Central Texas DIY 20x44 Vinyl Liner Build Done
- Thread starter KfenTx
- Start date
I'm currently out of town on a business trip and my husband sent these pictures showing how the bottom is cracked already. Problem or just a result of pouring when it was 100 out?
Also he says one section sounds hollow when you knock on it.
Also he says one section sounds hollow when you knock on it.
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No biggie. Ask him if he thinks he can water it without messing up the dirt area. If so that will help slow down the cracking. If not that is okay.
Additional pool krete has arrived, now we wait on the new labor to have availability.
Our local water company just moved us to stage III drought restrictions so I'm a little worried we won't be allowed to fill with hoses. They don't call out swimming pools specifically but do say they'll be monitoring and enforcing violation penalties (not clear what that means though). So while I try to gather more info without putting us on the radar (small town), i'm also getting quotes for hauling it in.
We estimate it would cost us $400-500 to fill with city water. I've looked through old posts here and it seems water truck prices are all over the place so I have no clue what to expect there.
Our local water company just moved us to stage III drought restrictions so I'm a little worried we won't be allowed to fill with hoses. They don't call out swimming pools specifically but do say they'll be monitoring and enforcing violation penalties (not clear what that means though). So while I try to gather more info without putting us on the radar (small town), i'm also getting quotes for hauling it in.
We estimate it would cost us $400-500 to fill with city water. I've looked through old posts here and it seems water truck prices are all over the place so I have no clue what to expect there.
When the time comes for water TFP will all get together and do a rain dance for your area! LOL BUT I would keep poking around to find a source for trucked in water and have the number to call the city water people to tell them you are filling a NEW pool on the ready so they will not come after you.
And the bottom is finished! Seems like much better work and for cheaper than the original guy (percentage wise). Too bad we hadn't found them first.
The "bad": we're hosting not one but two parties this weekend and might not get the liner dropped in.
We do have some rain forecasted early next week (please do your dances!!!) so really hoping we can find time tomorrow evening.
The "bad": we're hosting not one but two parties this weekend and might not get the liner dropped in.
We do have some rain forecasted early next week (please do your dances!!!) so really hoping we can find time tomorrow evening.
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Oh that does look good!
Ummmmm you mean the parties are not pool parties? as in help us put in our liner party??? LOL
Ummmmm you mean the parties are not pool parties? as in help us put in our liner party??? LOL
We were able to get the liner in today and..... WE'RE FILLING!!!! I'm a little nervous but at this point nothing is "unfixable" right?! 
We had to have a small swim to tide us over.
We had to have a small swim to tide us over.
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Alright question is. Was it worth the savings? I'm thinking of pulling the trigger myself. If you moved and wanted a pool would you do it yourself again? Or hire someone? Lol
Are you able to post the excavation prints? Mine will be different. However, I would like to see if I can look at them and know what I'm looking at. That's my only major concern.
I think so. My husband might answer different, haha. We did sub out most of the heavy labor so that made it easier for us. I never got quotes from builders so it's hard to compare but from what i've seen here I'd guess this is at least a $100k job. We're into the pool for around $76,000, including ~$850 in chemicals and a test kit. We obviously spent more on fixing our irrigation system, some landscaping, new patio furniture. One "cost" thing to consider too is time. We had some delays but we didn't have a PB who was juggling other jobs so we could basically start when we wanted and get things going as quickly as possible and in my mind that accounts for something. I liked having a little more control over it. We learned some lessons along the way so I think if we ever did it again, we'd be able to do it better too.
Yes, I sure can. Royal also sent us instructions on reading the dig sheets that was helpful too. I'll PM you both.
I'm very curious how your liner install went? I am in the process on a Royal Pools install myself and just got done getting the walls up. Some of the diagonal measurements are a little off, and I'm wondering how 'exact' your measurements were before you said 'that's good enough?'
The steps were the hardest part for us. We spent maybe three hours on the liner yesterday but some of that was prep (skimmer gaskets, brushing and vacuuming the bottom again). We weren't provided any kind of shim tool and ended up using some plastic knives to hold parts of the liner while we worked the rest in.
Our top step does seem to be "off" a little but we're hoping once it gets fuller we can work it out. I'll ask my husband but after backfill I think one side to side measurement was nearly an inch off (too narrow). Diagonal was pretty close. He might remember more specifics. If it's not too late, i'd definitely try to get them as close as possible because all future steps have the possibility of moving them a bit.
Then we woke up to find a section of the liner had come out of the track 
So, doing a bit of draining and will work on that. We had a couple wrinkles that didn't get pushed out with the filling so we'll try to work on those too.
So, doing a bit of draining and will work on that. We had a couple wrinkles that didn't get pushed out with the filling so we'll try to work on those too.
Toilet plunger - just saying.................hehe this can help get some wrinkles out. It will help "pick up" the liner so you can move it towards the wall.
Gurrrr on the liner coming out! Get some pennies and put them in the slot where the liner goes to help hold them in. Order some "liner lock" to put in place of the pennies to help hold the liner in.
Gurrrr on the liner coming out! Get some pennies and put them in the slot where the liner goes to help hold them in. Order some "liner lock" to put in place of the pennies to help hold the liner in.
AHH!! You are the best! I had seen that trick on here before and totally forgot about it!
And now I'll be shopping for liner lock......
ahahaha my husband literally just said he was going to pick up and new one AND a second shop vacConsider a fresh plunger as well.
Ok got a question? On the prints it says finished specs "WITH 2" BASE". It shows 12' deep end wide rectangle. Did he escavate 12' 4" then after adding 2" each side came out to be 12'? Or did he escavate 12' then added the 2" cement floor/sides?