestions for tropical plants that will survive in the Dallas area. We love palms but are nervous to spend a bunch on a large one that may not survive. Banana plants and bird of paradise will be added but they die off here so we’ll need some others that will still be around in the winter so it’s not too bare. Any suggestions?
 
So the crew made it out Tuesday for the gunite. They also had all the equipment delivered the same day. Glad to see the dirt hole looking like a pool! 3338949A-13DB-4753-AB06-98C3EF00A2A8.jpeg9CBE3D30-7A04-4786-8E92-D70F945FCFF8.jpeg
 

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The tile crew came and set the travertine coping for the front portion. The back side will all be miss rock and the waterfall/grotto. They also set the waterline tile. I love the travertine, can’t wait until the entire deck is done!
One question, my shell was just shot last Tuesday so I’ve been watering 3 times a day. How long should I wait before I water the tile area? The crew was gone before I could ask what they recommend.DB6F88F3-1193-4808-AD25-5A83B6BBAD2D.jpeg9F659845-A4F8-4A79-9BE1-C6E0E2AA56E4.jpegFA6DF35A-C007-440E-8723-570942D8680E.jpegC2D392F5-D001-4612-94CF-9FC3D4FF3BD2.jpeg
 
Did they pour a support pad for your grotto? That's a lot of weight ... we had a 3 ton waterfall spec'ed in ours, and they poured a pad specifically for the weight of the stone. Here's what I mean by a pad. It's steel reinforced gunite.

1598140557764.png


6 tons is a LOT of weight
 
Stoopalini said:
Did they pour a support pad for your grotto? That's a lot of weight ... we had a 3 ton waterfall spec'ed in ours, and they poured a pad specifically for the weight of the stone. Here's what I mean by a pad. It's steel reinforced gunite.

View attachment 159279


6 tons is a LOT of weight
Click to expand...
They did, looks similar to yours and it’s spread across almost 16 feet 6724D1C6-8353-489C-BCA6-BA50C80874F3.jpeg
 
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The mason’s made it out today to start the grotto and moss rock coping on the back side. For anyone interested in how large a 6 ton grotto is, here you go! It looks bigger in person than the pics, almost too big! They still have to finish the top and fill in the sides but great progress today. Tomorrow they’ll be back for the coping. 2D7A2418-FF7B-47C7-BFF0-E7555ECB56FB.jpeg17B6B71F-4D0F-45D3-A78D-F5864D1A23AB.jpeg
 
Tread3113 said:
Thanks! I was worried, my wife called and said she wasn’t sure about it so I rushed home to see it in person. I think it’ll be great when it’s done. I’ll get more pics when the guys wrap up for the day.
Click to expand...

So one thing I kept having to tell my wife, is to think about your perception of the height. With the pool in its current condition, it seems like the top of the grotto is really high, because your eye is comparing it to the bottom of the deep end of the pool. But once it's complete, and filled with water, your eye will compare it to the top of the water's surface.

So what I had my wife do was, take her hand (or a piece of paper, etc ..), and hold it up in her line of sight to block out everything from the center of the waterline tile down. It was only then she realized our waterfall wasn't as tall as it appeared to be when the pool was empty.
 
Sorry I am a bit late to the party... I just can not believe how fast they install a pool in Texas. Have you given any thought to lighting the waterfall? If it is not too late you might want to have them give you a couple of small sleeves in the back of the grotto. I would go just below the waterfall rock. Perhaps they could drill out one of the grout joints. This way you could install some low voltage LED lights to shine behind the falls for this type of affect.IMG_20200817_221959.jpgthis one.jpg


The one without the falls going is not as brite as is appears in the pic. It simply lights up just the back rock of the Grotto to give a Erie cave look.

The one with the falls on is back lite from within the grotto
 
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