Gunite in Louisiana - Swimming!

KJB1 · Jun 29, 2022

Nice. Our original design was almost the same. I like your spill over design. We had the big tanning shelf shrunk it down to just about 1foot past the spa and took out the full length steps. Still too big for us anyway. Its nice to have a large 1st step but we never sit there in a chair. Definitely a preference thing and I don’t think there is a way to try it.

kimkats · Jun 29, 2022

Make sure to water that pretty, new concrete. That will slow down it's curing a bit and may help stop the cracks.

Staceyleah22 · Jul 5, 2022

Day 29 - Equipment Pad & Cleanup

Had a bit of a delay last week. They forgot to pour the equipment pad on the same day as the decks. They were going to pour Thursday but it rained a couple days.

So this morning they poured the pad, installed lights, returns, and spa jets, and cleaned the pool surface.

Tomorrow they’re setting equipment and running electrical then Thursday we are getting plaster.

kimkats · Jul 5, 2022

Here are some helpful hints for day of filling:

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?
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. Also, consider tying a plastic jug to the nozzle such that it will float up as the water rises.
Make sure the hose is put at the lowest part of the pool.
Do NOT stop the flow of water once it starts as it stopping it could cause a ring on the plaster.
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.
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

Kim :kim:

Staceyleah22 · Jul 6, 2022

kimkats said:
Do they have all the proper return nozzles and drain covers (type and color) to place after plaster installed

New drain covers are here but I have not seen any return nozzles. What should I be looking for on type & color?

kimkats said:
Have you tested your fill water?

Just finished my first test. My little chemical engineering heart enjoyed this process. It’s not often that my skillset translates to the “real world”. We are using tap water.

FC 1
CC 0
TA 110
pH 7.5
CH 100

Any concerns with these results?

kimkats said:
take note (or a picture) of your water meter reading

Took a minute but we found the water connection. Did a bit of googling and it looks like a Neptune R900 wireless transmitter and we can’t read the number ourselves.

We have an estimate of the water volume from the PB’s design software. How accurate is that?

Staceyleah22 · Jul 6, 2022

Day 30 - Equipment & Electrical

Got most of the equipment set today.

Power is run from the main to the skid but our electrician didn’t have the breaker he needed; they’re supposed to have it tomorrow.

All equipment is Pentair.

Pump - Intelliflo VSF - 3 HP variable speed & flow.
Filter - Clean & Clear Plus cartridge filter - 520 SF filter area
Heater - MasterTemp 400 kBTU natural gas
SWG - intellichlor iC40
Easytouch control system

One concern I have with the piping is that there does not seem to be a bypass for the heater. Should I have them change it?

kimkats · Jul 7, 2022

Staceyleah22 said:
return nozzles.

Here is what they look like:

Staceyleah22 said:
Any concerns with these results?

Those are some good starting numbers. No big worries.

Staceyleah22 said:
We have an estimate of the water volume from the PB’s design software. How accurate is that?

nope LOL Most of them get is wrong. We can use them to start up and will dial it in as we go.

Staceyleah22 said:
a bypass for the heater

It is very handy to have many times in the future. I would have them come back to add it. There is the hope you will never need it but when you do need it it will be nice to have it all set up.

Staceyleah22 · Jul 7, 2022

Day 31 - plaster

The plaster crew started working this morning around 9 am. By noon they had all the plaster spread and they were wiping it down with sponges/cloths.

From 12 pm to 12:15 pm it rained pretty hard. Once the rain stopped they got back in the pool with trowels and a vacuum cleaner.

Uggg. There was only a 10% chance of rain today so my luck really sucks.

How bad is this going to be? We are using QuartzScapes.

My PB was planning to start filling directly afterwards then they’ll be adding acid to the water. He said it’ll be a few days before the pH is high enough to swim.

Newdude · Jul 7, 2022

Staceyleah22 said:
Uggg. There was only a 10% chance of rain today so my luck really sucks.

Well it only rained for 1.04% of the day. You can thank Mr Murphy for the timing of that 1.04% tho

kimkats · Jul 7, 2022

Okay so they are doing a "hot start" aka acid start up. Here is a link to it so you can learn about it and what to expect:

Start-up New Plaster

The first few months are the most criticle for a newly plastered pool. We're here to share best practices to ensure the plaster will last for many years.

www.troublefreepool.com

You will be doing a LOT of brushing with this one.

You cannot swim until they come back to balance the pool.

With the hot start the rain will NOT be a problem!

Kim :kim:

Staceyleah22 · Jul 7, 2022

kimkats said:
With the hot start the rain will NOT be a problem!

That’s a huge relief!

PB warned me several times that it’s gonna look funky and I shouldn’t freak out. They’ll be at my house Friday & Saturday running the startup.

I have read all these horror stories of builders and our guy has been super responsive and helpful. (If anyone is looking for a builder in SWLA, I’d definitely recommend them.)

Staceyleah22 · Jul 8, 2022

Day 32 - Filling

We filled the hot tub last night to just below the spillover (PB wanted it filled first).

The pool has been filling for right at 24 hours. The level is 2-1/4” above the 2nd step from bottom & 3’ 4” from the deep end.

Pool guys came over in the morning but they didn’t want to start treatment until pool has more level. They dropped off 16 gallons of muriatic acid, a 32 oz bottle of Pro Team metal magic, and a mystery jug without a label.

I know the color will change but I seriously love this blue! It really sets off the white tile and silver coping. I’m looking forward to the finished product.

Our electrical sub had to come back out today because there was a “pop” when they tried to start up the pump. He said something had been wired wrong and they had to replace a transformer. Hopefully they have it all fixed now but I’m trying to be patient and not mess with it.

kimkats · Jul 8, 2022

That is looking awesome already!

I am glad they waited until it is full before doing the start up. Sure do not want to start treating just part of the pool.

Staceyleah22 · Jul 9, 2022

Day 33 - Acid Startup

Our PB came over early this morning and started the acid (aka hot) startup.

He manually started the pump since our electrical guys fried something in the Easy Touch control board.

Before he added anything he started the spa overflow. It’s so pretty and I can’t wait to see it run for more than a couple minutes!!

We aren’t running the spa during the acid startup because he doesn’t want to damage the travertine/mortar with this low pH. They’ll do a manual acid wash of the spa later. And he’s got a temporary bypass installed around our heater to protect the tubes.

He added 32 oz of Pro Team metal magic, 1 gallon Magic Magenta, and 16 gallons of muriatic acid around 7:30 AM. I tested the water just for fun around 1 PM. It didn’t really tell me anything except my pH is off-the-charts low (no surprise there).

The pool FINALLY reached our target of just below the overflow at 11:30 this morning. I had 2 of those smaller collapsible hoses & the PB said it probably would’ve gone faster if we had been using the larger hard hose. Learn from me, bigger is better.

It’s miserably hot today. 94F with 54% humidity (heat index of 103F) & it’s only gonna get hotter (107F heat index this afternoon). I’ll be brushing in very short bursts until it finally cools off later tonight.

A few guys came by this morning to clean up the yard and grade some of the dirt. Monday they’ll work with the electricians to solve the control panel issue, replace the foam in the expansion joint between concrete & coping with a permanent fill (silicone?), then clean & seal the coping.

Staceyleah22 · Jul 14, 2022

Day 38 - Swimming!

We started swimming Tues night (so, Day 36).

I used liquid chlorine to raise FAC the last couple nights because I’m delaying salt addition.

PB added some tabs to the skimmer yesterday. I’m assuming they’re adding Trichlor which is okay because my CYA is around 20. (I had started added solid stabilizer Tues night.)

There is some splotchiness in the plaster color but I knew that was a risk. It’s not super noticeable with the pump running (it’s still running 23 hours per day).

The spillover spa looks super cool with the lights. I’m posting some photos of the waterline tile at night. I don’t know if all tiles reflect the lights like these white waterline tiles but it looks really cool in person; almost like the tiles are glowing.

They’re back today working on sealing the travertine and finishing up programming. Spa jets had not been pulling in any air but it looks like that is fixed.

kimkats · Jul 14, 2022

Oh my that first night shot is THE one to really showcase the hard design work you did!!! LOVE IT!!

Staceyleah22 · Jul 15, 2022

Day 39 - Finishing touches

Today they came to put urethane between the travertine & the concrete, seal the travertine, re-attach the drain line for our gutters, and install the auto-fill plumbing.

The only thing remaining is to get Screenlogic on my phone. I’m about to start googling to see if I can figure it out myself.

The pump is still running 23 hours per day. I’m not sure if it they’re keeping it running because they’re adding pucks to the skimmer or if it’s related to the new plaster.

Today is the first day I’ve been home all day with the water clear and it is gorgeous. I love it!

Staceyleah22 · Jul 23, 2022

Day 47 - Liquid Chlorine is a pain

I am soooo ready for the 30 days to be up so I can add salt and start my SWG!

I went to 3 stores today searching for 10% bleach then finally just bought 7.5% from Walmart. It hasn’t been hard to treat with liquid chlorine, just inconvenient.

Only two more weeks to go.

kimkats · Jul 23, 2022

When it is time to add the salt turn it into a "Diamond Day Party"! Throw everyone in the pool and tell them to watch under the water and watch as the "Diamonds" float down through the water! Them swimming around and splashing will help mix it in. Wait 24 hours before turning on your SWG to give the salt time to really mix in good.

Search

Gunite in Louisiana - Swimming!

KJB1

Well-known member

kimkats

Staceyleah22

Well-known member

Attachments

kimkats

Staceyleah22

Well-known member

Staceyleah22

Well-known member

Attachments

kimkats

Staceyleah22

Well-known member

Newdude

kimkats

Start-up New Plaster

Enjoying this content?

Staceyleah22

Well-known member

Attachments

Staceyleah22

Well-known member

kimkats

Staceyleah22

Well-known member

Attachments

Staceyleah22

Well-known member

Attachments

kimkats

Staceyleah22

Well-known member

Attachments

Staceyleah22

Well-known member

kimkats